UA:Metamagic Components

This material is published under the OGL

Metamagic Components

With this variant, casters can produce more potent spells by using a rare and exotic metamagic component in the casting of a spell, in place of the spell’s standard material component (or in addition to the spell’s other components, if it has no material component).

A spellcaster who uses a metamagic component casts a spell as if a specific metamagic feat had been applied to the spell. The casting process otherwise functions as it would if the character cast the standard version of the spell. For example, Boredflak can cast a widened fireball by using a 1,900 gp fire opal (the metamagic component) instead of a tiny ball of bat guano and sulfur (the material component). A wizard doesn’t need to prepare such a spell as a higher-level spell, and a sorcerer doesn’t use a higher-level spell slot or take a full-round action to cast the spell. A spellcaster can use a metamagic component without having the relevant metamagic feat. The spellcaster merely chooses at the moment of casting whether to employ the standard material component (if any) or the metamagic component given in these variant rules. In either case, the casting process consumes the material component or metamagic component.

A character can’t use a metamagic component to add the effect of a metamagic feat to a spell or effect created by a magic item. If a spell has an arcane material component or a divine focus (shown in the spell description as M/DF), then a divine spellcaster must have the relevant metamagic component in addition to his holy symbol. Some spells that have expensive material components can’t be made more potent by the use of metamagic components, and a few spells don’t have metamagic components because there’s no useful way to add the effect of a metamagic feat to them.

Specific Metamagic Components

Table: Metamagic Components presents a list of metamagic components for standard d20 spells. There’s plenty of room to add metamagic components unique to your campaign, because each spell as presented here has only one metamagic component and thus only one metamagic effect associated with it. Doing so is a good way to add specific flavor to your campaign world. Perhaps all your metamagic components are alchemical reagents, or maybe the dwarves in your campaign world use only uncut gems as metamagic components. Truly evil spellcasters might use vile, disgusting metamagic components. Discovering a new metamagic component is also a useful activity for spellcasters who have time for spell research.

The table entries present a wide variety of metamagic components, each belonging to one of the following categories.

Expensive Versions of Existing Material Components

True seeing, for example, requires a rare ointment as a material component. It’s easy enough to imagine that by using more ointment, the spell’s duration can be extended. Just saying “more of the same” is a fine metamagic component for spells that already have expensive material components. It’s also possible to design a metamagic component that’s an expensive version of a free material component. Resilient sphere has a hemispherical piece of clear crystal as its material component. It has no cost, and you could find that piece of crystal in a spell component pouch. The spell’s metamagic component is a sphere of pure crystal worth 850 gp—just an expensive version of the standard material component.

Gems

Many spells already require expensive gems as material components, and players are used to the idea that powerful magical effects sometimes require gemstones, whether cut or ground into powder. Gems make good metamagic components (from a character’s point of view) because they’re easy to carry around, they can be found as treasure, and there’s the established precedent of gemstones as a source of magic power. They’re a particularly good choice for particularly potent metamagic components (ones that maximize, widen, or quicken spells), because a gem can easily be worth 5,000 gp or more.

Jewelry and Art Objects

Jewelry—everything from anklets to headbands—and art objects such as statuettes and carvings also make good choices for metamagic components. It feels appropriately mystical to use a golden medallion as a metamagic component for hypnotism, for example. Like gems, jewelry and art objects seem to work well as particularly expensive metamagic components because it’s easy to imagine them being worth that much, and they can be found in treasure hoards.

Other Treasure

Occasionally, a weapon or other bit of treasure (usually magical in nature) finds its way onto the metamagic component list when thematically appropriate. For characters who face a lot of well-equipped NPCs, being able to use treasure as a metamagic component is often a useful alternative to simply carting an item back to town to sell it. High-level characters who would ordinarily disdain a weapon with a mere +1 enhancement bonus might think twice if they know it’s the metamagic component for a quickened version of align weapon.

Plant-Based Metamagic Components

Some spells, especially druid spells, have mushrooms, herbs, or other metamagic components derived from rare plants carefully grown by experts. These metamagic components, often referred to as “druid-tended” items in Table: Metamagic Components, have a potential advantage for PCs because some characters might have the ability to grow and cultivate these plants—thereby saving some money.

To grow and harvest a plant-based metamagic component, a character must first sow and tend the seeds, which takes one month per 1,000 gp value (or fraction thereof) of the metamagic component. At the end of that time, the character must make a Profession (herbalist) check (DC 20 + 1 per 1,000 gp value of the metamagic component) in order to harvest the plant successfully. A character can grow multiple metamagic components at a time, but each planting beyond the first one being tended at the same time adds 1 to the DC of all Profession (herbalist) checks made during that time.

Alchemical Metamagic Components

Alchemy provides another traditional source for metamagic components—there’s a strong fantasy archetype of the wizard concocting powerful substances in his dank laboratory. An entry on Table: Metamagic Components that contains some form of the word “alchemical” is a metamagic component created by the use of the Craft (alchemy) skill.

When a character sets out to concoct an alchemical metamagic component, the rules in the Craft skill description apply, except that the calculations are done in gold pieces, not silver pieces. Any new alchemical substance (such as the alchemical dreamwisp dust that is the metamagic component for sleep) and anything alchemically treated or alchemically prepared has a Craft (alchemy) DC of 15. Alchemically distilled metamagic components (for example, see ray of exhaustion) have a DC of 20, and alchemically purified metamagic components (see polymorph any object) have a DC of 25.

Alchemical metamagic components can take a very long time to make, so they’re often a poor choice (from a character’s point of view) for particularly expensive metamagic components.

Planar Metamagic Components

Some metamagic components come from places beyond the Material Plane, especially in games where planar travel is common. The planes have exotic substances as well as purer, enhanced versions of common substances, and it makes sense that (for instance) rare soils from the Elemental Plane of Earth might make your move earth spell more potent.

Purity is a major consideration for metamagic components of this sort; obtaining one is not simply a matter of going to the appropriate plane and scooping up a handful of stuff. In general, it takes a day of scavenging and a DC 30 Knowledge (the planes) check to find enough of the relevant raw material in its purest form to serve as a metamagic component. Because there’s no raw materials cost, planar metamagic components are a poor choice (from the GM’s point of view) for more expensive metamagic components, although this is ameliorated somewhat by the fact that it takes high-level spells to reach other planes, and those other planes are perilous places.

