Can I cast a spell off a staff that I'm not high enough to cast myself?

[lowew]

So yeah I should know this. If I am a sorcerer whom can cast level 3 spells on my own, and I get my hands on a staff that has say, a 5th level spell on it, can I cast that spell even though I cannot through my class.

While we are at it, some question involving wands.

I should know this, and i feel stupid.

Thanks.

[hustonj]

From the PRD:

Staves wrote:

Activation: Staves use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a staff is usually a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell being cast has a longer casting time than 1 standard action, however, it takes that long to cast the spell from a staff.) To activate a staff, a character must hold it forth in at least one hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for nonhumanoid creatures).

Spell Trigger wrote:

Spell Trigger: Spell trigger activation is similar to spell completion, but it's even simpler. No gestures or spell finishing is needed, just a special knowledge of spellcasting that an appropriate character would know, and a single word that must be spoken. Spell trigger items can be used by anyone whose class can cast the corresponding spell. This is the case even for a character who can't actually cast spells, such as a 3rd-level paladin. The user must still determine what spell is stored in the item before she can activate it. Activating a spell trigger item is a standard action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

[lowew]

Thanks for the refresher!

[LazarX]

lowew wrote:

So yeah I should know this. If I am a sorcerer whom can cast level 3 spells on my own, and I get my hands on a staff that has say, a 5th level spell on it, can I cast that spell even though I cannot through my class.

While we are at it, some question involving wands.

I should know this, and i feel stupid.

Thanks.

Since you can't cast 5th level spells though, you won't be able to recharge the staff.