Role-playing Games Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for gamemasters and players of tabletop, paper-and-pencil role-playing games. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
When you are given access to a feat without needing to meet the prerequisites for the feat, do you actually get to use that feat regardless of the prerequisites?
For instance the magus archetype spire defender gives me dodge which has a requirement of dex 13, so it gives me the feat, but if my dex is under 13 do I gain that dodge bonus to AC or do I just have a feat which is doing nothing?
At 1st level, the spire defender gains Combat Expertise and Dodge as bonus feats, even if he doesn’t meet the prerequisites.
(emphasis mine)
Every class that grants a bonus feat should specify whether or not you need to meet the prerequisites. Usually, if you get one specific feat, you don’t need the prerequisites; if you get to pick off a list, you have to meet the prerequisites of the one you choose.
If a bonus feat specifies that you do not need to meet its prerequisites, that effectively changes the feat for you so that it does not have prerequisites. You can have it and use it without them.
If you do not meet the prerequisites of a (specific) bonus feat that requires you to meet them, then you get it but cannot use it (because you must meet a feat’s prerequisites to use it). If you do not meet the prerequisites of any of the feats on a list of bonus feats, then you get nothing (because you must meet a feat’s prerequisites to select it).
As far as I am aware, there is no provision in the game for having a feat but not getting the benefit of that feat (specific instances may trump this of course). So if something gives you a feat, you have that feat and can use it to the full extent of its powers.
The reason it says "even if [you don't] meet the prerequisites" is that normally you can only take a feat if you meet its prerequisites, but your class or whatever is allowing you to take it anyway for free.