Ritual Metamagic Components

Some items become metamagic components after they have been prepared during a series of ancient rituals. Performing the entire ritual takes one day for every 500 gp (or fraction thereof) of the value of the metamagic component. At the end of that time, the preparer must make a DC 25 Knowledge (religion) check if the component is for a divine spell or a DC 25 Knowledge (arcana) check if it’s for an arcane spell in order to successfully finish the creation process.

Unless the item used for a ritual component has some intrinsic value, ritual metamagic components can be poor choices for powerful metamagic and high-level spells (from the GM’s perspective), because a character with enough ranks in the relevant skill need only spend the time to acquire the component.

Fanciful Metamagic Components

The darkness spell has a metamagic component of “coal mined and kept in total darkness.” While evocative, such an item is not necessarily hard for PCs to obtain—although there’s an inherent disadvantage involved because the component can become “spoiled”—a consideration that doesn’t affect the other kinds of metamagic components. For instance, if the coal needed for a darkness spell (or the oil needed for deeper darkness) is ever exposed to light before the spell is cast, it loses its special properties and becomes ordinary. But legends and folk tales are rife with examples of extra power coming from ordinary items handled in a fanciful way. If you use such fanciful metamagic components—which appear on Table: Metamagic Components only rarely—keep a close watch on how they change the economy of the game. If the PCs shy away from adventuring in favor of working as metamagic-component coal miners, the situation is out of hand.

Monster Parts

A few of the metamagic components listed on Table: Metamagic Components are parts of monsters. Some players want their characters to dissect their slain foes, “harvesting” metamagic components for later use and sale.

There’s a fair amount of real-world precedent for the notion that some part of a creature’s power remains in its body after it’s dead. Dozens of realworld cultures have rituals involving animal parts for this very reason. Fantasy literature has a rich tradition of using strange ingredients such as unicorn horns and dragon scales to accomplish great feats of magic.

But harvesting monster parts is not without its problems. From a game balance standpoint, saying a rakshasa hide is worth 1,250 gp is tantamount to giving every rakshasa in the game world an extra 1,250 gp in treasure—yet it’s treasure that the rakshasa can’t use itself (other than in the obvious way). It’s also treasure that the PCs can’t acquire any way other than killing a rakshasa, as opposed to normal treasure, which the PCs could attain by tricking the rakshasa or driving it off. Requiring the monster parts to be specially prepared ameliorates the problem to a degree—and generally that’s what we’ve done—because it’s assumed that much of the cost lies in the special preparation, not the on-site butchery. That pushes the problem into a corner, but it doesn’t eliminate it, because a player whose character has enough ranks in Profession (taxidermy) skill may want to know the DC for preparing the metamagic component himself. If monster part harvesting becomes a frequent exercise in your game, carefully monitor the amount of other treasure you give out. But extracting the teeth of the occasional blink dog won’t break the game.

A second and thornier problem is that many players find harvesting monster parts distasteful, and some players who don’t mind the idea might play characters who would be aghast at the very notion of cutting up the dead. Not only is the actual harvesting objectionable to some, but it builds in a potential conflict between characters who want to capture their foes (whether for mercy or information) and those who want to slay them and begin dissection. Consider carefully the perspectives of your players and their characters, and think hard about what kind of d20 game you want to run.

If your characters are interested in doing some monster part harvesting themselves, it takes 10 minutes and a DC 15 Profession (taxidermy) check to carefully remove the relevant part, then 1 hour and a DC 20 Profession (taxidermy) check to preserve it so it won’t rot or otherwise deteriorate. The embalming materials themselves cost one-tenth of the market price of the finished metamagic component. Unless you use gentle repose, the monster’s body deteriorates enough after 15 minutes that you can’t get a metamagic component from it.

With some monsters, it’s obvious how many of a particular part they have—a snake has only one tongue that can be used for a detect poison metamagic component. As a general rule, one monster provides enough substance for a single casting of the relevant spell (such as the dire bat fur needed for arcane eye or the chimera scales needed for obscure object). In some cases, the number of parts that can be obtained from one creature is obvious by the nature of the monster (one minotaur can supply enough metamagic components for two castings of maze, and each of a gorgon’s four hooves can be used for separate castings of acid fog). If the number of parts obtained is not obvious or doesn’t necessarily follow the general rule, assume that one monster can provide up to 1d4 separate parts that are suitable for metamagic components. (This guideline applies to such components as the janni eyelash needed for invisibility and the troll blood needed for regenerate.)

