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Incarnum3
2008-09-14, 08:35 PM
Hey all,

The description for the feat Quicken Spell say that a quickened spell takes up a spell slot four levels higher than the spell's actual level. Does this mean that you prepare a specific spell as quickened when preparing all of your spells, or that you can decide to make a spell quickened spontaneously at the expense of one of your higher level spell slots?

Sorry if that's worded horribly, I'm a little burnt out. Thanks in advance, Playground.

BRC
2008-09-14, 08:36 PM
Hey all,

The description for the feat Quicken Spell say that a quickened spell takes up a spell slot four levels higher than the spell's actual level. Does this mean that you prepare a specific spell as quickened when preparing all of your spells, or that you can decide to make a spell quickened spontaneously at the expense of one of your higher level spell slots?

Sorry if that's worded horribly, I'm a little burnt out. Thanks in advance, Playground.

Like all metamagic, you prepare the spell with the metamagic applied to it, you don't add it later.

Incarnum3
2008-09-14, 09:26 PM
Thanks, I've rarely had to use Metamagic so I'm completely new to the scene.

drengnikrafe
2008-09-14, 09:32 PM
Just so you are aware, we have a "RAW questions and answers" thread for things like this. Just so you know.

monty
2008-09-14, 11:55 PM
Let's say you have a third level spell. Assuming you prepare spells, you have to prepare it in a seventh level (or higher) slot to prepare it as a quickened spell. If you prepare it normally in a third level slot, you can't quicken it. If you're a spontaneous caster, on the other hand, you'd just use one of your open seventh level slots to cast it (IMPORTANT NOTE: since applying metamagic to a spontaneous spell makes it a full-round action, Quicken is absolutely useless in most situations for spontaneous casters).

However, there are situations where you can spontaneously add metamagic even to prepared spells, such as the Sudden Metamagic feats and abilities of some prestige classes (the most infamous being Incantatrix).

Tokiko Mima
2008-09-15, 12:26 AM
Hey all,

The description for the feat Quicken Spell say that a quickened spell takes up a spell slot four levels higher than the spell's actual level. Does this mean that you prepare a specific spell as quickened when preparing all of your spells, or that you can decide to make a spell quickened spontaneously at the expense of one of your higher level spell slots?

Sorry if that's worded horribly, I'm a little burnt out. Thanks in advance, Playground.

Metamagic depends on if you're a Wizard or a Sorcerer. Everyone is assuming you're a wizard but it's possible to use Quicken spontaneously as a Sorcerer with the Rapid Metamagic (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Rapid_Metamagic,all) feat.

A wizard has to prepare all his spells at once, so there's no room to 'bump up' a spell later on. They have to just declare it quickened (and use the higher level +4 slot) in the morning when they prepare spells for the day.

A sorcerer or spontaneous caster has to apply any metamagic on the fly, and they use up higher level slots at that time. There is a metamagic spellcasting time penalty to be aware of, and it normally locks Sorcerers out of being able to Quicken spells because it makes all non-swift/immediate cast spells take longer to cast than Quicken Spell can apply to.

A spontaneous caster with Rapid Metamagic feat does have the ability to do what you say, and can use the Quicken Spell Feat to full effect. If you plan on going wild with it, I also recommend Easy or Practical Metamagic Feats to cut that +4 down to an easier to swallow +2 or +3, less if you get a Metamagic reduction PrC like Incantrix. Be warned, it can be "cheesy" down this route to spellcasting power. :smallwink: