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The Sorcerer description has this to say:

A sorcerer casts arcane spells drawn primarily from the sorcerer/wizard spell list. She can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, a sorcerer must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level.

...

She can cast any spell she knows at any time, assuming she has not yet used up her spells per day for that spell level.

As a Sorcerer, you get bonus spells based on Charisma. In my case, I rolled an 18 at the start, invested points at levels 4 and 8, got 2 point for being an Ifrit(racial bonus), and I'm wearing a Headband of Alluring Charisma (+4). This gives me a Charisma stat of 26.

The Table of bonus spells shows I get, among others, a Level 7 and a level 8 spell slot.

However, I recently obtained Craft Wondrous Item, which lets me make Page of Spell Knowledge.

Lets's say I craft a Page of Limited Wish, a Level 7 spell. Despite not knowing it, I can do that by taking a +5 on the DC, and taking 10 on the spellcraft Crafting check.

Would this allow me to cast Limited Wish? I have a spell slot of the appropriate level (higher, even), and I have the page to make the spell "known" to me.

While the answer is the same, this question is different from this one because that one is about metamagic, and this one is about Page of Spell Knowledge. There will be few if any search queries turning up both questions (and that one certainly didn't show up in the "similar questions" list when I asked this one).

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Please note: I'm aware that from a balance perspective a GM might decide to forbid it anyway. I might if I were running the campaign. \$\endgroup\$
    – Gloweye
    Commented Jun 7, 2021 at 21:47

1 Answer 1

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No, you don't get bonus spells of a level you can't normally cast

Next to the table of ability modifiers and bonus spells you've linked is the important caveat:

In addition to having a high ability score, a spellcaster must be of a high enough class level to be able to cast spells of a given spell level.

Your charisma might be high enough that you would get a bonus 7th level spell, but you don't get that benefit until your class level is high enough to grant access to 7th level spells normally.

Some might argue that the rules text appears ambiguous, but this is explicitly clarified in the Pathfinder FAQ:

Bonus Spells from a High Ability Score: Can I use these even if my spellcasting class level isn't high enough to give me access to those spell levels?

No. You only get the bonus spells if your class level grants you access to those spell levels. You can't even use them for lower-level spells. [...]

Basically, ignore the columns for higher-level spells on table 1–3: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells until your class grants you access to those spell levels.

This is also backed up by inference from some other rules text; for instance, the Paladin's Spells feature states:

When Table: Paladin indicates that the paladin gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, she gains only the bonus spells she would be entitled to based on her Charisma score for that spell level.

If the paladin already had those bonus spells, it would not make sense to say that they "gain" them at a later level.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I hadn't read that line that way. I can see where you're coming from. But on the other hand, my class doesn't say I can't cast Level 7 spells - it merely doesn't give me the tools to do so. I wish they'd been a bit more explicit here. Anyway, upvote. I'll accept in a few days unless there's a far more convincing answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – Gloweye
    Commented Jun 7, 2021 at 22:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Gloweye I think its more expressly stated somewhere, but this ruling is correct. Until the class gives you a 0+ to a spell level, you cant use spell slots of that level. \$\endgroup\$
    – Fering
    Commented Jun 7, 2021 at 22:15
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Carcer may want to include this FAQ which is a bit more explicit. \$\endgroup\$
    – willuwontu
    Commented Jun 7, 2021 at 23:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ @willuwontu done, but I do think this should probably be closed as a duplicate. \$\endgroup\$
    – Carcer
    Commented Jun 8, 2021 at 6:56
  • \$\begingroup\$ Whelp, that FAQ seals it imo. Shame. \$\endgroup\$
    – Gloweye
    Commented Jun 8, 2021 at 7:24

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