Metamagic and You
by Xtis Cee, Gnome Shadowcraft Mage
My previous theses (On Illusions and Erogenous Zones of Females Across the Multiverse) touched on the subject of metamagic only briefly. For good reason; the manipulation of the parameters of known spells is not a subject for the faint of heart. While any mage can extend or remove the need for somatic or verbal components (and rarely both), doing more is usually more trouble than it's worth. It is usually better to perform a spell of a spell level equal to the adjustment of most metamagics, such as empowering or maximizing.
However, it's come to my attention that there are magic-users who manage to do so with great efficiency. Over the last few years, I've devoted myself to researching the methods that these wizards, sorcerers, clerics, beguilers, dread necromancers, archivists, and so on manage to do so without being driven mad by the consumption of spell slots that could have been used for something equal or better. With a little focus, however, not only can they keep from being driven mad, but they can usually reduce these costs to the point where it would be stupid not to use metamagic.
The results of my research are outlined below.
Results highlighted in Green are excellent options.
Results highlighted in Blue are decent options.
Results not highlighted are okay options.
Results highlighted in Red are horrible, horrible options that should die fiery deaths.
And results highlighted in Purple, my personal favorite, are options that are so good, you would be a mentally handicapped halfling if you didn't seek them out.
Full List of Metamagic Feats
+0
Alternative Source Spell (Dragon #325): For the cost of 1 caster level, and one slot from a class that grants the spell, you can prepare an arcane spell as divine, or a divine spell as arcane.
Black Lore of Moil (Complete Arcane, page 76): Any Necromancy spell deals +1d6 damage, +1d6/two spell levels. Must expend a 'runebone' that costs 25gp per 1d6 to be generated. See feat for full details.
Born of Three Thunders (Complete Arcane, page 76): Any [electricity] or [sonic] spell that deals damage has its damage split split 50/50 between electricity and sonic damage. Adds Fort save or deafened, plus Reflex save vs being knocked prone.
City Spell (Cityscape, page 59-60): Any spell with an energy descriptor and cast within any urban area above the size of small town converts 50% of its damage into "city" damage.
Cooperative Spell (Complete Arcane, page 77): Requires additional person with this feat, who casts the same spell with you. Adds +2 DC and +1 caster level to beat Spell Resistance, and uses the better of the two spellcasters' DC and caster level. Can be expanded into multiple extra people, adding +1 DC and +1 CL for each additional person.
Energy Affinity (Miniature's Handbook): Subsumed by Energy Substitution; also slightly harder to qualify for. Same effect.
Energy Substitution (Complete Arcane, page 79): Any spell with an energy descriptor can be changed to have the energy descriptor (and deal corresponding damage type) chosen by this feat.
Ghost Touch Spell (Ghostwalk, page 34): Allows spells to affect ghosts and only ghosts.
Imbued Healing (Complete Champion, page 60): Adds a rider effect specific to one of your domains on the tail-end of your conjuration (healing) spells. Has a table for non-PHB domains on page 53.
Invisible Spell (Cityscape, page 61): Removes all visual manifestation of a spell.
Lord of the Uttercold (Complete Arcane, page 81): Any spell with the [cold] descriptor can be changed to deal half cold damage, half negative energy damage.
Miser With Magic (Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Guide, page 88): Not really a metamagic feat, despite being marked as such. After casting a spell, make a Spellcraft check at a DC = 10+(2* Spell Level). Succeed, and you get the spell back. Fail by 5 or more, you don't cast it and lose the slot. Regains a number of spell levels equal to your primary casting stat modifier.
Sanctum Spell (Complete Arcane, pages 82-83): Has an effective spell level of +1 when cast in sanctum, but -1 cast outside of sanctum.
+1
Bend Spell (Dragon #291, Dungeon Compendium Vol. 1): Negates cover bonuses.
Blistering Spell (Player's Handbook II, page 91): +2 fire damage per spell level, and -2 to attack rolls and checks if the target fails its save. [fire] spells only.
Clawed Spell (Dragon #315): Spell deals 1d6 Force damage for every 5 caster levels.
Coercive Spell (Drow of the Underdark, page 47): Spell deals a -2 penalty to Will saves for 3 rounds, non-cumulative.
