Metamagic Rod, Arcane Preparation, and Pearls of Power

[Larcen]

I have a cleric that gets True Strike and Shield through a single level of sorcerer. I recently bought a Lesser Metamagic Rod:Quicken.

Since I can't use the rod to quicken those two sorcerer spells into a Free Action, I am thinking of taking the Arcane Preparation feat. But this has brought up several questions:

1) Do Meta magic rods apply their affects at the time of casting, or during the spell preparation phase? In other words if I were a Wizard and I had a Quicken Metamagic rod, do I jot down on my character sheet for that day the 3 spells that I have prepared ahead of time as Quicken (without adjusting their level slot) by the Rod, or do I add the Quicken affect from the Rod "on the fly" to whatever qualifiying spells I chose to at the time of casting?

2) If answer to 1) above is that you add the Quicken affect at the time of preparation, can a Sorcerer use the Arcane Preparation Feat in conjuction with a Quicken Metamagic Rod to prepare Quickened versions of spells?

3) Can Pearls of Power be used to recall the spell that was modified by a Metamagic Rod, with the metamagic still attached? For example, a Wizard (or Sorcerer in the example above) uses a Metamagic Rod to cast a Quicken Magic Missile at the expense of a 1st level spell slot. If this Wizard owns a Pearl of Power:1st Level, can he then use the Pearl to recall the Quickened Magic Missile spell, or just the Magic Missile spell? The same Wizard could certainly use a Pearl to recall a cast spell that was prepared with the actual metamagic feat and the Metamagic would still be attached, so would spells modified by the Rods be similar?

4) Assuming my Sorcerer is S.O.L., is there any possible way he can ever get his spells quickened via some other feats, magic items, or anything?

5) Hopefully not a stupid question: Do Metamagic rods have to be in hand for them to be of any benefit, or can they simply be somewhere in your possession?

I know what my gut feeling is to these questions, but I am looking for concrete rulings. Depending the answers to these questions, it seems like Metamagic Rod and Pearls of Power might be awesome combos.

Many thanks!

 

[Khristos]

1) If Arcane Preparation allows you to fix spells into memory like a wizard you are in business.

2) Per my understanding the rods are used to produce a metamagic effect when you cast the spell.

3) A pearl of power recalls spells as how they were memorized as the rod normally adds the metamagic after the fact a spell used that way would not be relearned into memory with the enhancement.

4) The sorceror isnt SoL if I am thinking of the same Arcane Preparation as you are.

5) rods are use activated so they need to be held. As you are also a cleric you can wield a rod like a light mace

6) yes using metamagic rods and pearls are great... my wizard does so frequently to augment his already potent arsenal ( I prefer memorizing quickened true strikes and then using my greater rod of maximization to maximize energy drain. The character owns maximization and quickening rods... currently hunting for an extension rod greater. I have sort of a rod/wand utility belt)

 

[Thanee]

1) Do Meta magic rods apply their affects at the time of casting, or during the spell preparation phase?

This is highly unclear. The rules speak about granting access to the feat in the general description of the rod and then go on to say, that sorcerers need a full-round action (this could either be a silly rule specific for sorcerers or an example for standard usage of the metamagic). In the individual rod description it says, that you can cast a metamagicked spell 3/day, which intuitively leads to the assumption, that they are used during the casting process. The description above also says they are use-activated. However, if you would use them like the feat, that is for a wizard during preparation stage, you'd also be able to cast a metamagicked spell 3/day and they'd still be use-activated, so it's not in contradiction with this.

Anyways, I'd apply them during preparation for wizards and during casting for sorcerers (and like spellcasters), just like normal metamagic usage for the classes. This would be the most fair and consistent interpretation.

A wizard would have to use the rod during preparation, to link the spell being metamagicked with the rod's power, and later during casting, to release the energy from the rod.

Otherwise you'd have to deal with the question, why a sorcerer needs a full-round action (and a bard has not, for example), which is their standard method to use metamagic feats and basically means they have to do the metamagic modifications 'manually', while wizards don't need to do this, as the rod does all the necessary modifications for them.

2) If answer to 1) above is that you add the Quicken affect at the time of preparation, can a Sorcerer use the Arcane Preparation Feat in conjuction with a Quicken Metamagic Rod to prepare Quickened versions of spells?

Yes, of course.

3) Can Pearls of Power be used to recall the spell that was modified by a Metamagic Rod, with the metamagic still attached?

That would only be fair then. However, you can still only cast 3 metamagicked spells per day with the rod, so if you already used them all up, it wouldn't work. The Pearl of Power would only allow you to use them in a different fashion (one spell twice inplace of another).

Yes, this means, that the spell left out couldn't be cast at all, so a lenient DM might allow you to cast it without the metamagic still.

4) Assuming my Sorcerer is S.O.L., is there any possible way he can ever get his spells quickened via some other feats, magic items, or anything?

S.O.L. !?

Arcane Preparation allows you to prepare quickened spells just like wizards do.

5) Hopefully not a stupid question: Do Metamagic rods have to be in hand for them to be of any benefit, or can they simply be somewhere in your possession?

They have to be in hand.



Here's how I see metamagic rods to work (pseudo-scientific explanation):

Metamagic rods hold the essence of a metamagic feat, they confer this knowledge to the wearer, plus the ability to cast three such spells per day.

So, the rods contain some kind of power source, similar to spell slots, which are used to power spells, this power source is tapped when the spells are cast and provides them with the necessary spell energy to be metamagicked, since the caster does not have to provide this (no higher slot required). This energy is limited to three uses per day.

Since the rods transfer the knowledge of the metamagic feat (only limited, useable in conjunction with the rod only, of course), the caster still has to do the necessary modifications to the spell to be metamagicked. This means a sorcerer needs a full-round action to cast the spell as usual. This, of course, applies to all spontaneous castings. Wizards (and other prepared spellcasters) have to modify their spells during the daily preparation. Essentially, they link their spell slots with the rod's energy source, so when they cast the spell later (with rod in hand), this energy can be released.

This way, you'll have both a consistent and a fair way to use the rods.

Bye
Thanee