A question concerning divine metamagic

[PersonofJid]

I've heard (or got the impression) that Persistant DMM is horribly broken. However, I haven't heard of any solutions to deal with it apart from banning nightsticks or just plain banning it altogether. So I'm wondering if anyone here has any ideas on how to include Persistant DMM in a game without creating a monstrosity.

[Kizara]

Give your cleric a cursed magic item that grants him +2 wisdom but also randomly casts Dispel Magic on him once every 1d4 hours.

[Tokiko Mima]

Don't allow DMM turn attempts to come from items. That solves the problem, really. Since the issue is that with limitless Nightsticks, you can DMM Persist every single buff that you have as a Cleric (which is a LOT!) when you subtract your unlimited supply of Nightsticks, DMM becomes quite managable and a lot more reasonable.

The only way to cheat the system other than that is to pick a race with an insanely huge CHA and WIS bonus, like a nymph or a succubus and that has limiting factors (LA, RHD, etc) that make it not entirely the best solution already.

[Metal Head]

Just say that the bonus from multiple nightsticks doesn't stack. With only 1 nightstick DMM will be pretty limited.

[Curmudgeon]

All those buffs can be dispelled, just as any other spells. My advice: ignore the FAQ's attempt to keep Maximize Spell from applying to dispel checks. A dispel check is a variable numeric result with this simple formula:

dispel level = d20 + caster level - 11

and there's no reason this can't be maximized (d20 becomes 20). So you don't need to ban Divine Metamagic or Persistent Spell; just make sure the Cleric knows that a 24-hour buff can be dispelled as easily as one that only lasts 1 round/level. If your Cleric gets a reputation for überness, all the enemies will know that they need to use something like Greater Dispel Magic, or Maximize Spell with Dispel Magic, to deal with this individual.

[Chronos]

All those buffs can be dispelled, just as any other spells. My advice: ignore the FAQ's attempt to keep Maximize Spell from applying to dispel checks.

While you're at it, ignore the rules, too, and replace the Maximize Spell feat with something that would work that way. The effect of Dispel Magic isn't the dispelling check; the effect is "the magic goes away". The dispel check just tells you whether the effect happens, not how much it happens. But feel free to make that houserule if you like.

Another solution to DMM is to only allow it if the caster is high enough level to use the metamagic feat normally. So, when you get the ability to cast level 7 spells, you could use the normal Persist Spell feat (without DMM) to persist a 1st-level spell, and so you could also DMM persist that same spell at that level. In fact, it might not be a bad idea to also apply this limit to all the other ways to make metamagic easier, too, like rods or the Ultimate Magus ability.

[Idea Man]

While you're at it, ignore the rules, too, and replace the Maximize Spell feat with something that would work that way. The effect of Dispel Magic isn't the dispelling check; the effect is "the magic goes away". The dispel check just tells you whether the effect happens, not how much it happens. But feel free to make that houserule if you like.

Aww, I was hoping to cast an Intensified Dispel Magic. Shucks! I totally agree, though.