Eschew Materials as a Metamagic Feat?

[Herzog]

Simple question:

Would you allow a player to select Eschew Materials as a bonus Metamagic feat?

Background:
[sblock]
The story of my game is presenting an option to go into the Fiend-blooded prestige class (from Heroes of Horror). One of the prerequisites is Eschew Material Component.
I'm currently in the prestige class Ultimate Magus, and next level I could select a metamagic feat. At level 12, I can take the other prerequisite feat (Blood calls to blood) and I could take the PrC at lvl 13.
I thought Eschew Materials was a metamagic feat, but appearently that was only in 3.0
If I can't take it as a metamagic feat, I'll have to wait until I get another feat at lvl 15, or I'd have to do some crazy retraining-shuffle to replace another feat I took at lvl 9, to take the replaced feat again at lvl 15.[/sblock]

 

[Jack Simth]

Simple question:

Would you allow a player to select Eschew Materials as a bonus Metamagic feat?

Background:
[sblock]
The story of my game is presenting an option to go into the Fiend-blooded prestige class (from Heroes of Horror). One of the prerequisites is Eschew Material Component.
I'm currently in the prestige class Ultimate Magus, and next level I could select a metamagic feat. At level 12, I can take the other prerequisite feat (Blood calls to blood) and I could take the PrC at lvl 13.
I thought Eschew Materials was a metamagic feat, but appearently that was only in 3.0
If I can't take it as a metamagic feat, I'll have to wait until I get another feat at lvl 15, or I'd have to do some crazy retraining-shuffle to replace another feat I took at lvl 9, to take the replaced feat again at lvl 15.[/sblock]

As a DM? Sure. Eschew Materials is a feat that replaces half of a 5 gp item. The Ultimate Magus isn't precisely a strong PRC to begin with, the Fiend-blooded PrC isn't overly broken (for spellcasters, although it does lose a caster level at the wrong spot - it loses it at 10th, when it ought to do so at 1st).

Letting you take Eschew Materials in place of a bonus metamagic feat isn't exactly broken, even if it isn't exactly RAW, either.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Don't think it'd be broken, I'd also allow it.

If your DM wanted to be a RBDM about it, he could treat it as a +0 level adjustment metamagic feat like in 3.0, which would mean using it with your spontaneous spellcasting side would increase casting time... They changed it to a general feat in 3.5 solely to not screw over sorcerers like that, so at the very least, you could ask for the "nerfed" older version.

 

[Dandu]

Older version is problematic if you combine it with Arcane Thesis. Just a head's up.

 

[Herzog]

Actually, since I'm only taking it because it is a prerequisite, Even if my DM would be a RB, I could always NOT use it when casting time is important, or use Ultimate Magus Augmented Casting to bypass the casting time increase....

As to Arcane Thesis: This hasn't come up yet, but I expect the agreement to be that you can't use it to decrease the spell's level below the starting level.

 

[Dandu]

As to Arcane Thesis: This hasn't come up yet, but I expect the agreement to be that you can't use it to decrease the spell's level below the starting level.

Oh no, you can't.

But you can use it to reduce the total level adjustment so that an Eschewed Empowered Spell will have a +1 adjustment.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Oh no, you can't.

But you can use it to reduce the total level adjustment so that an Eschewed Empowered Spell will have a +1 adjustment.

Techincally true, but I don't know many DMs that would allow that, either.

 

[Andion Isurand]

How about this revision?

Eschew Materials [General]
You can cast spells without relying on material components.
Benefit: You can cast any spell that has a material component costing 1 gp or less without needing that component. (The casting of the spell still provokes attacks of opportunity as normal.) If the spell requires a material component that costs more than 1 gp, you must have the material component at hand to cast the spell, just as normal.
Special: This feat may count as a metamagic feat for the purpose of bonus feat selection and meeting prerequisites.

 

[WalrusThief]

As a DM, I'd allow it to meet the prereq, but not as a +0 metamagic feat. Opens up the Arcane Spellsurge can of worms.

 

[Andion Isurand]

Agreed.
Prior to 3.5, it was printed a metamagic feat.
Since 3.5, it became a general feat, so that it wouldn't affect the casting times of spontaneous spellcasters.

But in doing so, as described above... it spoiled things for those wanted to use it for a prerequsite specifying "metamagic feat" or select it as a "bonus metamagic feat".