Dnd metamagic

[Zesali]

I am starting a game and one of my players is wanting to use metamagic.. first off I have next to no idea how they work. i know they are a feat that ou can take and it increases the spells lvl but can they be done on any spell? and lastly he is tring to take a metamagic called Channel Touch spell... I cant find it in any dnd books that i have seen... is this a true feat if so what book is it in?

[Doc Roc]

Rules.
Nice searchable index.

Let me know if you need more guided help, but this should cover it. Is he asking for smiting spell? if so, that's PHB2.

[valadil]

Basically metamagic feats enable you to modify your spells. Empower Spell for instance makes a spell cost 2 levels higher and it increases the dice rolled in the spell by 50%. So an empowered fireball would be a level 5 spell. If your character is level 10 a normal fireball would be 10d6 but empowered would be 15d6. Note that the character cannot metamagic the spell after memorizing it. IE, a wizards spell list will include an empowered fireball in a 5th level slot.

I've never heard of Channel Touch metamagic, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Ask your friend to show it to you in a book.

[Cyrion]

Do you think he might be talking about Reach Spell for the Channel Touch? Reach Spell allows the caster to cast touch spells at a distance. It's in Complete Divine.

[Sinfire Titan]

Ok, there's a couple of different ways to channel touch spells into attacks.

1. Spellsword class feature called Channel Touch Spell
2. Enlighented Fist class feature of a similar name
3. Duskblade's Arcane Channeling class feature
4. and the Smiting Spell Metamagic feat

Only one of those is a feat (smiting spell), and all but one of those abilities requires the spell to be a Touch spell (that one is the Enlightened Fist class feature). Applying the Reach Spell feat to a Touch spell turns it into a Ranged Touch spell, thus you need the Enlightened Fist ability to even use it.

[Claudius Maximus]

Or you could just punch somebody while holding a charge.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Or you could just punch somebody while holding a charge.

The best strategy is to cast spell flower (Spell Compendium) to let you hold the charge with one hand while casting spells with the other; that way, you can channel a touch spell through one hand and punch them with the held charge in the other.

[ericgrau]

Read the linked rules for details, but I'll summarize. When a wizard prepares a metamagic spell, it raises the spell level of the spell slot it must be prepared in. But the spell itself remains unchanged except as described in the feat. So an empowered fireball takes up a 5th level slot and - as described in the feat - deals 50% more damage. But for all other purposes including save DC, countering it, etc. it is an ordinary 3rd level fireball spell. Only heighten increases the actual spell level (and save DC), but everything else remains the same. So a fireball heightened to level 5 takes up a 5th level spell slot and has the save DC of a 5th level spell, but otherwise it deals the same damage as a regular fireball and so forth. Sorcerers apply metamagic spontaneously rather than applying it when preparing spells in the morning, but this increases casting time from a standard action to a full round action (or by 1 round for longer casting times).

One trick I like to pull when playing sorcerers is to take light as one of my cantrips. Since light spells overcome lower level darkness spells, I heighten it as needed. It's still only as bright and large as a torch and thus inferior to an equal leveled daylight, but it gets the job done without preparing any additional spells. I already have heighten to boost the save DCs of my save-dependent spells anyway (at the cost of a higher level spell slot, which sorcs have plenty of), so no loss there either.