Is a rod of Cherry Blossom Spell metamagic a bad idea?

Question

I am GMing the Hollow's Last Hope Adventure Path and I plan on going into Crown of the Kobold King after it. The book already has an aspect of poisons and diseases but I've leaned into them a little bit harder.

Now my players are leaving the main dungeon to rest and they will have enough time to rest and recover all the ability damage they received (I want them to have this time). One of the fights awaiting for them is a group of kobolds, I want to have one spellcaster kobold in this group with a lesser rod of Cherry Blossom Spell metamagic to get their stats down and then let them have it as a reward.

Using the Dazing spell as a base (both Dazing and Cherry Blossom spells are +3 metamagics) I made the price of the rod 14,000gp. Would this item be bad for the balance of the campaign? Is the price good?

My party is mostly martials, but we do have an oracle with the plagued curse and life mystery, he would be the one to get this item.

Answer 1

You’re fine.

Cherry Blossom is a decent but not overpowered metamagic. Providing a magic item that players would normally never buy to encourage more creative play is one of the fun things about GMing.

There are a few pitfalls that you should be aware of, however...

Keep track of WBL

If sold, this magic item adds 7,000 GP to the total wealth of the party. Just keep track of the party's current WBL (Wealth by Level) and perhaps reduce GP drops elsewhere to make sure that they don't go over. If they go over temporarily, don't sweat it. Just be aware that this increases player power significantly, by at least +1 CR, when designing encounters.

Apply the Spell Sneak Attack FAQ

If your oracle decides to cast a spell that damages the same target more than once simultaneously, such as Scorching Ray or Magic Missile (via Ring of Spell Knowledge), I strongly recommend that you apply the Spell Sneak Attack FAQ and only allow the ability damage to apply to one attack. Dealing 10 damage to DEX or INT with a single spell would be overpowered against many enemies.

That's it.

As long as you remember to keep track of your party's WBL, there should be no problems with providing a standard magical item like this. Have fun!