How many feats does an Elan Aegis spend to gain Unlocked Talent and Access Psionic Talent?

Question

The Elan race description says:

Naturally Psionic: Elans gain the Wild Talent feat as a bonus feat at 1st level. If an elan takes levels in a psionic class, she instead gains the Psionic Talent feat.

Then in Psionics Expanded: Advanced Psionics Guide we find:

Unlocked Talent

You have discovered your psionic ability, granting you limited manifesting ability.

Prerequisite: Wild Talent.

Benefit: You gain 2 power points. In addition, when you take this feat, select any one 1st level power. You treat this power as a power known and can manifest this power with a manifester level of 1 as long as you have a Charisma score of at least 11. Use your Charisma modifier to determine any applicable save DCs. If you have manifester levels from a psionic class, you may instead use the manifester level from that class when manifesting the power gained from this feat, as well as the appropriate key ability modifier.

Special: The manifester level when manifesting the power granted from this feat is not a true manifester level and does not count as a manifester level for purposes such as bonus power points, feat, item creation, or prestige class prerequisites.

and:

Access Psionic Talent [Psionic]

You are able to manifest minor psionic abilities.

Prerequisite: Manifester level 1st or Unlocked Talent.

Benefit: You gain five psionic talents.

Special: This feat may be selected more than once. Each time, you gain five additional psionic talents.

High Psionics Games

In campaigns where psionics is more common-place, it is recommended to remove the prerequisite of Wild Talent from Unlocked Talent and substitute the Unlocked Talent feat for Wild Talent to represent how the ability to manifest powers is common within the world.

How many feats does an Elan-Aegis PC spend to obtain these 2 feats? It looks like 1; Wild Talent is free for Elan race, Psionic Talent is free when an Elan takes 1 level, and Unlocked Talent costs 1 feat slot. If the GM agrees that psionics are common, then is Access Psionic Talent free? Or must the PC pay for them?

Answer 1

Neither is a bonus feat, so they must spend 2 (or more) feats.

Because elan aegis has levels in a psionic class, they only gain Psionic Talent as a bonus feat. They do not gain Wild Talent as a bonus feat this way.

Neither Unlocked Talent nor Access Psionic Talent are granted as free bonus feats.

If the campaign is a "High Psionics Game" and your GM uses the substitution rule, then 2 feats are needed to acquire both Unlocked Talent and Access Psionic Talent:

• Unlocked Talent has no prerequisite. An elan aegis qualifies for this feat, but they would need to spend 1 feat to actually get it.

• Once they have Unlocked Talent, they qualify for Access Psionic Talent, which costs 1 feat.

If your GM does not use the substitution rule, then 3 feats may be needed:

• Unlocked Talent still requires Wild Talent as a prerequisite. An elan aegis would need to spend 2 feats here: one for Wild Talent, and then another for Unlocked Talent.

• Once they have Unlocked Talent, they qualify for Access Psionic Talent, which costs 1 feat.

A 1st level aegis does not count as "Manifester level 1st" (as addressed in your previous question). Thus the aegis would need to spend a feat on Unlocked Talent before they can spend a feat on Access Psionic Talent.

Answer 2

A feat is a feat, a free feat is a free feat, and a feat that has a cost tends to have that cost unless something says otherwise.

If you don't have a GM at your table that adjusts the game, then as an elan aegis, you gain Psionic Talent for free and need to spend 2 feats if you want both Unlocked Talent and Access Psionic Talent.

If your GM is adjusting the game, then your GM is adjusting the game, and you should ask them what adjustments are being made. We cannot tell you what your GM's opinion is, only what our own is. (For instance, it's my opinion that in a high-psionics game, an elan possesses the Unlocked Talent feat until a class level gives them power points; it's then the purpose of that class to give the elan something to do with their new Psionic Talent power points, whether it resembles the power they could use or not; people can change during the course of an adventure, and probably should.) I assure you that there are too many other approaches to the matter for me to cover them all in sufficient detail.