Metamagic: Normal vs Sudden [Archive] - Wizards Community

Metamagic: Normal vs Sudden [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
tyrandor
03-27-08, 08:18 PM I'm relatively inexperienced to D&D, but it seems to me that the Sudden version of Metamagic feats are much better then the normal one.

As a Wizard, I don't have that many spell slot to play with in the first place, so in most case preparing a lower level spell with metamagic and taking away one of my precious higher level spell slot rarely seem worth it... in most case, the higher level spell is still gonna be better. I mean, a Widen Glitterdust is bad ass no doubt... but so are level 5 spells!

Then there's the whole 'Did I pick the right spell?' thing every Wizard always worry about... you might have used your Metamagic on Glitterdust, but it turns out later what you really needed was a Wider Fireball. You can prepare all your lower level spell with metamagic... but eventually, you're going to to lock all your higher level spell out >_>... with Sudden feats, there's no preparation... you can decided to widen or maximise or what not the spell when you decided to cast it. It grants you the ability to 'customise' your spell on the fly.

It just seem so much more convenient and overall powerful. The fact that you can only use it once per day might be a problem for class with a lot of spell to waste (Warmage, Sorcerers, etc), but to Wizards and Wu-jen... it seems like a logical choice.

So why the life story? Well, I've been reading the boards for a while now... and I rarely ever see the sudden metamagic feat mentioned... which makes me think maybe they're not that good and there's something I'm not seeing.

If that's the case, enlighten me :)
EvilCouch
03-27-08, 08:35 PM Well, Wu-jen get some of the basic metamagic feats for free, so they don't stand to benefit nearly as well as Wizards. Nevertheless, sudden is generally better than normal metamagic feats, with the exception of quicken, because of the nasty prerequisites for sudden quicken.
Merestil Haye
03-28-08, 09:37 AM The basic downside of the Sudden feats is that you can only use them once a day, whereas the regular feats can be used as many times as you have spell slots of the requisite level or higher.

You can blow your wad (aka "go nova" with ease using the Sudden feats; using the regular feats means you have more staying power in case the DM throws more than one encounter between rest periods.

Since the Sudden spells are [Metamagic] feats they can be taken as Wizard bonus feats, so there's no question about one type being less of a drain on character resources than the other.

Really it's down to style. Me? The only character I've taken any sudden metamagic feats for are my Warmage.
Baninor
03-28-08, 11:58 AM sudden feats can be replaced with Metamagic rods. Which is another reason why some people don't take them.
dman11235
03-28-08, 03:30 PM Also the whole 1/day thing. I wn't take suddens because of it. I like my benefits to be more than a one time thing. And the fact that I can spend money to copy a feat three times? I'll take that instead thank you. And if you want to be a blaster, then Arcane Thesis is a much better feat.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
tyrandor 03-27-08, 08:18 PM	I'm relatively inexperienced to D&D, but it seems to me that the Sudden version of Metamagic feats are much better then the normal one. As a Wizard, I don't have that many spell slot to play with in the first place, so in most case preparing a lower level spell with metamagic and taking away one of my precious higher level spell slot rarely seem worth it... in most case, the higher level spell is still gonna be better. I mean, a Widen Glitterdust is bad ass no doubt... but so are level 5 spells! Then there's the whole 'Did I pick the right spell?' thing every Wizard always worry about... you might have used your Metamagic on Glitterdust, but it turns out later what you really needed was a Wider Fireball. You can prepare all your lower level spell with metamagic... but eventually, you're going to to lock all your higher level spell out >_>... with Sudden feats, there's no preparation... you can decided to widen or maximise or what not the spell when you decided to cast it. It grants you the ability to 'customise' your spell on the fly. It just seem so much more convenient and overall powerful. The fact that you can only use it once per day might be a problem for class with a lot of spell to waste (Warmage, Sorcerers, etc), but to Wizards and Wu-jen... it seems like a logical choice. So why the life story? Well, I've been reading the boards for a while now... and I rarely ever see the sudden metamagic feat mentioned... which makes me think maybe they're not that good and there's something I'm not seeing. If that's the case, enlighten me :)
EvilCouch 03-27-08, 08:35 PM	Well, Wu-jen get some of the basic metamagic feats for free, so they don't stand to benefit nearly as well as Wizards. Nevertheless, sudden is generally better than normal metamagic feats, with the exception of quicken, because of the nasty prerequisites for sudden quicken.
Merestil Haye 03-28-08, 09:37 AM	The basic downside of the Sudden feats is that you can only use them once a day, whereas the regular feats can be used as many times as you have spell slots of the requisite level or higher. You can blow your wad (aka "go nova" with ease using the Sudden feats; using the regular feats means you have more staying power in case the DM throws more than one encounter between rest periods. Since the Sudden spells are [Metamagic] feats they can be taken as Wizard bonus feats, so there's no question about one type being less of a drain on character resources than the other. Really it's down to style. Me? The only character I've taken any sudden metamagic feats for are my Warmage.
Baninor 03-28-08, 11:58 AM	sudden feats can be replaced with Metamagic rods. Which is another reason why some people don't take them.
dman11235 03-28-08, 03:30 PM	Also the whole 1/day thing. I wn't take suddens because of it. I like my benefits to be more than a one time thing. And the fact that I can spend money to copy a feat three times? I'll take that instead thank you. And if you want to be a blaster, then Arcane Thesis is a much better feat.