Consecrate Spell (Book of Exalted Deeds, page 42/Complete Divine, page 79): Spell gains [good] descriptor, and if it deals damage, half of it is divine damage.
Corrupt Spell (Book of Vile Darkness, page 47/Complete Divine, pages 79-80): Spell gains [evil] descriptor, and if it deals damage, half of it is divine damage.
Deafening Spell (Drow of the Underdark, page 49): Any spell that deals damage also deafens its target for 1 round. No save.
Deceptive Spell (Cityscape, page 60): Makes a spell appear to originate from a different direction.
Energize Spell (Libris Mortis, page 26): Deals 1.5x damage to undead creatures, but 0.5x damage to non-undead and objects.
Enlarge Spell: Doubles the Range entry on a spell's description.
Extend Spell: Double duration of a spell.
Fell Energy Spell (Dungeon Compendium Vol. 1, Dragon #312): Any spell that gives a numerical bonus gives an extra +2 to undead.
Fell Weaken (Libris Mortis, page 27): Any spell that deals damage also deals out a non-cumulative -4 Strength penalty.
Fiery Spell (Sandstorm, pages 49-50): Only usable on spells with the [fire] descriptor, adds +1 damage per die of damage dealt by the spell.
Flash Frost Spell (Player's Handbook II, page 91): Only usable on spells with the [cold] descriptor, adds +2 damage per level of the spell and creates a quasi-grease effect in the spell's area for 1 round. Note that any spell when using the Snowcasting feat is a [cold] spell.
Forceful Spell (Dragon #358): Adds a Save-or-Suck to any spell on any one target (even on an area-of-effect spell): Save or be knocked prone and stunned for 1 round.
Imbued Summoning (Player's Handbook II, page 92): Any creature created by conjuration (summoning) spells can have any spell you know of 3rd level or lower with a range of touch cast on it auto-magically.
Sculpt Spell (Cityscape, page 63, Complete Arcane, page 83): Changes an area spell's area.
Silent Spell: Removes Verbal components.
Still Spell: Removes Somatic components (and arcane spell failure for armor).
Transdimensional Spell (Complete Arcane, page 84): Allows a spell to affect an incorporeal creature, creatures on the Ethereal Plane or Plane of Shadow, and creatures within an extradimensional space within the spell's area.
+2
Earthbound Spell (Player's Handbook II, page 91): Turns any non-personal spell into a trap. Memetically.
Empower Spell: Level-based variable effects are increased by 50%.
Enervate Spell (Libris Mortis, page 26): Deals 1.5x damage to living creatures, but 0.5x damage to constructs, undead, and objects.
Entangling Spell (Champions of Ruin, page 20): On spells that deal instant energy type damage, entangle the target(s) for one round.
Explosive Spell (Complete Arcane, page 79): Any spell that affects an area and allows a Reflex save now forces the targets to the first space outside of its effect if they fail their Reflex save, dealing an additional 1d6 per 10ft. moved.
Fell Drain (Libris Mortis, page 27): Applying fell drain to a spell that deals damage also deals out a negative level that lasts 1 hour/CL. Get this Practical/Easy Metamagic'd fast.
Fell Frighten (Libris Mortis, page 27): This shouldn't be a +2... any spell that deals damage also makes the target shaken for 1 minute.
Split Ray (Complete Arcane, page 83): Adds 1 ray to a ray spell, must be aimed at targets within 30ft. of each other.
+3
Chain Spell (Complete Arcane, page 76): Any single-target non-touch, non-personal spell can arc to secondary targets equal to your caster level (max 20), all of which must be within 30ft of the primary target. Damage spells deal 0.5x damage to secondary targets, 0.25x damage on an additional Reflex save. Non-damaging spells have DCs reduced by -4.
Delay Spell (Complete Arcane, page 77): Area, personal or touch spell can be set to delay its activation for 1-5 rounds.
Fell Animate (Libris Mortis, page 26-27): Any creature killed by a fell animate spell that deals damage rises as a zombie under your control. Can create up to 2*CL in HD of zombies.
Guided Spell (Dragon #307, Dungeon Compendium Vol. 1): Affects only Ranged Touch spells. Ignores 9/10ths of cover or concealment. That's not the best part - the best part is it persists for a number of rounds equal to 1/3rd level, attacking again on your initiative each round. Negated by total cover or concealment, losing Line of Effect, or moving out of range of the spell.
