Actually,
It's in the section under Classes and Advancing your character.
Here's a link to the PRD.
You actually get a feat at 1st level, and every odd level after that.
No problem.
I think they avoided that to save space, the book was huge.
Do you need to use the Feat bonus when you get it, even at 1st level?
I've a 1st level Paladin and want to keep my Feat bonus for when I'm a 2nd level for the "Extra Lay on Hands", so keeping my feat will allow me to use it at 2nd level when I can gain something I really want.
Hope that makes sense!
Thanks, Walts
Do you need to use the Feat bonus when you get it, even at 1st level?
I've a 1st level Paladin and want to keep my Feat bonus for when I'm a 2nd level for the "Extra Lay on Hands", so keeping my feat will allow me to use it at 2nd level when I can gain something I really want.
Hope that makes sense!
Thanks, Walts
You must use a Bonus Feat when you gain it, even your Racial Bonus Feat, as per the basic rules.
If your DM lets you "hold" Feat slots, then that'd be a houserule, but that brings with it its own balance issues.
HOWEVER, there are official rules for Retraining that many/most DMs allow that allows you spend time un-learning a Feat (that's not being used as a prerequisite for another game mechanic like another Feat or Prestige Class) and retroactively replacing it with another one.
The only REALLY confusing thing about Retraining is that you can Retrain, say, your 1st Level Feat at 3rd level for a feat that you only have access to at 3rd level and up.
Basically, just think of it like this - you must use a Feat slot whenever you gain one for whatever reason. As you level up, you accrue more and more Feat slots, but you can Retrain to replace those Feats filling a slot you no longer have use for, using your current level and qualities instead of those you had at the time that slot became available.
So, for instance, you have a Dex of 14 at level 1. You take Skill Focus as your 1st level Feat. You up your Dex to 15 at lv4. Since you currently have a Dex of 15, you decide to Retrain. You spend a week of game-time Retraining, and you lose Skill Focus to open up a Feat slot, and replace it with Two-Weapon Fighting, since you now have Dex 15, meaning you now qualify for the Feat.
Look up "Retraining" in either the Pathfinder Reference Document or on d20PFSRD
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That being said, you probably don't want Extra Lay on Hands that early unless it's specifically for a trick which only works by burning a use of Lay on Hands.
Try something like Power Attack, or even something like Toughness.
If you REALLY want to get Extra Lay on Hands, take something you're going to keep permanently as your Racial Bonus Feat, and then take a "filler" Feat as your Level 1 Feat - something like Acrobatic or other "skill-boost" ability.
At Level 2, when you've got Lay on Hands, decide to Retrain your filler Feat for Extra Lay on Hands, since you now qualify for the feat. You're going to be spending a week's worth of in-game time doing so, so make sure to do it when your party is resting - there are rules for Downtime, which is perfect for Retraining (it's also when many DMs say you actually level up and gain Feats properly).
Do you need to use the Feat bonus when you get it, even at 1st level?
I've a 1st level Paladin and want to keep my Feat bonus for when I'm a 2nd level for the "Extra Lay on Hands", so keeping my feat will allow me to use it at 2nd level when I can gain something I really want.
Hope that makes sense!
Thanks, Walts
You have to pick a feat when you get it but there are certain rules which allow you to change a feat that you already selected(ex. Fight Bonus Feats, and the retraining rules in Ultimate Campaign)
Thanks for the pointers.
I don't have the rulebooks and have been using the (excellent!) PRD website for creating my Human Paladin character for ideas and couldn't see if I could hold that extra Feat bonus I got. I'll have a chat with the DM tomorrow to see what he thinks about holding back/retraining my extra Feat bonus depending on what game settings he wants to run.
As a Human Paladin, I've taken Improved Initiative and Toughness as a trial run, but will look at Power Attack as well.
I had a vague memory that you could keep hold of bonuses for later, but that might have been for Skills? I'm a newbie to PRPG, so still learning,
Cheers, Walts
Thanks for the pointers.
I don't have the rulebooks and have been using the (excellent!) PRD website for creating my Human Paladin character for ideas and couldn't see if I could hold that extra Feat bonus I got. I'll have a chat with the DM tomorrow to see what he thinks about holding back/retraining my extra Feat bonus depending on what game settings he wants to run.
As a Human Paladin, I've taken Improved Initiative and Toughness as a trial run, but will look at Power Attack as well.
I had a vague memory that you could keep hold of bonuses for later, but that might have been for Skills? I'm a newbie to PRPG, so still learning,
Cheers, Walts
The only d20 game where you could hold Skills or anything like that is SpyCraft, and only if you have the feat (I think - it could be a talent, I don't remember) called I Can Swim. It allowed you to hold off on assigning your skill points until your next level-up (at which point all remaining unassigned skill points from your previous level MUST be allocated, and the new ones from your new level can be held) OR until you WANTED to. The whole reasoning behind this was so you could apply skill points ON THE FLY.
SpyCraft is an extremely meta game, but is that way because you're not quite playing a character in a magical/spy WORLD so much as you are playing a character basically in a Spy MOVIE, meaning fourth-wall-breaking nonsense like that isn't out of the question or horrendously uncommon.
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If you've ever played a d20 game where you didn't have to immediately assign new Feats, new Skill Ranks, or new Ability Score Increases, I can guarantee that it was either not D&D/Pathfinder, or it was a houserule that your DM set up.
Our GM house ruled we could hold feats but only if it was for a specific target and we would only meet the requirements next level. For example, our druid held his 3rd level feat for the casty while shifted feat (that I cannot remember the name of right now) next level.
If your DM lets you "hold" Feat slots, then that'd be a houserule, but that brings with it its own balance issues.
Absolutely right. Since you can retrain feats to meet higher prerequisite later on, you would be really shooting yourself in the foot by not taking feats as early as you can.
