Does the Quick Stow feat allow a Counterfeit Mage rogue to sheathe a wand as a free action?

Question

I am looking at playing a Counterfeit Mage Rogue, and one of their abilities is Signature Wand (Ex) – emphasis mine:

At 4th level, a counterfeit mage can spend 1 hour practicing with a wand to designate it as his signature wand. He can draw that wand as a free action, and can activate it without having to succeed at a Use Magic Device check. He can change his signature wand once per day.

Now, I want to be able to put the item away without using my move action, and I found the Feat Quick Stow (emphasis mine):

Prerequisite(s): Quick Draw, base attack bonus +1.

Benefit(s): You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when sheathing a weapon, and you can combine a move action to sheathe a weapon with a regular move action. (You can both stow and draw a weapon as part of the same move action in this way.) If you have the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, you can sheathe two light or one-handed weapons in the time it would normally take to sheathe one.

You can also quickly stow items in a backpack or other container that you are wearing or carrying. When you successfully use an action to pick up an item (including when you steal an item with a successful Sleight of Hand check or steal combat maneuver check), you can stow the item as part of the same action used to acquire it. You can try to hide this object by attempting a Sleight of Hand check with a –20 penalty, opposed by the Perception check results of all opponents.

Does this wording mean that the action I use to pick up the wand (a free action thanks to Signature Wand) is also the action I use to put it away? (Meaning I use a free action to pick it up and put it away, leaving me only having to use a standard action to activate the wand?)

Answer 1

As stated in Quick Stow:

You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when sheathing a weapon, and you can combine a move action to sheathe a weapon with a regular move action. (You can both stow and draw a weapon as part of the same move action in this way.) If you have the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, you can sheathe two light or one-handed weapons in the time it would normally take to sheathe one.

So the assertion that the wand must be picked up is false. While it seems the intent is that the player stow one weapon and draw another, this is not explicitly stated, nor does it state the order in which those actions must be performed. Therefore, your answer is yes, you can draw and stow said wand as part of the same free action but, as stated before, you would be unable to use it in between.

It would be pointless but you could do it.

Answer 2

No, or at least not in a useful manner.

Counterfeit Mage says (emphasis mine):

Signature Wand (Ex): At 4th level, a counterfeit mage can spend 1 hour practicing with a wand to designate it as his signature wand. He can draw that wand as a free action, and can activate it without having to succeed at a Use Magic Device check. He can change his signature wand once per day. This ability replaces the rogue talent gained at 4th level.

This would let you draw a wand that you designate as your signature wand as a free action.

Quick Stow states (emphasis mine):

When you successfully use an action to pick up an item (including when you steal an item with a successful Sleight of Hand check or steal combat maneuver check), you can stow the item as part of the same action used to acquire it.

This means that when you pick up an item (or steal one), you can stow it as part of the same action.

If we look at Actions in Combat, we can see that retrieving/drawing an item is a separate type of action from picking one up.

Since you're not picking up an item, or acquiring one (you already had it and are not stealing it), you wouldn't be able to use the feat.

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Now, let's say we ignore the fact that you can't use the feat with that class feature, there's a very different issue as well. Drawing and using the wand are 2 different actions.

So even if it did let you draw and stow the signature wand using that ability (which it doesn't), if you chose to draw it and then used the feat to stow it, you don't have it out to use anymore. Which, sure, is fancy (it's the magical equivalent of twirling your guns), but it doesn't help you to use the wand.

If you decide to draw it and keep it out so that you can use it, you can't use the feat to stow it as part of the previous action, because you've already completed that action before using your next action to use the wand. This means that it would take another action to stow your wand, and stowing an item is a move action.

Therefore, unless you're using the same free action to draw and stow it (which, as stated above, the feat doesn't let you do, and, as also stated above, is also useless), it would be a free action to draw the wand, and then a move action to stow it.

Answer 3

No. The reason for this is due to the "you can stow the item as part of the same action used to acquire it". This says same action, as in part of. Actions generally can't be broken apart (full round actions and free actions taken during them are special). So in this case what happens is you draw the wand as a free action, and as part of that free action, must stow it as well. You can't use the free draw action, standard to cast, and still using that free draw or another to stow.

You can also argue that by carrying the wand you are not picking it up as it's already carried.

If you have a very forgiving DM they might allow it, as there are very few things that speed up stowing weapons/items. Another argument you could try to make is to use constant force springs (those things that allow keys to zip back to your waist), and as clockwork machines exist and are wound up; it's the same principle.

Answer 4

From the attempted Answers, it seems everyone is misinterpreting my question, but they do actually answer my question within their answers, so I am going to write here what the answer is from the answers given. The answer to my question is yes. Yes, the action I use to pick up the wand is the same action that I use to stow it. What everyone else here was answering was "Can I use the wand in-between picking it up and stowing it?", and that answer is no.