Maximize Spell: Level-based variable effects get their maximum result.
Repeat Spell: Automatically casts any non-touch range spell again at the beginning of your next turn, using the same variables as before.
Widen Spell: Any numeric measurements of a burst, emanation, line, or spread's area are increased by 100%.
+4
Energy Admixture (Complete Arcane, page 78): Doubles the damage of a spell, adding a second set of damage die of the same descriptor chosen when you take its prerequisite Energy Substitution.
Irresistible Spell (Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Guide, page 87): Remove all saving throws from your spell. Yes, you read that correctly. Fuck you Rogues and Evasion. This feat becomes Blue if playing with errata, which simply adds +10 to the DC of the spell. For a +4 adjustment, a bit steep.
Quicken Spell: Any spell that requires 1 full round action or less to cast is now a swift action.
Twin Spell (Complete Arcane, page 84): Casts the same spell twice with the same action with identical results on their variable effects.
+6
Persistent Spell: Changes the duration of a spell to 24 hours. Extend makes this 48 hours (general consensus). This feat becomes Blue if not playing with DMM or many of the reduction/replacement methods detailed later in the thesis.
Variable
Fortify Spell (Complete Arcane, page 80): Gain +2 to your CL check to beat SR per level of adjustment. Envelop the Wall is better since it's a pre-req for Irresistible Spell.
Heighten Spell: Treat spell as adjusted spell level for all purposes, including DC. Invaluable for Sorcerous creatures such as myself, along with Versatile Spellcaster.
Envelop the Wall (Kingdom of Kalamar Player's Guide, page 85): Gain +2 to your CL check to beat SR per level of adjustment. This becomes Purple if you can play with Irresistible Spell unerrata'd.
REDUCING METAMAGIC COSTS
This is the real bread and butter of the magic-user who wishes to effectively use metamagic.
FeatsArcane Thesis (Complete Arcane): For one spell, total up the number of metamagic feats and reduce the adjustment by -1 for every metamagic feat applied.
Easy Metamagic (Dragon Magazine, #325): -1 to a specific metamagic feat's cost.
Forceful Magic (Dragon Magazine, #308): -1 metamagic once per day.
Metamagic School Focus (Complete Mage, page 45): Reduce metamagic costs by -1 for any school of magic you have Spell Focus in or are specialized in 3/day.
Practical Metamagic (Races of the Dragon, page 101): -1 to a specific metamagic feat's cost when applied to a spontaneously-cast spell.
Undead Battery (Dragonlance: Age of Mortals, sidebar page 209): Drain undead of Hitdice; store 1 energy per hitdie (up to cha mod; degrades at 1 level/10 minutes). Use stored energy to reduce metamagic costs at 1 level of stored energy per adjustment. This feat becomes Purple if playing any of the following: Spellstitched with animate dead as one of your spell-likes, Dread Necromancer, or any character that likes making the creations of the Gods their Pokèmon.
Class FeaturesHalruuan Elder 1/4/7/10: Reduces the metamagic cost of a specific feat by -1, to a minimum of +1. Cumulative, or can be spread out among different feats. This would be Green, but it's FR.
Incantatrix 10 (Player's Guide to Faerun, page 61-63): -1 to all individual metamagic costs, to a minimum of +1 adjustment. Honestly, if you are taking Incantatrix to 10, you get other benefits that are just as good; this is just icing on the cake.
Dweomerkeeper 10 (Complete Divine Web Enhancement): -1 to all individual metamagic costs, to a minimum of +1 adjustment (+0 if the metamagic feat is already +0). Like the Incantatrix, if you take it to 10, you get all kinds of benefits.
Metaphysical Spell Shaper 3 (Book of Erotic Fantasy, pages 81-83): -1 to final metamagic cost. Like the Incantatrix and Dweomerkeeper before it, pure freaking gold.
REPLACING METAMAGIC COSTS
These are ridiculous. They allow the manipulation of magical energies and are no more taxing than casting the spell normally. While not as flexible as reducing the costs, I find that these methods are just as good, if not better, than other options.
FeatsBattle Blessing (Complete Champion, page 55): Effectively free quicken spell on paladin spells.
