Class level... of a feat?

[Inevitability]

The Dragon Compendium feat 'Scalding Faith of the Sun' says:



Prerequisite: Divine grace, Patron deity Pelor, Turn Undead,
Benefit: You turn undead as a cleric of your class level.
Normal: A paladin turns undead as a cleric three levels lower would.


The intent here is pretty clear: the feat lets paladins turn as if they're a cleric of their paladin level, rather than their paladin level minus three. And for a single-classed paladin, that's exactly what happens. But what if the character taking this is, say, a paladin 2 / cleric 1? Or a fighter 5 / holy liberator 7 / sacred exorcist 1?

Where the SRD defines the term 'class level', it writes the following.


"Class level" is a character’s level in a particular class. For a character whose levels are all in the same class, character level and class level are the same.

Typically, a reference to class level occurs in the context of some particular class. But in this case, we aren't in the description of a class, but of a feat, and the feat could be talking about your paladin level, your level in whatever class granted you divine grace, or your level in whatever class granted you turn undead. Which of these should we go by for characters where those aren't all the same? The intent is probably the first, but is there a RAW take on it?

[Biggus]

As far as I can see, the only interpretation that could make sense is "the class that granted turn undead" because that's the only thing the feat affects.

[SirNibbles]

RAI is very clear that it's Paladin levels (or whichever class grants you both Divine Grace and Turn Undead).

Strangely, the feat as it was published in both the Dragon Compendium and Dragon Magazine #306 says that a Paladin would normally Turn Undead two levels lower, even though the Paladin description for Turn Undead says three levels.

[Gruftzwerg]

RAW is strict upon these details. Just because you qualify for a feat doesn't automatically mean you can profit from em. Many metamagic feat don't have any requirements.
Yet you can't use em without the ability to cast spells.

For RAW it's the same as when you enter a PRC and have cleric domain powers. They don't scale with the prc unless it says so. RAW is really annoying here.

RAI, we have a pretty nice quote from the disrespected 3.5 FAQ.. ^^ :


Question: Okay, I’m confused by the current alphabet soup of abbreviations dealing with exactly how tough a monster or a character is. What are character level, class level, EL, ECL, and CR? How do they relate to each other? Are they interchangeable? If not, what are they used for?

Answer: The terms are not interchangeable. You can find definitions of most of these terms in the PH glossary or in SS, but here’s an overview.
..

Class Level:
...
In addition, most level-based variables for a class feature depend on your class level, as does any level-based variable for a spell you cast as a member of that class. Powers from clerical domains are class features, and any level-based variables they have depend on your level in the class that gives you access to the domain.

The quote implies that you should read between the lines and in favor of the character here, thus changing the lvl dependency to the class that gives him access to that ability.

[Troacctid]

RAI is very clear that it's Paladin levels (or whichever class grants you both Divine Grace and Turn Undead).

Strangely, the feat as it was published in both the Dragon Compendium and Dragon Magazine #306 says that a Paladin would normally Turn Undead two levels lower, even though the Paladin description for Turn Undead says three levels.
It's not strange. The feat is from 3.0, back when paladins turned at -2 rather than -3. Dragon Compendium is notorious for not bothering to properly update its content to 3.5.