Metamagic Components

Spell Name	Metamagic Effect	Metamagic Component	Minimum Cost
Acid arrow	Empowered	Four masterwork darts	1,200 gp
Acid fog	Extended	Powdered gorgon hoof	940 gp
Acid splash	Enlarged	Rare toad skin	20 gp
Aid	Extended	Specially consecrated water	340 gp
Air walk	Quickened	Stoppered vial of elemental air	3,500 gp
Alarm	Widened	Rare chalk	1,000 gp
Align weapon	Quickened	Weapon with +1 enchantment bonus	2,300 gp
Alter self	Silent and stilled	Mirror with silver filigree	830 gp
Analyze dweomer	Enlarged	Herbs sprinkled on tindertwig	940 gp
Animal growth	Extended	Albino stag horn	790 gp
Animal messenger	Extended	Miniscule collar with golden bell	340 gp
Animal shapes	Extended	Rare variety of mistletoe	1,200 gp
Animate dead	Silent	Blood onyx	570 gp
Animate objects	Enlarged	Gold-spun marionette strings	940 gp
Animate plants	Silent	Rare uprooted sapling	1,100 gp
Animate rope	Enlarged	Brass thread	190 gp
Antilife shell	Widened	Skull with graven runes	3,300 gp
Antimagic field	Widened	Cold iron filings	3,700
Antipathy	Extended	Alum soaked in ancient blood	1,200 gp
Antiplant shell	Extended	Rare oils	640 gp
Arcane eye	Silent	Dire bat fur	640 gp
Arcane lock	Quickened	Platinum dust	2,300 gp
Arcane mark	Silent	Rare paints	20 gp
Arcane sight	Extended	Ground quartz	790 gp
Arcane sight, greater	Extended	Ground quartz	1,100 gp
Awaken	Empowered	Specially prepared otyugh dung	1,700 gp
Baleful polymorph	Enlarged	Miniature silver cage	790 gp
Bane	Silent	Miniature clay mask	190 gp
Barkskin	Extended	Heartwood of venerable oak	340 gp
Bear’s endurance	Extended	Distilled alcohol	340 gp
Bear’s endurance, mass	Extended	Distilled alcohol	940 gp
Bestow curse	Heightened +1	Eye of firenewt	720 gp
Black tentacles	Widened	Nightcrawler essence	3,150 gp
Blade barrier	Empowered	Slashing weapon with +1 enhancement bonus	2,300 gp
Blasphemy	Heightened +2	Specially prepared feather of an archon’s wing	3,100 gp
Bull’s strength	Extended	Adamantine powder	340 gp
Bull’s strength, mass	Extended	Adamantine powder	940 gp
Cat’s grace	Extended	Vial of quicksilver	340 gp
Cat’s grace, mass	Extended	Vial of quicksilver	940 gp
Cause fear	Empowered	Ancient bones ground to powder	700 gp
Chain lightning	Maximized	Fist-sized chunk of magnetic stone	4,350 gp
Changestaff	Extended	+1 quarterstaff	2,301 gp
Chaos hammer	Empowered	Protoplasm from Limbo	1,900 gp
Charm animal	Silent	Masterwork whip	301 gp
Charm monster	Quickened	Garnets	4,600 gp
Charm monster, mass	Silent	Garnets	1,600 gp
Charm person	Stilled	Rare oils	250 gp
Chill metal	Extended	Glacial spring water	450 gp
Chill touch	Empowered	Gauntlet made of bone	700 gp
Circle of death	Widened	Powder of crushed black pearl	4,850 gp
Clairaudience/clairvoyance	Extended	Quartz	650 gp
Clenched fist	Stilled	Ornate gold knuckles	1,200 gp
Cloak of chaos	Extended	Shield with +1 enhancement bonus	1,153 gp
Clone	—	—	—
Cloudkill	Heightened +2	Distilled chlorine	2,300 gp
Color spray	Silent and stilled	Crushed rubies, diamonds, and sapphires	700 gp
Command	Heightened +3	Carved ivory mask	1,350 gp
Command plants	Heightened +2	Alchemical defoliant	1,900 gp
Command undead	Extended	Ritually defaced holy symbol of good deity	450 gp
Command, greater	Extended	Carved ivory mask	1,350 gp
Commune	—	—	—
Commune with nature	Widened (see spell text)	Runic map of area	3,750 gp
Comprehend languages	Extended	Foreign lexicon	250 gp
Cone of cold	Heightened +1	Cone of carved quartz	1,050 gp
Confusion	Widened	Nutshells from treant	3,150 gp
Confusion, lesser	Extended	Nutshell from druid-tended beech	250 gp
Consecrate	Extended	Holy water and gold dust	450 gp
Contact other plane	—	—	—
Contagion	Silent	Skull of animal that died from disease	750 gp
Contingency	Extended	Rakshasa hide	1,250 gp
Continual flame	Heightened +1	Ruby dust	500 gp
Control plants	Extended	Alchemical defoliant	1,650 gp
Control undead	Heightened +2	Carved bone mask	3,100 gp
Control water	Extended	Water from the briny deep orsand from the trackless desert	850 gp
Control weather	Extended	Crystal sphere	1,450 gp
Control winds	Heightened +2	Bottled smoke from Elemental Plane of Air	2,300 gp
Create food and water	—	—	—
Create greater undead	—	—	—
Create undead	—	—	—
Create water	—	—	—
Creeping doom	Extended	Rare jungle centipedes	1,450 gp
Crushing despair	Widened	Couatl tears	3,150 gp
Crushing hand	Stilled	Ornate platinum knuckles	1,400 gp
Cure critical wounds	Empowered	Alchemical salve	1,900 gp
Cure critical wounds, mass	Empowered	Copper loop from Positive Energy Plane	3,900 gp
Cure light wounds	Empowered	Alchemical salve	700 gp
Cure light wounds, mass	Empowered	Copper loop from Positive Energy Plane	2,300 gp
Cure minor wounds	Quickened	Alchemical salve	1,375 gp
Cure moderate wounds	Empowered	Alchemical salve	1,100 gp
Cure moderate wounds, mass	Empowered	Copper loop from Positive Energy Plane	2,700 gp
Cure serious wounds	Empowered	Alchemical salve	1,500 gp
Cure serious wounds, mass	Empowered	Copper loop from Positive Energy Plane	3,100 gp
Curse water	—	—	—
Dancing lights	Extended	Anarchic fireflies from Limbo	25 gp
Darkness	Silent	Coal mined and kept in total darkness	450 gp
Darkvision	Extended	Agate	450 gp
Daylight	Silent and stilled	Alchemical polish	1,500 gp
Daze	Extended	Wool from satyr-tended sheep	25 gp
Daze monster	Quickened	Sea hag eyeball	3,000 gp
Death knell	Heightened +3	Runic funerary blessings	1,950 gp
Death ward	Extended	Henna, which tattoos creature touched	850 gp