Divine Metamagic (Complete Divine, page 80): Spend Turn or Rebuke Undead (arguably, any Turning) uses to apply any specific metamagic feat (chosen when the feat is chosen) without adjusting spell level or casting time on divine spells only. Uses 1+Metamagic Adjustment Turn uses. Becomes Purple if Nightsticks stack.
Eldritch Corruption (Heroes of Horror, page 122): Not exactly free; Enlarge, Extend, Heighten or Widen a spell, taxing an ally 2 points of Constitution damage per metamagic adjustment. As funny as killing your allies with Con damage is, not very sporting of you.
Mastery of Azure Sky (Player's Guide to Eberron, page 125): Automatically extend any spell that gives or improves a fly speed.
Mastery of the Battleground (Player's Guide to Eberron, page 125): Automatically extend any spell that creates, emulates, or enhances a weapon, or any spell that excites hostile emotions.
Mastery of Day and Night (Player's Guide to Eberron, page 125): Automatically maximize any cure or inflict spell.
Mastery of Faerie Enchantment (Player's Guide to Eberron, pages 125-126): Automatically extend any spell of the enchantment school.
Mastery of Ice and Fire (Player's Guide to Eberron, page 126): Automatically enlarge any spell with the [cold] or [fire] descriptors.
Mastery of the Silver Void (Player's Guide to Eberron, page 126): Automatically quicken any conjuration (teleportation) spell at -9 caster level.
Mastery of Twilight Denizens (Player's Guide to Eberron, page 126): Automatically extend any spell that summons a denizen of Lammania (Eberron Campaign Setting, page 97).
Metamagic Song (Races of Stone, page 142): Spend Bardic Music uses in place of metamagic adjustment. Like Divine Metamagic but without as many ways to get extra Bardic Music as there are Turn Undead attempts.
Metanode Spell (Underdark, page 26): Reduce a metamagic feat's cost by a Node's class. Can only use the feat while in a Node.
Residual Magic (Complete Mage, page 46): Cast a spell modified by metamagic feats as normal one round, cast the same spell in the next round with its normal level, but get one of the metamagics applied for free.
Prophecy's Shaper (Magic of Eberron, page 50): Requires Dragon Prophesier (MoE page 46). While in a state of Prophetic Favor, freely empower one spell per round. For the cost of a full-round action each combat, not bad.
Sudden Empower, Extend, Maximize, Quicken, Silent, Still, Widen (Complete Arcane, page 83): Exactly what they say on the tin. Once per day, apply that metamagic feat for free. Quicken is miserable because it requires most of the other Suddens to take, making it a gargantuan feat tax.
Class Features
Abjurant Champion 1 (Complete Mage, pages 50-53): Auto-extend all abjurations.
Abjurant Champion 2 (Complete Mage, pages 50-53): Auto-quickens any abjuration spell up to 1/2 class level (rounded up).
Anima Mage 5 (Tome of Magic, pages 50-53): Apply a single metamagic feat to any spell for free by suppressing your access to a bound vestige for 5 rounds. Usable 1/2/3 times a day. (Text says you gain it at 4th level, but don't get a use of it til 5th.)
Anima Mage 10 (Tome of Magic, pages 50-53): 1/day, cast a spell as an immediate action, auto-silent and auto-still.
Archmage (Dungeon Master's Guide, pages 178-180): Archmage's High Arcana: Arcane Reach is basically Reach Spell for free. High Arcana: Mastery of Elements is Energy Substitution with no limits.
Citadel Mystic 3/5/7/9 (Dragonlance: Age of Mortals, pages 30-32): Alters a spell permanently, granting it extend or empower for free.
Dark Scholar (Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde): Gets a Book Mastery that lets them cast all spells 2 levels lower than their highest as auto-silent.
Escalation Mage (Faiths of Eberron, pages 52-55): Caster Level checks for free metamagic; heighten +1 at 2nd, empower at 3rd, widen at 4th, quicken at 5th. These are solid CL checks, and failing means you take damage of some sort and get some kind of bad mojo status effect.
Geometer 1 (Complete Arcane, pages 39-41): Can prepare a spell as a spellglyph, which replaces verbal and material components. Costs 25gp per spell level.
Geometer 5 (Complete Arcane, pages 39-41): When preparing a spell as a spellglyph, it's treated as if affected by heighten (+1) for free.
