Does a Wizard's Scribe Scroll bonus feat count for prerequisites? Many feats and some prestige classes require a number of "Item Creation Feats" as prerequisites, for example Loremaster. Does Scribe Scroll count towards that?
1 Answer
Yes.
Scribe Scroll is a feat. It is an "Item Creation Feat." So anyone who has taken Scribe Scroll as a feat would count it towards item creation prerequisites.
The Wizard class receives the ability to scribe scrolls as follows:
At 1st level, a wizard gains Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat.
The Wizard is gaining Scribe Scroll as a (bonus) feat. Scribe Scroll is a feat. It is an item creation feat. Why would it not count towards prerequisites for item creation feats?
Class Features
Does the Wizard gaining Scribe Scroll as a class feature prevent it from counting as a prerequisite? No.
Wizards don't use a class feature to scribe scrolls. They have a class feature that grants them the Scribe Scroll feat as a bonus feat.
So do bonus feats count towards prerequisites? Well, consider the Fighter. If a Fighter takes Power Attack as one of his many bonus feats, is he eligible for Cleave (which has a prerequisite of Power Attack)? If he isn't, most fighters that I've seen are doing things very wrong :)
A murkier wording for the Wizard's class feature would have been:
The Wizard gains the ability to scribe scrolls. This ability functions like the Scribe Scroll feat.
In this case, the Wizard isn't actually gaining the Scribe Scroll feat. So RAW, no feat, no prerequisite.
However, Dan Rasmussen points out in the comments that even with the more restrictive wording, DMs are within reason to grant the prerequisite anyway:
Even worded that way many GMs would (myself included) still allow it to fulfill the prerequisite. The rules seem to let class features fulfill prerequisites when appropriate, such as a Monk's Abundant Step acting similarly to the ability to actually cast Dimension Door.
... Which is probably why they used the bonus feat form of the ability.
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2\$\begingroup\$ @Cross The class feature is worded pretty clearly that you get the feat. Similar to, for example, the Fighter... If a fighter takes Power Attack as a bonus feat from a class feature, do they not meet the prerequisites for Cleave? \$\endgroup\$ Commented May 1, 2012 at 15:23
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2\$\begingroup\$ @CRoss In order for it not to meet prerequisites, it would be worded more like "The Wizard gains the ability to scribe scrolls. This ability functions like the Scribe Scroll feat." \$\endgroup\$ Commented May 1, 2012 at 15:24
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1\$\begingroup\$ @AceCalhoon Even worded that way many GMs would (myself included) still allow it to fulfill the prerequisite. The rules seem to let class features fulfill prerequisites when appropriate, such as a Monk's Abundant Step acting similarly to the ability to actually cast Dimension Door. \$\endgroup\$– dlras2Commented May 1, 2012 at 15:55
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\$\begingroup\$ Well this saves me a feat later on for my Wizards development :) \$\endgroup\$– RobCommented May 2, 2012 at 10:23