We have a 17th-level wizard with intelligence 19 and wisdom 14. He has these feats (among others):
- Arcane Disciple: War (Complete Divine)
- Metamagic School Focus: Evocation (Complete Mage)
- Persistent Spell (Complete Arcane)
So the question is this: Is he able to persist Divine Power? It is a level 4 spell, so by the rules of Arcane Disciple, he meets the requirements to learn, memorize, and cast the spell. The crux of the issue lies in this section found on p.88 in the PHB:
Effects of Metamagic Feats on a Spell: In all ways, a metamagic spell operates at its original spell level, even though it is prepared and cast as a higher-level spell.
The player's argument is that it simply takes up one of his higher-level spell slots, but that it is still level 4 for the comparison to his wisdom score. My argument is that being prepared and cast as a higher-level spell means he needs wisdom 19 to do it.
Any thoughts?