Gnome Illusionist Substitution Level 5 (Races of Stone, pages 148-149): Trade a Wizard bonus feat and your two "free" spells for an auto-extend (stackable) on illusions, plus 1d4 rounds of duration after concentration ceases.
Hierophant (Dungeon Master's Guide, pages 188-189): Special Ability: Divine Reach is Reach Spell for free.
Incantatrix 2 (Player's Guide to Faerun, page 61-63); Apply a metamagic effect to a spell an ally is casting with a standard action and a Spellcraft check (18+[3*Adjusted Spell Level]).
Incantatrix 3 (Player's Guide to Faerun, page 61-63); Apply a metamagic effect to an ongoing spell effect with a Spellcraft check (18+[3*Adjusted Spell Level])
Incantatrix 5 (Player's Guide to Faerun, page 61-63); Apply a metamagic effect to a spell cast from a wand with additional charges equal to the metamagic adjustment
Incantatrix 7 (Player's Guide to Faerun, page 61-63); Spontaneously apply one metamagic feat for free once per day, twice per day at 9th.
Master Specialist 10 (Complete Mage, pages 70-73): Major School Esoterica for Illusion lets you cast any Illusion spell as stilled, silent and eschewed for free.
Master Transmogrifist 1 (Complete Arcane, pages 51-54): Extend any transmutation spell when changing into a favored form.
Master Transmogrifist 4 (Complete Arcane, pages 51-54): Still and silent on any transmutation spell when changing into a favored form.
Master Transmogrifist 7 (Complete Arcane, pages 51-54): Cast any transmutation spell as an immediate action to change into a favored form.
Metaphysical Spell Shaper 1 (Book of Erotic Fantasy, pages 81-83): Takes ability score damage equal to the metamagic adjustment rather than raising the spell's level. Can modify spells past 9th level in this way. Becomes Purple if also a Binder binding Naberius.
Radiant Servant of Pelor 1 (Complete Divine pages 52-53): Widen and Heighten (+1) any spell with the [light] descriptor for free.
Radiant Servant of Pelor 2/10 (Complete Divine, pages 52-53): Empower any healing spell for free. At 10th level, becomes maximizeandempower for free.
Runesmith 1 (Races of Stone, pages 118-120): Able to prepare a spell in Rune form, which removes Somatic components in exchange for adding a material component (the rune). So auto-still.
Runesmith 5 (Races of Stone, pages 118-120): Able to change a spell into a permanent Spell-Like Ability 2/day, removing Somatic, Verbal and Material components, and arguably, pays the XP cost once for the ability to cast it 2/day forever for free.
Mystic (Dragon 274): Every odd level, gain a Spell Secret that permanently modifies a spell known with Empower, Enlarge, Extend, Silent or Still spell.
Recaster 1 (Races of Eberron, pages 157-161): Eschew for free, 1/day per class level Still and Silent for free.
Recaster 3 (Races of Eberron, pages 157-161): Free quicken 3/day.
Recaster 5 (Races of Eberron, pages 157-161): Reach, sculpt, and unique effects 5/day.
Shadowcraft Mage 2 (Races of Stone pages 120-122): Auto-silent on illusion spells at 2nd.
Shadowcraft Mage 4 (Races of Stone, pages 120-122): Auto-extend (stackable) on illusions at 4th.
Spelldancer (Magic of Faerun, pages 37-38): 1 full round of Spelldancing per level of adjustment (safe maximum of Spelldancing = Con mod + Spelldancer level, afterwards escalating Fort save), then Perform check (DC 10+modified spell level). Simply put: Way too easy. Becomes Purple if undead, since you can dance forever, as you are immune to any Fort saves that don't affect objects.
Suel Arcanamach 3 (Complete Arcane, pages 63-65): Auto-extends any Suel Arcanamach spells cast by the Suel Aracanamach that targets the Suel Arcanamach.
Tainted Sorcerer (Unearthed Arcana, pages 191-193): Takes Constitution damage in place of metamagic adjustments on a 1:1 basis. Becomes Purple if a Binder binding Naberius or undead or have reliable means of restoring stat damage. Usually, though, losing Constitution is bad.
Ultimate Magus 3 (Complete Mage, pages 77-81): Apply a metamagic feat equal to a sacrificed spell or spell slot's level, up to 1/2 Ultimate Magus level (maximum +5 adjustment). Usable 3+1/2 Ultimate Magus level times per day. This would be higher if it didn't have a daily limit.
