Metamagic Feats - Alternate Rules

[anon]

Metamagics

I personally believe that the standard metamagic structure is far too expensive. We tend to play low to mid level characters who might get 3-4 feats total (fighters, more of course), so to cost both a feat and mutliple spell levels higher is far too expensive in my mind.

My own proposed house rule is as follows:

All metamagic feats are as stated in the PHB.

There are additional feats known as Improved "metamagic" Spell (eg. Improved Quicken Spell or Improved Still Spell). Each additional feat reduces the spell level increase by one level.

Really want to cast your spells without moving? Take Still Spell and Improved Still Spell and you can cast all of your spells without moving. And if you really love to Quicken Spells (who doesn't), take Quicken Spell then take Improved Quicken Spell four additional times (five feats total) and you can Quicken to your heart's content.

It might sound powerful, but at least it's usable. Currently, to my knowledge, none of the non-NPC characters IMC have bothered with metamagics at all, which tells me that the mechanic is flawed (for us at least).

 

[Wolffenjugend]

If you take the feat twice, you gain additional uses of the metamagic feat per day (so if you had 4 uses per day, now its 8).

I don't want to make it too complicated. And if there's one battle per day, then I'd expect to see metamagic used in that battle. That's the whole point - to get metamagic feats into the game on a regular basis. Besides, the same rules will apply to the enemy...

 

[Spatzimaus]

It might sound powerful, but at least it's usable. Currently, to my knowledge, none of the non-NPC characters IMC have bothered with metamagics at all, which tells me that the mechanic is flawed (for us at least).

Well, I've taken metamagics, and so have all of the other casters I've played with, so it sounds like your group just doesn't like them. But, we'll usually only take one or two (usually Still, Silent, or Empower, with the occasional Energy Substitution). Most Clerics I've seen take Empower just for the swapped cures; if you swap a level 9 spell, it's nice to get something stronger than a level 4 spell effect for it.

Your idea is interesting, and links to the Epic-level "Automatic" metamagic Feats well, but it doesn't really make the cost of the core ability any less. If you think the Feat + levels cost is too much, trading one level for one additional Feat just makes it worse. My Sorcerer only had 7 Feats (Human, level 15), and spending more than one of them for a metamagic Feat would have been an awful lot to ask.
Now, if you made a feat called "Improved Metamagic" that reduced the total metamagic cost by 1 level no matter which Feat you use, that'd be something.

 

[green slime]

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing some/most metamagic feats freely available. Or rather, I'd like very much to see more flexible spells, akin to AU and WoT.

So the caster would choose to prepare fireball as a 7th level spell, then he could choose appropriate effects. Certain effects would be listed in the spell description. This would mean, for instance, that all the "mass" or "greater" effects just became paragraphs in the spell description. But the caster "knows" invisibility, for instance, and can cast all varieties of it, if he has the caster level to do so.

 

[anon]

Spatzimaus,

I agree with an earlier poster that a feat + spell levels is too expensive, but metamagics are too good to just be one feat. So I think it could go either way, make the ability free (no feat), but keep the spell level increase, or let the feats drain away the spell level increase.

For me at least, multiple feats granting no cost casting balances out in the end. I don't mind paying an expensive cost (multiple feats) if I really get something out of it (unlimited no cost metamagics).

 

[Tywyll]

As for the feat providing a meta-magic enhancement 'X-times' per day, in Au, Quicken Spell works 3 times a day. Each time you take the feat you can use it 3 more times per day. I think that is a fairly decent mechanic. Granted, a PC might save those for the bbeg, but if that is the fear, then perhaps teh challenges along the way aren't stiff enough?

I mention that simply because I know as my players have often said, and as I feel when I play, taking a feat that works once a day is a waste of time. Even something as potentially potent as Quicken spell is a joke if you can only do it 1x/day. my players wouldn't bother I know, and I doubt I would either.

 

[Wolffenjugend]

A lot depends on the type of campaign you're running. IMC, battles don't occur that much so metamagic feats usable 1x/day are fine.

 

[Limper]

I know you said 4/level adjustment but would 5 - (level adjustment) be better? As there are some that are 0 and 3 this would make those a bit easier to calculate Possibly even 6 - (LA). Are you allowing people to take the feat more than once? what happens?

That would indeed give the range I was looking for easier. Thank you.

 

[Spatzimaus]

A lot depends on the type of campaign you're running. IMC, battles don't occur that much so metamagic feats usable 1x/day are fine.

And that's exactly why it's NOT good to have really powerful X/day abilities that you can stack as needed. If the only drawback to a high-level metamagic is that it gets 1 use per day instead of 4, and then you make it so that 1 use per day is all you ever need, then what's the drawback to using a more powerful metamagic? What's to stop you from putting all your Feats on the first few spells, ending the fight that much quicker?

I just think there needs to be some additional drawback to the metamagic so that if you get X uses per day, you don't spend them all on the first X spells of the One Big Fight. There should also be some reason to take a small metamagic like Still or Silent instead of only taking the big ones like Quicken or Chain. Having some sort of "you can't use this ability again for another N rounds" goes a long way for this, or saying that the old level limit (spell level + levels of the metamagic can't exceed your highest spell) still stands even though the slot isn't actually higher.

There's also the Epic cap. Pre-ELH, you couldn't have a spell higher than 9th level, including metamagics, which led to a soft cap in capability. Now, there's nothing stopping me from casting an Empowered Twinned Sonic-Admixtured Widened Meteor Swarm at the start of the big fight. Go calculate how much damage that'd do. Then realize that if I have 2/day of each of those, there's nothing stopping me from casting a Quickened one too. And yes, if you make metamagics work this way, Wizards WILL spend 5 or 6 Feats on them.

 

[Wolffenjugend]

What's to stop you from putting all your Feats on the first few spells, ending the fight that much quicker?

Nothing. However, the same holds true for the enemy. Also, we've got a pretty mature and role-playing minded group of players who don't like casting the same thing over and over again (or using the same feats over and over again). Our group is pretty good at self-regulating to prevent game rules abuse b/c they know "what's good for the goose is good for the gander" (whatever that means).

As for epic rules, it's not an issue for us cuz we don't use 'em.