Deathwatch	Widened	Black crystal lenses	1,350 gp
Deep slumber	Heightened +2	Alchemical dreamwisp dust	1,500 gp
Deeper darkness	Silent	Oil extracted and kept in total darkness	650 gp
Delay poison	Extended	Specially prepared armadillo scales	450 gp
Delayed blast fireball	Extended	Fire opal	1,450 gp
Demand	Heightened +1	Gold wire and small part of the subject	1,850 gp
Desecrate	Extended	Unholy water and gold dust	450 gp
Destruction	Silent and stilled	Holy or unholy symbol marked with anathema	4,400 gp
Detect animals or plants	Enlarged	Five +1 arrows	235 gp
Detect chaos	Silent and stilled	Ground glass lens	700 gp
Detect evil	Silent and stilled	Ground glass lens	700 gp
Detect good	Silent and stilled	Ground glass lens	700 gp
Detect law	Silent and stilled	Ground glass lens	700 gp
Detect magic	Silent and stilled	Short cold iron rod	275 gp
Detect poison	Enlarged	Specially prepared snake tongue	25 gp
Detect scrying	Widened	Jewel-studded domino mask	3,150 gp
Detect secret doors	Extended	Tangle of copper and silver wires	250 gp
Detect snares and pits	Extended	Darkwood divining rod	250 gp
Detect thoughts	Heightened +2	Platinum disc	1,100 gp
Detect undead	Extended	Specially prepared jawless skull	250 gp
Dictum	Heightened +2	Specially prepared protoplasm of a chaos beast	3,100 gp
Dimension door	Quickened	Gold ore mined from Astral Plane	4,600 gp
Dimensional anchor	Extended	Rune-engraved miniature anchor	850 gp
Dimensional lock	Widened	Adamantine weapon	varies
Diminish plants	Enlarged	Masterwork pruning shears	650 gp
Discern lies	Enlarged	Set of golden scales	850 gp
Discern location	—	—	—
Disguise self	Extended	Masterwork greasepaint	250 gp
Disintegrate	Empowered	Trapped voidstone	3,100 gp
Dismissal	Heightened +2	Specially blessed holy symbol	2,100 gp
Dispel chaos	Quickened	Sapphire	5,400 gp
Dispel evil	Quickened	Diamond	5,400 gp
Dispel good	Quickened	Black opal	5,400 gp
Dispel law	Quickened	Yellow corundum	5,400 gp
Dispel magic	Widened	Cold iron statuette	2,550 gp
Dispel magic, greater	Widened	Cold iron statuette	4,350 gp
Displacement	Extended	Specially prepared blink dog teeth	650 gp
Disrupt undead	Enlarged	Dirt from hallowed grave	25 gp
Disrupting weapon	Extended	Whetstone made from tombstone	1,050 gp
Divination	—	—	—
Divine favor	Extended	Calligraphic scriptures	250 gp
Divine power	Silent and stilled	Holy symbol made of platinum and gems	1,900 gp
Dominate animal	Enlarged	Adamantine collar	650 gp
Dominate monster	Enlarged	Emerald-studded adamantine collar	1,850 gp
Dominate person	Quickened	Sapphire-studded adamantine collar	5,400 gp
Doom	Heightened +2	Carved doll	700 gp
Dream	—	—	—
Eagle’s splendor	Extended	Emerald	450 gp
Eagle’s splendor, mass	Extended	Emerald	1,250 gp
Earthquake	Widened	White granite from Elemental Plane of Earth	5,550 gp
Elemental swarm	Empowered	Rare incense (air), alchemical liquids (water), gems (fire), or mithral ore (earth)	3,900 gp
Endure elements	Extended	Potion of cure moderate wounds	300 gp
Energy drain	Empowered	Specially prepared vampire’s skull	3,900 gp
Enervation	Empowered	Specially prepared wight’s skull	1,900 gp
Enlarge person	Extended	Rare druid-tended beans	250 gp
Enlarge person, mass	Extended	Rare druid-tended berries	850 gp
Entangle	Widened	Alchemical fertilizer	1,350 gp
Enthrall	Heightened +2	Golden figurines	1,100 gp
Entropic shield	Quickened	Finely engraved platinum dice	2,200 gp
Erase	Enlarged	Rubber plant sap	250 gp
Ethereal jaunt	Extended	Chunk of ethereal solid	1,450 gp
Etherealness	Extended	Figurine carved from ethereal solid	1,850 gp
Expeditious retreat	Extended	Rare peppers	250 gp
Explosive runes	Heightened +3	Rare pigments	2,550 gp
Eyebite	Extended	Specially prepared medusa eye	1,250 gp
Fabricate	—	—	—
Faerie fire	Widened	Druid-tended mushrooms	1,350 gp
False life	Extended	Rare alcohol	450 gp
False vision	Widened	Ground jade dust	4,000 gp
Fear	Heightened +2	Pinfeather from giant eagle	1,900 gp
Feather fall	Enlarged	Down from black goose	250 gp
Feeblemind	Heightened +2	Polished obsidian spheres	2,300 gp
Find the path	Extended	Bracelet of lodestone	1,250 gp
Find traps	Extended	Golden magnifying glass	450 gp
Finger of death	Enlarged	Specially embalmed finger	1,450 gp
Fire seeds	Empowered	Druid-tended acorns or berries	2,700 gp
Fire shield (either version)	Extended	Alchemically prepared phosphorus	1,900 gp
Fire storm	Maximized	Cooled lava from erupting volcano	7,000 gp
Fire trap	Heightened +3	Gold dust	1,975 gp
Fireball	Widened	Fire opal	1,900 gp
Flame arrow	Empowered	Carved flint arrowhead	1,500 gp
Flame blade	Extended	Masterwork scimitar	315 gp
Flame strike	Empowered	Brimstone from Elemental Plane of Fire	2,300 gp
Flaming sphere	Enlarged	Powdered cold iron	450 gp
Flare	Silent	Powdered magnesium	25 gp
Flesh to stone	Heighten +2	Medusa head-snake	2,700 gp
Floating disk	Extended	Flask of mercury	250 gp
Fly	Extended	Feather from albino falcon	650 gp
Fog cloud	Quickened	Cloudy diamonds	3,000 gp
Forbiddance	Empowered	Holy water and rare incenses	4,200 gp plus1,500 gp per60 ft. cube
Forcecage	Enlarged	Ruby dust	3,000 gp
Forceful hand	Stilled	Ornate bronze knuckles	940 gp
Foresight	Extended	A celestial hummingbird’s feather	1,850 gp
Fox’s cunning	Extended	Garnet	450 gp
Fox’s cunning, mass	Extended	Garnet	1,250 gp
Freedom	Stilled	Salve of slipperiness	1,000 gp
Freedom of movement	Stilled	Salve of slipperiness	1,000 gp
Freezing sphere	Empowered	Crystal sphere	2,700 gp