War Wizard of Cormyr 3 (Magic of Faerun, pages 40-41): Spontaneously apply Widen Spell 1+cha mod/day.
Wu Jen (Complete Arcane, pages 14-16): 1/3 levels, gain a Spell Secret that permanently modifies a spell known with Enlarge, Extend, Silent or Still Spell.
Items
Empowered Spellshard (Magic Item Compendium, page 96): Free Empowering of a spell attuned to that Spellshard; one spell per shard, any spell up to 3rd level.
Metamagic Rods, lesser (Various): Apply a specific feat (determined by rod) to a spell of 1st-3rd level as it's being cast for free, 3/day.
Metamagic Rods (Various): Apply a specific feat (determined by rod) to a spell of 1st-6th level as it's being cast for free, 3/day.
Metamagic Rods, greater (Various): Apply a specific feat (determined by rod) to a spell of 1st-9th level as it's being cast for free, 3/day.
On metamagic rods: Their ranking depends on which feat it is and what class you are. However, you can consider all of these to be Awesome because it's free freaking metamagic.
SpellsArcane Spellsurge (Dragon Magic, page 64): Sor/Wiz 7, Wu Jen 7. Effectively applies quicken spell to a spell as you cast it. Best used as a Sorcerer, allowing you to quicken a spell for free, then cast a metamagicked-spell as a standard action. This Sorcerous gnome prefers invisible spell for this purpose.
Special
Action Points (UA Variant, Eberron): 1 action point can be spent to apply a metamagic feat for free.
Circle Magic (Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, page 59): Available to Hathrans (Player's Guide to Faerun, pages 59-61), Red Wizards (Dungeon Master's Guide, pages 193-194), and Haalruan Elders (Shining South, pages 27-29), this allows free empower, heighten or maximize at the cost of spell slots from other participants.
Clerics of Mystra: Free metamagic when spell cast within a Temple dedicated to Mystra.
Naenhoon Sigil (Illumians, Races of Destiny pages 54-55): Similar to Divine Metamagic (except any metamagic feat you possess, and any spell, not just divine), apply any metamagic by expending Turn or Rebuke Undead uses equal to the metamagic's adjustment as a swift action twice per day. Becomes Green if you don't want to play a freak with glowing sigils around their head.
Slaymate (Libris Mortis, page 122): Any Necromancy spell cast within a Slaymate's Pale Aura effect has any metamagic applied cost -1.
Soul Tick (Fiend Folio, pages 220-221): By letting a Fine Outsider attach itself to you, you get to empower any spell with the [death] or [evil] descriptors, or any spell that utilizes negative energy, for free. While this doesn't adjust the spell level or cast time, it does carry its own costs.
Versatile Spellcaster (Races of the Dragon, page 101): Kind of. Use two lower-level spell slots to cast a spell of one higher level. Can specifically exceed your max spell level.
Metamagic Components (https://web.archive.org/web/20161029052214/http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/metamagicComponents.htm): Use metamagic with special components dependent on spell. Variant rule.
Extra
Power Components (Complete Champion, pages 132-133): Some of these alter divine spells with a metamagic feat.Aurial Sapphire: Any spell from the Air domain or with the [air] descriptor is affected by quicken spell.Doppelganger Bile: Extends any spell that grants invisibility or a bonus to Disguise checks.Dragon Ruby: Widens any spell with the [fire] descriptor.Game of Fate: Can extend any spell that grants a bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, or checks on a roll of 46-90.Obaddis Leaf: Extends and widens any spell from the Plant domain or any spell that specifically targets plants.Pearl of the Waves: Quickens spells from the Water domain and spells with the [water] descriptor.Scholar's Dreams: Extends and widens any spell from the Knowledge domain.Soil of Stone: Extends spells from the Earth domain and spells with the [earth] descriptor.Sunflower of Pelor: Widens spells from the Sun domain and spells with the [light] descriptor.Unicorn Horn: Adds reach to a touch spell with the [healing] descriptor.
Honorable Mentions
Earth Spell (Races of Stone, page 138): This has been mentioned by many of my colleagues, but bears repeating. Heightens a spell to one level higher than its adjusted level.
