well, I just saw the next article about clerics, and it confirms that clerics can, in fact, use a higher level spell slot to prepare a lesser spell:
A cleric's spell slot can hold a spell of its level or of a lower level.
A cleric can prepare a lower-level spell in a higher-level slot, just as any other spellcaster can. If the cleric's Wisdom score won't allow her to prepare spells in her higher-level slots, she still can use those slots for lower-level slots. For example, a 9th-level cleric has 4th-level spell slots available. If the cleric has a Wisdom score of only 13, however, she can prepare and cast up to 3rd-level spells only. She can prepare spells of 3rd level or lower in her otherwise unusable 4th-level spell slots. Although the text on page 32 in the Player's Handbook seems to imply that a domain spell slot can hold a spell of its own level only, there's no good reason to bar a cleric from preparing a lower-level spell from one of her domains for that slot.
Like other spellcasters, clerics also can prepare spells using metamagic feats, which make those spells use higher-level spell slots. To prepare or cast a spell modified with most metamagic feats, the cleric's Wisdom score must be at least equal to 10 + the spell's unmodified level. For example, a cleric with a Wisdom score of 14 can use a 5th-level spell slot to prepare a 4th-level spell modified with the Enlarge Spell metamagic feat (which makes the spell use a slot one level higher than normal). The Heighten Spell metamagic feat actually raises the spell's level, as noted in the D&D FAQ. To prepare or cast a spell modified with the Heighten Spell feat, the cleric's Wisdom score must be equal to 10 + the spell's modified leveland, just in case you want to read the whole article:
All about Clerics, part 2yea, i know, i was wrong....but at least i'm admitting to it!
nviiibrown - (no subject) [+35]
so why should the casting classes (and I would presume that this would apply to the other casting classes) have a way to weasel around this limitation?
And personally if I was a rogue with a crappy dex, I'd multiclass or focus on cha skills.
"I, Kelemvor, will not grant to the lower level of healing..,.YOU MUST TAKE THE HIGHER LEVEL ONE" Its honestly quite rediculious
What's your definition of cheesy anyway?
If a player has 35,000 gold, and wanted to buy a stat boosting item, would you force them to wait for another 1,000 gold to buy a +6 item? Or let them buy two +4 items and something else?
It's the same level of 'cheese'.
It seems that you're fine with a fighter having low strength or a rogue having low dexterity and using their feats/skills on different aspects than the archetypical class design (min/max!)...
... yet you're forcing clerics to min/max or not get all of their abilities.
and the restrictions that I would place on buying stat boosting items would be where they were buying them (if the city/town/etc. doesn't have a wiz/clr/sor who can make them, or can't afford to make them) and a limit on how much of a boost can be placed in an item (never anything higher than +5, and anything above +2 are rare items)
but if they can find them (in game) and afford them then i wouldn't have a problem with it.