Haskalah's page

Alright, currently one of the quickest crafting methods I've found works thus:

Dwarven Wizard w/ the following:

Valet Familiar
High enough Spellcraft to take +5 on his DCs
Favored Class Bonus as a Wizard
Arcane Builder (Wondrous Items)
Craft Wondrous Item Feat

The question is.. How do they stack?

Is it (1000 + 200 (Dwarven Favored Class)) * 2 (+5 DC) * 2 (Valet Familiar) * 1.25 (Arcane Builder) or is the Dwarven Favored Class bonus added in at some other point?

The thought is that the Dwarven Favored appears to add +200 to the amount you can craft in a day IE onto the 1000 initially, making it 1200. The +5 DC appears to work by allowing that amount to be crafted in 4 hours. Is this accurate?

Hi everyone, the group I'm working with has ruled that the following FAQ means that Spell Slot Level applies when determining if a Metamagic Rod will work:

http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm#v5748eaic9r9w

Specifically, this:

In general, use the (normal, lower) spell level or the (higher) spell slot level, whichever is more of a disadvantage for the caster. The advantages of the metamagic feat are spelled out in the Benefits section of the feat, and the increased spell slot level is a disadvantage.

Now, the argument is that this applies negatively to Metamagic Rods and means that if you, for example, Empowered a Fireball it would be a 5th level spell and thus unaffected by a Lesser Metamagic Rod.

I argue that Rods point out spell levels and Metamagic Feats specifically do not increase spell level.

Which would be correct, and is there an FAQ or other official response on the matter, because it'd be a group decision one way or another.