I tried searching for this, but didnt find anything useful.
Can a metamagic rod be used to enhance a spell being cast from a wand/scroll/staff?
Normally, I would think that no, it couldnt, but Im not entirely sure how that would work.
Thanks for the help!
my guess is no.
No. Although it should be possible to create a wand with metamagic enhanced spells, so long as they are not higher level than the wand spell level limits. Wands and scrolls are magic storage devices that produce the effect of the spell that was stored in them. Metamagic only works on spells that are cast from a spellcaster's natural spell casting ability.
Or that's my understanding anyway.
brassbaboon has it right, with the proviso for staffs, of course.
3.5 had metamagic wand sheaths which added a specific metamagic effect to a wand at the cost of a charge per spell level alteration of the sheath.
Ex: magic missile wand with a quickened sheath uses five charges (1 for the spell and 4 for the metamagic) per casting. It's a severe drain on resources, but sometimes you really need to cast ten quickened magic missiles in a row.
One of the 3.5-era WotC books (either MI Compendium or one of the "Complete" series books) had "metamagic wand grips" that you could wrap around a wand to sort of simulate what you're going for. Shouldn't even need conversion!
One of the 3.5-era WotC books had "metamagic wand grips" that you could wrap around a wand to sort of simulate what you're going for. Shouldn't even need conversion!
Yes, that.
Metamagic wandgrips from Complete Mage allow you to apply a metamagic feat you know to a wand, and only work 3 times/day.
In the same book there was a feat that let you do this all day. It had a hefty Spellcraft pre-req, though.
While not RAW, allowing rods to work on wands should be a fine houserule, or custom rods (for a similar price) that only work with wands, if you prefer.
Would they work with a spell-like ability? I think yes, cause its something the person is actually casting, even if its not actually the spell.
This seems to be really up to interpretation, as sometimes the Dev's seem to rule that spell-like are considered spells unless otherwise noted (see Augment Summoning vs. Summon SLA) and at other times they seem to rule that they aren't considered spells except where noted (can't recall a ruling on the top of my head though).
You obviously can't use metamagic feats with them, since you don't have any spell slots, but rods might be possible.
Would they work with a spell-like ability? I think yes, cause its something the person is actually casting, even if its not actually the spell.
There are specific feats that metamagic SLA's. The rods only copy the ones for spells. I don't think it would be unreasonable to allow those to be put into rods though, but it is not RAW.
Augment summon is not a metamagic feat. I would like to know if the summoner's SLA's are an exception to the rule or not though.
You can create a wand or scroll that triggers a specific metamagic adjusted spell. You cannot apply metamagic to a spell triggered from a wand/staff or completed from a scroll. Two different things; the OP is asking about the second ("Can a metamagic rod be used to enhance a spell being cast from a wand/scroll/staff?").