Metamagic Song - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Metamagic Song

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
The_Fred
Sep 10, 2012 13:33:57 I was wondering if this feat existed, but I thought it would be too powerful. Well, it does, and it seems that, it is.

Metamagic Song, from Races of Stone, lets you spend Bardic Music to power metamagic on spells. It's like the Bard's Divine Power. However, as far as I can see, it's far more powerful.

Firstly, it doesn't seem to be limited to a single metamagic feat like DMM.
Secondly, it can be applied to all arcane spells (which are obviously better) - Bard 1/Wizard 19 is a go!

One drawback is that you get fewer base Bardic Musics than Turnings, since you don't add your Cha mod. As a Bardic caster, however, you would get far more (1 per level). A L20 Bard would be limited to only Bard spells, but could almost persist three of them without needing a single Extra Music. A better tactic would be Sublime Chord or similar (Virtuoso, maybe?) - anything which provides strong spellcasting and Bardic Music.

Am I missing something, or is this arcane's answer to DMM the same way we answered Prayer with Haste (i.e. similar, but better)?
#2
Maat_Mons
Sep 10, 2012 16:34:24
The feat has a clause that you can't use it to “add metamagic feats that would make the spell's effective level higher than the highest level of spell you can currently cast.”
#3
The_Fred
Sep 10, 2012 17:39:49 Ah, yeah, that's a shame. It also only works on spontaneous spells, and still increases the casting time. That and the fact that you can't split the metamagic cost does limit its usability.

However, it could still presumably be rather useful for conserving spell slots? You might not be able to Persist Mage Armour until L15 (as a Bard 1/Sorcerer 14) but it would save you your precious L7 slots. I think that Persist would not be the best use for it, really, but the longer casting time wouldn't matter. You could also use Rapid Metamagic or whatever it is to avoid worrying about that.

Something like a Bard 1/Sorcerer 4/Stormsinger [Frostburn] 10/Virtuoso [CAd] 5 would have L18 Sorcerer casting and 16 uses of Bardic Music per day (possibly losing the Virtuoso is better, less music but better casting). You could eek a good few metamagics out of that, especially with Extra Music.

OK, more limited than I thought, but still could be useful.
#4
Omen_of_Peace
Sep 10, 2012 22:57:46 You spend two feats on entering Stormsinger which you could easily spend on Extra Music instead... The final result would be pretty close and you could get another PrC.

Metamagic Song is best used by Sublime Chords, I suspect.
The classic Bard 8/Virtuoso 2/SC 2/Virtuoso +8 can probably make good use of it.
#5
The_Fred
Sep 11, 2012 6:37:41 That would probably work quite well, since Virtuoso gives better music than SC (you'd get 18 uses total, but full SC casting). It's more of a high-level tactic, however, at which point persistance L1-3 spells... well, they're more or less for free, I guess, but it's not the same as DMMing something super.
#6
Omen_of_Peace
Sep 11, 2012 7:15:38 Yes, it's inferior to DMM, which is why you hear about it a lot less.

Bards don't even have that many low-level spells worth persisting, so I'd use it with Twin + enchantments, Quicken (if it works, haven't double-checked), ...
#7
The_Fred
Sep 12, 2012 15:07:37 No, but a high-level Sublime Chord could get a fair mileage out of it. Persist is not the only metamagic in the book, either.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 The_Fred Sep 10, 2012 13:33:57	I was wondering if this feat existed, but I thought it would be too powerful. Well, it does, and it seems that, it is. Metamagic Song, from Races of Stone, lets you spend Bardic Music to power metamagic on spells. It's like the Bard's Divine Power. However, as far as I can see, it's far more powerful. Firstly, it doesn't seem to be limited to a single metamagic feat like DMM. Secondly, it can be applied to all arcane spells (which are obviously better) - Bard 1/Wizard 19 is a go! One drawback is that you get fewer base Bardic Musics than Turnings, since you don't add your Cha mod. As a Bardic caster, however, you would get far more (1 per level). A L20 Bard would be limited to only Bard spells, but could almost persist three of them without needing a single Extra Music. A better tactic would be Sublime Chord or similar (Virtuoso, maybe?) - anything which provides strong spellcasting and Bardic Music. Am I missing something, or is this arcane's answer to DMM the same way we answered Prayer with Haste (i.e. similar, but better)?
#2 Maat_Mons Sep 10, 2012 16:34:24	The feat has a clause that you can't use it to “add metamagic feats that would make the spell's effective level higher than the highest level of spell you can currently cast.”
#3 The_Fred Sep 10, 2012 17:39:49	Ah, yeah, that's a shame. It also only works on spontaneous spells, and still increases the casting time. That and the fact that you can't split the metamagic cost does limit its usability. However, it could still presumably be rather useful for conserving spell slots? You might not be able to Persist Mage Armour until L15 (as a Bard 1/Sorcerer 14) but it would save you your precious L7 slots. I think that Persist would not be the best use for it, really, but the longer casting time wouldn't matter. You could also use Rapid Metamagic or whatever it is to avoid worrying about that. Something like a Bard 1/Sorcerer 4/Stormsinger [Frostburn] 10/Virtuoso [CAd] 5 would have L18 Sorcerer casting and 16 uses of Bardic Music per day (possibly losing the Virtuoso is better, less music but better casting). You could eek a good few metamagics out of that, especially with Extra Music. OK, more limited than I thought, but still could be useful.
#4 Omen_of_Peace Sep 10, 2012 22:57:46	You spend two feats on entering Stormsinger which you could easily spend on Extra Music instead... The final result would be pretty close and you could get another PrC. Metamagic Song is best used by Sublime Chords, I suspect. The classic Bard 8/Virtuoso 2/SC 2/Virtuoso +8 can probably make good use of it.
#5 The_Fred Sep 11, 2012 6:37:41	That would probably work quite well, since Virtuoso gives better music than SC (you'd get 18 uses total, but full SC casting). It's more of a high-level tactic, however, at which point persistance L1-3 spells... well, they're more or less for free, I guess, but it's not the same as DMMing something super.
#6 Omen_of_Peace Sep 11, 2012 7:15:38	Yes, it's inferior to DMM, which is why you hear about it a lot less. Bards don't even have that many low-level spells worth persisting, so I'd use it with Twin + enchantments, Quicken (if it works, haven't double-checked), ...
#7 The_Fred Sep 12, 2012 15:07:37	No, but a high-level Sublime Chord could get a fair mileage out of it. Persist is not the only metamagic in the book, either.