Sharn (Anauroch, the Empire of Shade) and Phaerimm (Player's Guide to Faerun Web Enhancement/Lost Empires of Faerun page 187): Cast all their spells as Spell-Like Abilities, removing Verbal, Somatic, and Material components.
Builds
Metamagic Master
Race: Human or Strongheart Halfling
Classes: Sorcerer 2/Binder 1/Anima Mage 5/Metaphysical Spellshaper (1 or 3)/(Something that gives bonus metamagic feats) (possibly Incantatrix) (11 or 9 levels to play with, go nuts)
Important Feats (All Else Free)
Human: Versatile Spellcaster (or Precocious Apprentice, your early entry trick of choice here, really)
Level 1: Any Metamagic (Extend Spell recommended)
Flaw: Any Metamagic (Heighten Spell recommended)
Flaw: Free
Level 3: Improved Binding
Level 6:
Level 9:
Level 12:
Level 15:
Level 18: PROFIT!
Bind Naberius every day until eternity. Throw Arcane Thesis on your favorite spell, go nuts.
Notes: You can get by without a bonus feat or flaws, but not without both.
Needs: one metamagic, 2nd level spells [Versatile Spellcaster], 2nd level Vestiges [Improved Binding] by 4th. Two metamagic and some easy skill requirements by 8th. Can jump in to Metaphysical Spellshaper as early as 7th level (Sorc 6), delaying Anima Mage 4-5 until later. That's actually the better choice, but I won't be putting that down in build format, as it's too messy.
Tome Metamagic Master
Any Race
Thaumaturge 5/Metaphysical Spellshaper 3/Thaumaturge +10/Archmage 2
Level 1: Any Metamagic
Thaumaturge 2: Any Metamagic
Level 3: Any Metamagic
Thaumaturge 3: Any Sudden Metamagic
Level 6: Any Metamagic
Level 9: Arcane Mastery
Thaumaturge 6: Any Metamagic
Level 12: Skill Focus (Spellcraft)
Thaumaturge 7: Any Sudden Metamagic
Level 15: Spell Focus (any)
Thaumaturge 11: Any Metamagic
Thaumaturge 12: Any Sudden Metamagic
Thaumaturge 14: Any Metamagic
Thaumaturge 15: Any Sudden Metamagic
Level 18: Spell Focus (any)
Archmage 1: Arcane Reach
Archmage 2: Arcane Reach or Mastery of Shaping or Mastery of Counterspelling or Mastery of Elements
Gets: A giant number of Metamagic feats, -5 costs to the final cost of a metamagic-adjusted spell (-4 only applies up to the maximum spell level castable, -1 doesn't, but minimum +1); the ability to burn ability scores for metamagic (and then cast a Restoration spell to get them back), turns his Touch spells into 30ft/60ft Ranged Touch, and another High Arcana.
With the core Druid, Sorcerer/Wizard, and Cleric lists, restoring ability score damage is just a quick cast away.
Credits
Solo (Ultimate Magus)
Caelic (Metamagic School Focus)
CantripN (Citadel Mystic)
cru (Arcane Reach, Power Components {list compiled by RI}, Recaster)
dirkformica (Incantatrix 2/3/7/9)
Endarire (Metamagic Song)
Garryl (Runesmith, Shadowcraft Mage, Gnome Illusionist)
jameswilliamogle (Naenhoon Word, Metamagic Rods, Mastery feats)
JaronK (Tainted Sorcerer)
KhellKheraptis (Irresistible Spell)
McPoyo (Undead Battery)
Nanshork (Halruuan Elder's Adroit Casting)
Nemain (Spelldancer)
ninjarabbit (Abjurant Champion, Suel Arcanamach)
Ramaloke (Residual Magic, Circle Magic, Metanode Spell, Soul Tick, Arcane Spellsurge, Geometer, Dark Scholar)
Saxony (Metaphysical Spell Shaper; blame him for the inclusion of Book of Lawls)
Tethlis (Slaymate)
The_Mad_Linguist (Eldritch Corruption)
Widow (Mystic, Sanctum Spell, Sharn, Phaerimm, Forceful Magic, Action Points, Empowered Spellshards, Amulet of Supremacy, War Wizard of Cormyr, Clerics of Mystra, Hierophant, Mastery of Elements, Escalation Mage)
wotmaniac (Radiant Servant of Pelor 2/10, Master Transmogrifist)