Metamagic Feats - do you use them?

[Mercule]

I'll insert a quick "hogwash", here. The research of new spells is entirely optional, and the DM has no obligation to allow PCs to do it. He could simply say: "stick with the PHB spells".

Are you kidding? I guess I could see not allowing it if you were playing pen & paper Diablo or something. Or disallowing it for divine casters. In general terms though, I would have some serious reservations about playing in a game where the DM was prone to making calls like that. He might suddenly decide that feats are an optional part of the game or something equally ludicrous.

 

[I'm A Banana]

The first true metamagic use I've seen is the polymorph-specialist sorcerer....

Meanwhile, after allowing it to be used either as a high-level slot, or just # times per day, I've seen their use jack up. If you let someone quicken a spell 'for free' once per day, the investment seems a lot less....just jack up the requirements (e.g.: spellcraft 13 ranks, Dex 15+ for quicken), and you've got a nice replacement for the usual.

 

[Arnwyn]

Are you kidding? I guess I could see not allowing it if you were playing pen & paper Diablo or something. Or disallowing it for divine casters. In general terms though, I would have some serious reservations about playing in a game where the DM was prone to making calls like that. He might suddenly decide that feats are an optional part of the game or something equally ludicrous.

Then apparently you don't get out much. There have even been posts on EN World of people pointing out that they "just allow PHB spells and that's it". Hardly seems unbelievable. (And really, I couldn't care less whether you had any reservations about playing in such a game.)

Though, to be honest, I was kidding a bit - I, for one, certainly like the option of spell research a lot. However, I was simply countering the suggestion that it was "unfair" not to allow research - since the game is balanced to be used right out of the PHB "as is". Implying that a possible option (which, in the case of spell research, revolves a *lot* around DM and player cooperation, with totally unclear results) may make metamagic feats less useful got my skeptical response.