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Tharck
2010-09-01, 11:50 AM
In 3.5 do I have to qualify for a feat before I can choose it?

Such as Power Attack when I was an 11th STR?

Or take a feat that requires a +6 Base Attack bonus even if I only have a +2?

Take a Divine Metamagic feat without being a divine caster or have Turn undead?

true_shinken
2010-09-01, 11:51 AM
Yes, you have to qualify.
That's the whole point of requirements.

Tharck
2010-09-01, 12:01 PM
I was under the impression you *could* take them before qualifying but don't recieve the benefits of the feat until you do meet the requirements.

Reis Tahlen
2010-09-01, 12:02 PM
And I add you have to qualify with your base stats; no strenght-boosting items will allow you to take Power Attack, and you take your BASE attack bonus/Saves/Whatever in order to qualify for a Feat.

JoshuaZ
2010-09-01, 12:07 PM
I was under the impression you *could* take them before qualifying but don't recieve the benefits of the feat until you do meet the requirements.

No. This is not how it works. You cannot take the feat if you don't qualify.

Zaydos
2010-09-01, 12:07 PM
You must qualify for a feat when you take it. Most people say you can use magic item enhancement bonuses to do so. This is why when building a 15th level character it matters at which level you took each feat.

Douglas
2010-09-01, 12:14 PM
And I add you have to qualify with your base stats; no strenght-boosting items will allow you to take Power Attack, and you take your BASE attack bonus/Saves/Whatever in order to qualify for a Feat.
No, you can qualify by any means you care to use. Gauntlets of Ogre Strength +2, Bull's Strength, Divine Power, Vow of Poverty, whatever. The only requirement is that you must qualify at the time you take the feat, which generally means that you must satisfy the prerequisite practically all day long every day because very few DMs will allow you to treat "leveling up" as an instantaneous occurrence that you can control or predict the timing of.

Now, quite a few feats do have prerequisites that specifically reference your base attack bonus or base save bonuses, and for those you do indeed use only the base value specified, but ability score prerequisites can easily be satisfied by magic.

Thinker
2010-09-01, 12:15 PM
In 3.5 do I have to qualify for a feat before I can choose it?

Such as Power Attack when I was an 11th STR?

Or take a feat that requires a +6 Base Attack bonus even if I only have a +2?

Take a Divine Metamagic feat without being a divine caster or have Turn undead?
From the SRD:


Prerequisites

Some feats have prerequisites. Your character must have the indicated ability score, class feature, feat, skill, base attack bonus, or other quality designated in order to select or use that feat. A character can gain a feat at the same level at which he or she gains the prerequisite.

A character can’t use a feat if he or she has lost a prerequisite.


So yes, you have to qualify for a feat in order to take the feat initially and if you ever lose those prerequisites you can no longer use that feat, but you still have it.


And I add you have to qualify with your base stats; no strenght-boosting items will allow you to take Power Attack, and you take your BASE attack bonus/Saves/Whatever in order to qualify for a Feat.

I'm sorry, I must have missed this bit. Where does it say that you cannot use enhanced ability scores to qualify?

Keld Denar
2010-09-01, 12:23 PM
And I add you have to qualify with your base stats; no strenght-boosting items will allow you to take Power Attack, and you take your BASE attack bonus/Saves/Whatever in order to qualify for a Feat.

This may be your house rule, but there is nothing in the rules that explicitly dictates that it has to be a base ability. In fact, the FAQ specifically calls out that you can take PA while using a +X Str item to qualify for it. Some things are inherantly called out as base stats, like BAB (BASE Attack Bonus) and skill ranks, because while items can increase your bonuses, no item can give you skill ranks and nothing short of a continuous item of Divine Power can increase your BAB. Stats, however, are something you can modify easily, and tend to go up or down often with conditions. If you get hit with a Ray of Enfeeblement, you may no longer qualify for Power Attack. You don't lose the feat, it just turns off and you can't use it until your Str returns to 13+ territory. Likewise, if you get hit with a Ray of Clumsiness, your TWFing feats might turn off, rendering you able to only use one weapon. You never lose the feat, even if you no longer qualify. Similarly, if you take off the Gauntlets of Ogre Power you were using to qualify for Power Attack, you don't meet the prereqs and the feat turns off until you put the Gauntlets back on. You still have the feat, it just doesn't work anymore.

Tharck
2010-09-01, 12:31 PM
Thanks guys.

Reis Tahlen
2010-09-01, 12:31 PM
This may be your house rule, but there is nothing in the rules that explicitly dictates that it has to be a base ability. In fact, the FAQ specifically calls out that you can take PA while using a +X Str item to qualify for it. Some things are inherantly called out as base stats, like BAB (BASE Attack Bonus) and skill ranks, because while items can increase your bonuses, no item can give you skill ranks and nothing short of a continuous item of Divine Power can increase your BAB. Stats, however, are something you can modify easily, and tend to go up or down often with conditions. If you get hit with a Ray of Enfeeblement, you may no longer qualify for Power Attack. You don't lose the feat, it just turns off and you can't use it until your Str returns to 13+ territory. Likewise, if you get hit with a Ray of Clumsiness, your TWFing feats might turn off, rendering you able to only use one weapon. You never lose the feat, even if you no longer qualify. Similarly, if you take off the Gauntlets of Ogre Power you were using to qualify for Power Attack, you don't meet the prereqs and the feat turns off until you put the Gauntlets back on. You still have the feat, it just doesn't work anymore.

Indeed, I never realized that. No, it's not an house rule, it's just the way we understood the rule in my group, seemed pretty much common sense that you had to possess the prerequ without the help of magic items.

Lapak
2010-09-01, 12:43 PM
Indeed, I never realized that. No, it's not an house rule, it's just the way we understood the rule in my group, seemed pretty much common sense that you had to possess the prerequ without the help of magic items.In terms of common sense, it makes equal sense that you can train sufficiently to qualify provided you have a magical boost that is always 'on.' Power Attack and Gauntlets of Ogre Power are an excellent example of how the process works; the gloves never turn off, so you can train all day long with them for weeks to learn how to perform the Feat. Take the gloves off, and all that training is useless because you don't have the raw strength to perform the maneuvers involved.