Gaseous form	Stilled	Bottled smoke from a volcano’s crater	650 gp
Gate	Quickened	Black pearl	8,600 gp
Geas, lesser	Extended	Jeweled armband	1,250 gp
Geas/quest	Extended	Golden armband	850 gp
Gentle repose	Extended	Embalming fluid	550 gp
Ghost sound	Heightened +2	Wax from sacred candle	275 gp
Ghoul touch	Extended	Earth from a ghast’s lair	450 gp
Giant vermin	Extended	Rare insect parts	850 gp
Glibness	Stilled	Fancy liquor	650 gp
Glitterdust	Widened	Ground topaz	1,950 gp
Globe of invulnerability	Widened	Pearls	3,150 gp
Globe of invulnerability, lesser	Widened	Pearls	4,350 gp
Glyph of warding	Heightened +2	Incense and powdered diamond	1,700 gp
Glyph of warding, greater	Heightened +2	Incense and powdered diamond	3,100 gp
Good hope	Extended	Engraved brass torc	650 gp
Goodberry	Empowered	Treant sap	700 gp
Grasping hand	Stilled	Ornate silver knuckles	1,100 gp
Grease	Enlarged	Rind of a boar	250 gp
Guards and wards	Heightened +1	Rare incense	1,450 gp
Guidance	Extended	Book of prayers	25 gp
Gust of wind	Widened	Elaborate lacquered fan	1,950 gp
Hallow	Widened	Herbs, oils, and incense	4,750 gp plusextra for spell
Hallucinatory terrain	Heightened +3	Twigs and plants from Arborea	3,150 gp
Halt undead	Heightened +2	Abyssal sulfur	1,500 gp
Harm	Heightened +1	Heart carved from onyx	1,250 gp
Haste	Extended	Rare coffee beans	850 gp
Heal	Heightened +1	Heart carved from alabaster	1,250 gp
Heal mount	Quickened	Alchemical salve	3,800 gp
Heal, mass	Heightened +1	Heart carved from alabaster	1,850 gp
Heat metal	Extended	Mithral forge dross	450 gp
Helping hand	Enlarged	Ivory carving of hand	650 gp
Heroes’ feast	Extended	Rare spices	1,250 gp
Heroism	Extended	Fine brandy	650 gp
Heroism, greater	Extended	Fine whiskey	1,250 gp
Hide from animals	Extended	Stitched velvet blindfold	250 gp
Hide from undead	Heightened +3	Embroidered silk shawl	1,350 gp
Hideous laughter	Enlarged	Masterwork greasepaint	450 gp
Hold animal	Heightened +2	Decorative steel gauntlet	1,100 gp
Hold monster	Heightened +2	Engraved rod of cold iron	2,300 gp
Hold monster, mass	Heightened +2	Engraved rod of cold iron	3,900 gp
Hold person	Heightened +2	Engraved ingot of cold iron	1,100 gp
Hold person, mass	Heightened +2	Engraved ingot of cold iron	3,100 gp
Hold portal	Quickened	Ebony key	2,200 gp
Holy aura	Extended	Shield with +1 enhancement bonus	1,153 gp
Holy smite	Empowered	Spring water from Elysium	1,900 gp
Holy sword	Extended	Sacred candles	850 gp
Holy word	Heightened +2	Specially prepared fiend’s tail	3,100 gp
Horrid wilting	Empowered	Sponge from Elemental Plane of Water	3,500 gp
Hypnotic pattern	Heightened +2	Stick of incense	1,100 gp
Hypnotism	Silent and stilled	Golden medallion	700 gp
Ice storm	Extended	Ivory stick with engraved snowflake pattern	850 gp
Identify	—	—	—
Illusory script	Heightened +4	Rare inks	3,850 gp
Illusory wall	Heightened +2	Sunrod and ground glass lenses	1,900 gp
Imbue with spell ability	—	—	—
Implosion	Extended	Glass statuette	1,850 gp
Imprisonment	Heightened +2	Carved jade sphere	3,900 gp
Incendiary cloud	Extended	Bottled brimstone and sea mist	1,650 gp
Inflict critical wounds	Maximized	Obsidian holy symbol	3,150 gp
Inflict critical wounds, mass	Maximized	Obsidian holy symbol	5,550 gp
Inflict light wounds	Maximized	Obsidian holy symbol	1,350 gp
Inflict light wounds, mass	Maximized	Obsidian holy symbol	3,750 gp
Inflict minor wounds	Quickened	Obsidian holy symbol	1,375 gp
Inflict moderate wounds	Maximized	Obsidian holy symbol	1,950 gp
Inflict moderate wounds, mass	Maximized	Obsidian holy symbol	4,350 gp
Inflict serious wounds	Maximized	Obsidian holy symbol	2,550 gp
Inflict serious wounds, mass	Maximized	Obsidian holy symbol	4,950 gp
Insanity	Heightened +1	Distilled water from Limbo	1,450 gp
Insect plague	Extended	Crooked staff with carved runes	1,050 gp
Instant summons	—	—	—
Interposing hand	Stilled	Ornate brass knuckles	790 gp
Invisibility	Extended	Janni eyelash	450 gp
Invisibility purge	Extended	Crystal prism	650 gp
Invisibility, greater	Extended	Djinni eyelash	850 gp
Invisibility, mass	Extended	Efreeti eyelash	1,450 gp
Iron body	Extended	Articulated iron doll	1,650 gp
Ironwood	Extended	Darkwood shaped into the object’s form	varies
Irresistible dance	Silent	Embroidered shoes with gold buttons	1,650 gp
Jump	Quickened	Mithral springs	2,200 gp
Keen edge	Extended	Whetstone with pyrite veins running through it	650 gp
Knock	Silent	Golden key	450 gp
Know direction	—	—	—
Legend lore	—	—	—
Levitate	Enlarged	Loop of manticore hide	250 gp
Light	Silent	Phosphorescent moss	25 gp
Lightning bolt	Widened	Blue dragon scales	2,550 gp
Limited wish	—	—	—
Liveoak	Extended	Alchemical fertilizer	1,250 gp
Locate creature	Enlarged	Specially tanned hellhound fur	850 gp
Locate object	Enlarged	Forked twig of darkwood	450 gp
Longstrider	Extended	Cobblestone from ancient hippodrome	250 gp
Lullaby	Widened	Fancy resin	725 gp
Mage armor	Extended	Links of mithral chain	250 gp
Mage hand	Enlarged	Monkey’s paw	25 gp
Mage’s disjunction	Enlarged and widened	Trapped voidstone	8,600 gp
Mage’s faithful hound	Extended	Specially prepared blink dog teeth	1,050 gp
Mage’s lucubration	Quickened	Ruby ring	6,200 gp
Mage’s magnificent mansion	Extended	Miniature portal	1,465 gp
Mage’s private sanctum	Extended	Trapped fog from Plane of Shadow	1,050 gp
Magic aura	Heightened +3	Amethyst necklace	1,350 gp
Magic circle against chaos	Widened	Specially prepared holy symbol	2,550 gp
