Type: General
Source: Complete Mage
You can apply metamagic feats you know to spell effects from magic items you activate with a spell trigger.
Prerequisite: Any metamagic feat, Use Magic Device 15 ranks or Spellcraft 15 ranks.
Benefit: You can apply any one metamagic feat you know to a spell generated by a spell trigger item (such as a wand or staff) that you activate. You expend one extra charge for each change in spell level a metamagic feat normally requires.
If the metamagic feat's level adjustment would normally increase the slot of the chosen spell's level above 9th, you can't apply the metamagic effect to the spell. For example, you can't apply Quicken Spell to an antimagicfield generated by a staff (since that would take a 10th-level spell slot to cast).
If sufficient charges aren't available in the item to power the application of metamagic feats (or if the item doesn't use charges), the item fails to activate and no charges are used, but the action used to activate the item is wasted.