Can a ranger with 10 Wis brew potions?

[John Q. Mayhem]

The Brew Potion feat doesn't require the ability to cast spells, just a 'caster level, and there doesn't seem to be any requirement for actually casting the spell in the feat. Could a high-level ranger with 10 Wis brew a potion? I'm going to allow it, but I want to know the RAW. I like the idea of a ranger being able to cook up, for example, a healing potion despite not being able to cast spells.

 

[UltimaGabe]

No. Unless he has a wand of the spell necessary, that is. If I remember correctly from the Magic Item creation section of the DMG (and in the SRD, if I'm not mistaken), the act of making a magic item uses up the requisite spell slots from your memory. So if you're not able to prepare the spell in the first place, or have some way of casting it (such as from a scroll or wand, but scrolls are out of the question because he doesn't have a high enough score to cast them), then you can't use the spell. The spell isn't actually cast (that is, any material components or whatnot are not used up), but the spell has to be prepared, and the slot it's in is used up. So if it isn't prepared, or supplemented from another source, then you can't make an item that needs it.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Can a ranger with Wis 10 prepare a 1st-level spell?

No.

PREPARING DIVINE SPELLS
Divine spellcasters prepare their spells in largely the same manner as wizards do, but with a few differences. The relevant ability for divine spells is Wisdom. To prepare a divine spell, a character must have a Wisdom score of 10 + the spell’s level. Likewise, bonus spells are based on Wisdom.

Therefore, can he provide the Cure Light Wounds prerequisite of a CLW potion?

No.

The creator must have prepared the spell to be placed in the potion (or must know the spell, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) and must provide any material component or focus the spell requires.

 

[dcollins]

Answer is "no". From the SRD:

CREATING POTIONS
...
The creator must have prepared the spell to be placed in the potion (or must know the spell, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) and must provide any material component or focus the spell requires.