Magic circle against evil	Widened	Specially prepared holy symbol	2,550 gp
Magic circle against good	Widened	Specially prepared holy symbol	2,550 gp
Magic circle against law	Widened	Specially prepared holy symbol	2,550 gp
Magic fang	Extended	Specially prepared shark tooth	250 gp
Magic fang, greater	Extended	Specially prepared dire shark tooth	650 gp
Magic jar	Extended	Gem or crystal	1,100 gp
Magic missile	Empowered	Two +3 arrows	734 gp
Magic mouth	—	—	—
Magic stone	Empowered	Colorful marbles	700 gp
Magic vestment	Extended	Embroidered sash	650 gp
Magic weapon	Extended	Alchemically distilled blood	250 gp
Magic weapon, greater	Extended	Alchemically purified blood	750 gp
Major creation	Extended	Phasm essence	1,050 gp
Major image	Heightened +2	Rare pigments	1,500 gp
Make whole	Enlarged	Alchemical adhesive	450 gp
Mark of justice	—	—	—
Maze	Enlarged	Engraved minotaur horn	1,650 gp
Meld into stone	Extended	Carved stone figurine	650 gp
Mending	Enlarged	Alchemical adhesive	25 gp
Message	Enlarged	Calligraphic inscriptions on vellum	25 gp
Meteor swarm	Maximized	Chunk of meteorite	8,600 gp
Mind blank	Extended	Malachite-studded headband	1,650 gp
Mind fog	Heightened +3	Specially prepared aboleth tentacle	3,750 gp
Minor creation	Extended	Roper sap	850 gp
Minor image	Heightened +2	Rare pigments	1,100 gp
Miracle	—	—	—
Mirage arcana	Heightened +3	Mirror silvered in Bytopia	3,750 gp
Mirror image	Extended	Miniscule dolls of yourself	450 gp
Misdirection	Heightened +2	Gold wire bent into a creature’s silhouette	1,100 gp
Mislead	Heightened +1	Fancy marionette	1,250 gp
Mnemonic enhancer	—	—	—
Modify memory	Heightened +2	Alchemical smelling salts	1,900 gp
Moment of prescience	Quickened	Fine Elysian wine	7,800 gp
Mount	Quickened	Specially prepared hair from pegasus or nightmare	2,200 gp
Move earth	Enlarged	Rare soils from Elemental Plane of Earth	1,250 gp
Neutralize poison	Extended	Specially prepared naga tongue	750 gp
Nightmare	Heightened +2	Rare spices	2,300 gp
Nondetection	Extended	Carved ebony lattice	700 gp
Obscure object	Extended	Chimera scales	550 gp
Obscuring mist	Extended	Silver chalice	250 gp
Open/close	Enlarged	Silver key	25 gp
Order’s wrath	Empowered	Gear cog from Mechanus	1,900 gp
Overland flight	Extended	Specially prepared dragon wing-hide	1,050 gp
Owl’s wisdom	Extended	Opal	450 gp
Owl’s wisdom, mass	Extended	Opal	1,250 gp
Pass without trace	Extended	Cloak of feathers	250 gp
Passwall	Extended	Golden miniature shovel	1,050 gp
Permanency	—	—	—
Permanent image	Heightened +2	Rare pigments	2,700 gp
Persistent image	Heightened +2	Rare pigments	2,300 gp
Phantasmal killer	Heightened +1	Nightmarish etchings	850 gp
Phantom steed	Extended	Platinum horseshoe	650 gp
Phantom Trap	—	—	—
Phase door	Silent	Jasper-studded key	1,450 gp
Planar ally	—	—	—
Planar ally, greater	—	—	—
Planar ally, lesser	—	—	—
Planar binding	Heightened +2	Silver filigree around magic circle	2,700 gp
Planar binding, greater	Heightened +2	Gold filigree around magic circle	3,500 gp
Planar binding, lesser	Heightened +2	Copper filigree around magic circle	2,300 gp
Plane shift	Quickened	Silk mantle with moonstones	6,200 gp
Plant growth	Enlarged	Alchemically treated seeds	650 gp
Poison	Maximized	Wyvern poison	3,000 gp
Polar ray	Enlarged	Pale sapphire	1,650 gp
Polymorph	Extended	Druid-tended silkworm cocoon	850 gp
Polymorph any object	Extended	Alchemically purified mercury	1,650 gp
Power Word Blind	Enlarged	Corundum	1,450 gp
Power Word Kill	Enlarged	Corundum	1,850 gp
Power Word Stun	Enlarged	Corundum	1,650 gp
Prayer	Widened	Blessed scriptures on vellum	2,550 gp
Prestidigitation	Enlarged	White silk gloves	25 gp
Prismatic sphere	Heightened +2	Diamonds	3,900 gp
Prismatic spray	Heightened +2	Diamonds	3,100 gp
Prismatic wall	Heightened +2	Diamonds	3,500 gp
Produce flame	Silent	Ring carved from flint	250 gp
Programmed image	Heightened +2	Rare pigments	2,700 gp
Project image	Extended	Distorted mirror	1,450 gp
Protection from arrows	Extended	Piece of bulette hide	450 gp
Protection from chaos	Extended	Powdered platinum	250 gp
Protection from energy	Extended	Spinels of red (fire), black (acid), green (sonic),blue (electricity), or white (cold)	650 gp
Protection from evil	Extended	Powdered platinum	250 gp
Protection from good	Extended	Powdered platinum	250 gp
Protection from law	Extended	Powdered platinum	250 gp
Protection from spells	Extended	Crushed diamond	2,150 gp
Prying eyes	Enlarged	Specially prepared medusa eye	1,050 gp
Prying eyes, greater	Enlarged	Hag eye	1,650 gp
Purify food and drink	—	—	—
Pyrotechnics	Heightened +2	Fire source and alchemical accelerants	1,100 gp
Quench	Enlarged	Water from the extraplanar River Oceanus	650 gp
Rage	Extended	Fine mead	650 gp
Rainbow pattern	Heightened +2	Smoky quartz prism	1,900 gp
Raise dead	—	—	—
Ray of enfeeblement	Enlarged	Ceremonial electrum dagger	250 gp
Ray of exhaustion	Heightened +1	Alchemically distilled perspiration	650 gp
Ray of frost	Enlarged	White marble carved in icicle shape	25 gp
Read magic	Extended	Mineral prism	25 gp
Reduce animal	Heightened +3	Topaz-studded links of iron	1,950 gp
Reduce person	Heightened +3	Turquoise-studded links of iron	1,350 gp
Reduce person, mass	Heightened +3	Turquoise-studded links of iron	3,150 gp
Refuge	—	—	—
Regenerate	Empowered	Specially prepared troll blood	3,500 gp
Reincarnate	—	—	—
Remove blindness/deafness	Silent	Pearl-studded circlet	650 gp
Remove curse	—	—	—
Remove disease	—	—	—
Remove fear	Extended	Alchemically prepared war paint	250 gp
