Are Metamagic Rods imba?

[Horrendos]

Hiho Community,

i play with my friends D&D 3.5 since i would say 6-9 months but we played a long time 2nd edition so we are experienced players/masters but not so experienced with the 3rd edition.

Today we talked that the Metamagic Rods are much to powerful (because if u use them it dont change the spell-slot-lvl). I said that we cant say that they are overpowered until we reach this lvl and can "see them in action". The discussion closed with the result that the most players wanna that we dont allow them.

What are your expierences with the Rods? Do u think the are too powerful? Is it a good decission to disallow them? And another question which touches also this is how much money do u distribute to your players? The specifications in the Masterhandbook seems for me a little bit high.

thx
Horrendos

 

[Liquidsabre]

Heh, we've instituted the UA Spontaneous Metamagic rule into our game group. So rods for everyone! We haven't seen it as too powerful with casters selecting feats to use metamgic spontaneously 3/day, surprised the heck out of me. My players responded when I asked them if they thought it was too powerful and they shrugged saying "Now I'll actually take the metamgic feats, before I never even considered them."

For the Rods, as long as they pay for them they should be fine. Keep in mind that they come in lesser-to-greater rods form so a lesser may be cheaper but can only be used for 1st-3rd level spells. Not bad at all really, just does funky things for game balance when folk say Sorcerer's can't even use them.

 

[Stalker0]

I don't consider them imbalanced, but since it allows Wizards to do what only sorcs could do before (spontaneously cast metamagic).. its another nail in the coffin for them, with the XPH the undertaker

 

[Joshua Randall]

It partly depends upon the style of campaign. If you run a campaign in which the PCs have just one big fight per day, then the metamagic rods are enormously powerful -- probably too powerful. If you run a campaign in which the PCs face multiple fights per day, the metamagic rods are still very good -- but probably as balanced as anything else.

 

[Thanee]

They aren't that bad, really, and the better ones are quite expensive.

I'd recommond - if you want to use them, if you don't then just don't - to use them in the way, that they only confer the feat use without adding levels, that is, wizards (and other prepared casters) have to use them during preparation and specify the spells to metamagic at that time. Of course, all spontaneous casters (not just sorcerers) should need a full-round action to use them as well.

It's unclear how they are meant to be used, I'm actually inclined to say, that this is the way they are intended, tho.

Bye
Thanee