Remove paralysis	Enlarged	Burning incense	450 gp
Repel metal or stone	Widened	Druid-tended sapling	5,550 gp
Repel vermin	Widened	Rare snakeskin	3,150 gp
Repel wood	Widened	Miniature jeweled lantern	4,350 gp
Repulsion	Widened	Alchemical-ink tattoo (temporary)	4,700 gp
Resilient sphere	Enlarged	Crystal sphere	850 gp
Resist energy	Extended	Spinel of red (fire), black (acid), green (sonic),blue (electricity), or white (cold)	450 gp
Resistance	Extended	Silk cloak	25 gp
Restoration	—	—	—
Restoration, greater	—	—	—
Restoration, lesser	Empowered	Alchemical balm	1,100 gp
Resurrection	—	—	—
Reverse gravity	Quickened	Lodestone mined in Pandemonium	7,400 gp
Righteous might	Extended	Ritually prepared holy symbol	1,050 gp
Rope trick	Extended	Rope braided from spider silk	450 gp
Rusting grasp	Empowered	Ornate mithral gauntlet	1,900 gp
Sanctuary	Heightened +2	Jasper necklace	700 gp
Scare	Extended	Ritually prepared bone from corporeal undead	450 gp
Scintillating pattern	Widened	Pearlescent prism	5,550 gp
Scorching ray	Empowered	Ruby from Elemental Plane of Fire	1,100 gp
Screen	Heightened +2	Embroidered gauze scrim	3,500 gp
Scrying	Heightened +3	Alchemically purified nitric acid	3,150 gp
Scrying, greater	Heightened +2	Alchemically purified nitric acid	3,100 gp
Sculpt sound	Enlarged	Rare clay	650 gp
Searing light	Maximized	Yellow topaz	2,550 gp
Secret chest	Extended	Net made of ethereal solid	1,050 gp
Secret page	—	—	—
Secure shelter	Extended	Miniscule model of cottage	850 gp
See invisibility	Extended	Powdered turquoise	450 gp
Seeming	Heightened +2	Coral figurines	2,300 gp
Sending	—	—	—
Sepia snake sigil	Heightened +2	Powdered amber	2,000 gp
Sequester	Extended	Alchemical ointment	1,450 gp
Shades	Heightened +1	Pearl from Plane of Shadow	1,850 gp
Shadow conjuration	Heightened +1	Pearl from Plane of Shadow	850 gp
Shadow conjuration, greater	Heightened +1	Pearl from Plane of Shadow	1,450 gp
Shadow evocation	Heightened +1	Diamond from Plane of Shadow	1,050 gp
Shadow evocation, greater	Heightened +1	Diamond from Plane of Shadow	1,650 gp
Shadow walk	Extended	Black tourmaline	1,250 gp
Shambler	Empowered	Rare herbs	3,900 gp
Shapechange	Extended	Aquamarine circlet	1,850 gp
Shatter	Widened	Carved crystal cubes	1,950 gp
Shield	Quickened	Jeweled bracelet	2,200 gp
Shield of faith	Extended	Ritually prepared parchment	250 gp
Shield of law	Extended	Shield with +1 enhancement bonus	1,153 gp
Shield other	Enlarged	Two emerald and platinum rings	550 gp
Shillelagh	Extended	Druid-tended oak club or quarterstaff	250 gp
Shocking grasp	Maximized	Ornate electrum gauntlet	1,350 gp
Shout	Widened	Ornate platinum gong	3,150 gp
Shout, greater	Widened	Ornate platinum trumpet	5,550 gp
Shrink item	Extended	Alchemically purified mica	650 gp
Silence	Silent	Silver mask	450 gp
Silent image	Heightened +2	Rare pigments	700 gp
Simulacrum	—	—	—
Slay living	Heightened +3	Obsidian headpiece	3,750 gp
Sleep	Heightened +2	Alchemical dreamwisp dust	700 gp
Sleet storm	Extended	Hollow ivory bottle	650 gp
Slow	Heightened +2	Liquid amber	1,500 gp
Snare	—	—	—
Soften earth and stone	Enlarged	Specially prepared mud from Hades	450 gp
Solid fog	Quickened	Cloudy diamonds	4,600 gp
Song of discord	Widened	Rune-carved conch shell	3,750 gp
Soul bind	—	—	—
Sound burst	Heightened +1	Bone whistle	450 gp
Speak with animals	Extended	Animal mask	250 gp
Speak with dead	Heightened +3	Golden caduceus	2,550 gp
Speak with plants	Extended	Jade-studded mask	650 gp
Spectral hand	Enlarged	Phosphor-limned glove	450 gp
Spell immunity	Extended	Moonstone	850 gp
Spell immunity, greater	Extended	Moonstone	1,650 gp
Spell resistance	Extended	Rakshasa claw	1,050 gp
Spell turning	Empowered	Zircon	3,100 gp
Spellstaff	—	—	—
Spider climb	Extended	Drider fur	450 gp
Spike growth	Heightened +2	Carved basalt dagger	1,500 gp
Spike stones	Heightened +2	Carved obsidian dagger	1,900 gp
Spiritual weapon	Enlarged	Masterwork version of weapon	varies
Statue	Extended	Limestone figurine	1,450 gp
Status	Extended	Electrum headband	450 gp
Stinking cloud	Empowered	Sulfur from Elemental Plane of Fire	1,500 gp
Stone shape	—	—	—
Stone tell	Extended	Stone mask	1,250 gp
Stone to flesh	—	—	—
Stoneskin	Extended	Diamond dust	1,300 gp
Storm of vengeance	Empowered	Heartwood from oak split by lightning	3,900 gp
Suggestion	Heightened +2	Druid-tended honey	1,500 gp
Suggestion, mass	Heightened +2	Druid-tended honey	2,700 gp
Summon instrument	—	—	—
Summon monster I	Extended	Pearl	250 gp
Summon monster II	Empowered	Pearl	1,100 gp
Summon monster III	Empowered	Pearl	1,500 gp
Summon monster IV	Empowered	Pearl	1,900 gp
Summon monster V	Empowered	Pearl	2,300 gp
Summon monster VI	Empowered	Pearl	2,700 gp
Summon monster VII	Empowered	Pearl	3,100 gp
Summon monster VIII	Empowered	Pearl	3,500 gp
Summon monster IX	Empowered	Pearl	3,900 gp
Summon nature’s ally I	Extended	Druid-tended mistletoe	250 gp
Summon nature’s ally II	Empowered	Druid-tended mistletoe	1,100 gp
Summon nature’s ally III	Empowered	Druid-tended mistletoe	1,500 gp
Summon nature’s ally IV	Empowered	Druid-tended mistletoe	1,900 gp
Summon nature’s ally V	Empowered	Druid-tended mistletoe	2,300 gp
Summon nature’s ally VI	Empowered	Druid-tended mistletoe	2,700 gp
Summon nature’s ally VII	Empowered	Druid-tended mistletoe	3,100 gp
Summon nature’s ally VIII	Empowered	Druid-tended mistletoe	3,500 gp
Summon nature’s ally IX	Empowered	Druid-tended mistletoe	3,900 gp
Summon swarm	Extended	Rune-embroidered red cloth	450 gp
Sunbeam	Widened	Javelin with phosphorus runes	4,950 gp
Sunburst	Widened	Sunstone carved into graven image	5,550 gp
Symbol of death	Heightened +2	Powdered diamond and opal	13,500 gp
Symbol of fear	Heightened +2	Powdered diamond and opal	3,700 gp
Symbol of insanity	Heightened +2	Powdered diamond and opal	8,500 gp
Symbol of pain	Heightened +2	Powdered diamond and opal	3,300 gp
Symbol of persuasion	Heightened +2	Powdered diamond and opal	7,700 gp
Symbol of sleep	Heightened +2	Powdered diamond and opal	3,300 gp
Symbol of stunning	Heightened +2	Powdered diamond and opal	8,100 gp
Symbol of weakness	Heightened +2	Powdered diamond and opal	8,100 gp
Sympathetic vibration	Extended	Set of masterwork tuning forks	1,250 gp
Sympathy	Extended	Crushed pearls	2,150 gp
Telekinesis	Enlarged	Iron rod with silver filigree	1,250 gp
Telekinetic sphere	Enlarged	Crystal sphere	1,650 gp
Telepathic bond	Extended	Dragon eggshells	1,050 gp
Teleport	Quickened	Amber and emerald pendant	5,400 gp
Teleport object	Quickened	Amber and emerald bracelet	7,000 gp
Teleport, greater	Quickened	Amber and emerald necklace	7,000 gp
Teleportation circle	Extended	Amber dust	2,850 gp
Temporal stasis	Heightened +2	Powdered diamond, emerald, ruby, and sapphire	8,500 gp
Time stop	Empowered	Specially prepared titan’s knucklebone	3,900 gp
Tiny hut	Extended	Necklace of crystal beads	650 gp
Tongues	Extended	Brass model of ziggurat	750 gp
Touch of fatigue	Heightened +2	Wolverine perspiration	275 gp
Touch of idiocy	Silent	Ornate bronze gauntlet	450 gp
Transformation	Extended	Potions of bear’s endurance, bull’s strength,cat’s grace, and heroism	1,650 gp
Transmute metal to wood	Widened	Finely carved darkwood-and-pearl holy symbol	4,950 gp
Transmute mud to rock	Heightened +1	Alchemically treated clay	1,050 gp
Transmute rock to mud	Heightened +1	Alchemically treated clay	1,050 gp
Transport via plants	Silent	Rare herbs	1,250 gp
Trap the soul	—	—	—
Tree shape	Extended	Shawl woven from druid-tended leaves	450 gp
Tree stride	Silent	Rare herbs	1,050 gp
True resurrection	—	—	—
True seeing	Extended	Eye ointment	1,500 gp
True strike	Quickened	Bow with +1 enhancement bonus	2,330 gp
Undeath to death	Widened	Crushed diamond	4,850 gp
Undetectable alignment	Extended	Embroidered velvet shroud	450 gp
Unhallow	Widened	Herbs, oils, and incense	4,750 gp plusextra for spell
Unholy aura	Extended	Shield with +1 enhancement bonus	1,153 gp
Unholy blight	Empowered	Dust from Hades	1,900 gp
Unseen servant	Extended	Fancy valet’s uniform	250 gp
Vampiric touch	Maximized	Specially prepared vampire’s fang	2,550 gp
Veil	Heightened +2	Veil spun from electrum thread	2,700 gp
Ventriloquism	Enlarged	Calligraphy on fine parchment, rolled into cone	250 gp
Virtue	Extended	Brass medallion	25 hp
Vision	—	—	—
Wail of the banshee	Enlarged and widened	Trapped banshee essence	8,600 gp
Wall of fire	Extended	Ground phosphorus and magnesium	950 gp
Wall of force	Extended	Any clear gem	1,050 gp
Wall of ice	Extended	Rune-engraved quartz	850 gp
Wall of iron	Enlarged	Alchemically purified iron and gold dust	1,300 gp
Wall of stone	Enlarged	Rune-engraved granite	1,050 gp
Wall of thorns	Extended	Thorns from rare blood-roses	1,050 gp
Warp wood	Enlarged	Switch carved from druid-tended black oak	450 gp
Water breathing	Extended	Ornately carved reed	650 gp
Water walk	Extended	Coral armbands	650 gp
Waves of exhaustion	Widened	Occluded diamond	4,950 gp
Waves of fatigue	Widened	Occluded diamond	2,550 gp
Web	Heightened +2	Ritually prepared drider silk	1,100 gp
Weird	Heightened +1	Nightmarish etchings	1,850 gp
Whirlwind	Extended	Bottled gale-force wind fromthe Elemental Plane of Air	1,650 gp
Whispering wind	Extended	Bottled last breath of a druid	450 gp
Wind walk	Extended	Cloud vapor from Arcadia	1,350 gp
Wind wall	Extended	Specially prepared lillend feather	650 gp
Wish	—	—	—
Wood shape	—	—	—
Word of chaos	Heightened +2	Specially prepared stinger of a formian myrmarch	3,100 gp
Word of recall	Quickened	Ornate emerald holy symbol	7,000 gp
Zone of silence	Widened	Miniature platinum lute with strings cut	3,150 gp
Zone of truth	Heightened +2	Silver and gold gavel	1,100 gp

Behind The Curtain: Metamagic Components

If you use this variant, you may find that characters are less likely to take metamagic feats because they can just pay for the occasional metamagic effect by using a metamagic component instead. Spellcasters who use metamagic components repeatedly may fall behind the other PCs in terms of wealth, because metamagic components are quite expensive. Although using a metamagic component is more expensive than casting from a scroll with the metamagic version of the spell, a spellcaster gets more bang for his buck with a metamagic component, because he can use his own caster level and ability score to set the spell’s parameters such as save DC, damage, and range. Metamagic components give spellcasters more flexibility, because they can either cast a spell normally or get the extra benefit of the metamagic component, and they don’t have to decide until the moment spellcasting begins.

Metamagic components are an effective tool for NPC spellcasters in particular, who often have only a few rounds to cast spells before the encounter ends. But because metamagic components are expensive, such NPCs may use up more of their treasure than is typical.

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