About Feats

Unlike skills, feats are not bought with points. A player simply chooses them for his or her character. Each character gets one feat upon creation. At 3rd level and every three levels thereafter (6th, 9th, 12th, 15th, and 18th level), he or she gains another feat (see Experience and Level-Dependent Benefits. Feats are gained according to character level, regardless of individual class levels.

Additionally, members of some classes get bonus feats as class features. These feats may be chosen from special lists (see Fighter Bonus Feats, below, and the individual class descriptions (see Classes).

A human character also gets a bonus feat at 1st level, chosen by the player. This bonus feat can be any feat for which the character qualifies.

Some feats have prerequisites. Your character must have the indicated ability score, class feature, feat, skill, base attack bonus, or other quality designated in order to select or use that feat. A character can gain a feat at the same level at which he or she gains the prerequisite. For example, at 3rd level, Krusk, a half-orc barbarian, could spend 1 skill point on the Ride skill (gaining his first rank in Ride) and select the Mounted Combat feat at the same time.

A character cannot use a feat if he or she has lost a prerequisite. For example, if your character's Strength drops below 13 because of a ray of enfeeblement spell, he or she cannot use the Power Attack feat until the prerequisite is once again met.

Feat Classes

Aberrant Feats

Unlike typical feats, aberrant feats manifest as physical changes to your character's features (or as additions to your character's appearance). These feats twist and reshape your form, and you become alien in appearance.

A character who has selected at least one aberrant feat gains an inhuman, unsettling presence. You take a -1 penalty on Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Information, Handle Animal, and wild empathy checks for every aberrant feat you possess (-2 with two feats, -3 with three feats, and so on).

Some aberrant feats have an additional cumulative effect based on your total number of aberrant feats. This accumulation increases as you gain additional aberrant feats. For example, a character with Aberration Blood who selects Durable Form gains 4 hit points (two for each aberrant feat he possesses). If he later selects Bestial Hide, he gains another 2 hit points (in addition to the normal benefit of Bestial Hide).

Abyssal Heritor Feats

The hordes of the Abyss have mingled with mortal races ever since the two first came into contact. The inevitable results of this mixing can be seen in the faces of half-fiends and, to a lesser extent, tieflings. Over the course of several generations, the fiendish bloodline tends to become diluted until the taint goes completely dormant. In exceptionally rare cases, however, this latent demonic heritage raises its ugly head, causing two otherwise normal mortals to produce a tiefling or even a half-fiend child. Yet such births are not the only way that a dormant Abyssal taint can make its presence known.

In some cases, this lingering influence manifests later in life, often spontaneously when the character undergoes a stressful period, or when he gains skill or power from other sources. At such moments, his latent demonic heritage can come to the fore in shocking ways, transforming him into an Abyssal heritor.

The manifestation of a dormant demonic heritage is modeled by the Abyssal heritor feats. Unlike vile feats (see below), Abyssal heritor feats are not inherently evil. They are, however, inherently chaotic, since a lawful soul would have difficulty accepting the kind of strange and eldritch changes to the body and mind that such feats impose. This chaotic bent eventually affects the alignment of the character taking these feats. A character with only one Abyssal heritor feat can be of any alignment, but he immediately becomes chaotic (if he wasn't already) upon taking a second, unless he possesses the Ordered Chaos feat.

A character with multiple Abyssal heritor feats cannot voluntarily change the chaotic aspect of his alignment, if a magical effect changes his alignment away from chaotic, he loses access to the benefits of his Abyssal heritor feats until his chaotic alignment is restored (unless he has Ordered Chaos feat).

A character can select an Abyssal heritor feat at any time he can select a general feat. Though some of the more powerful Abyssal heritor feats require lesser feats as prerequisites, a character need not have established a demonic heritage before taking the basic ones. As soon as he actually selects an Abyssal heritor feat, however, he can no longer deny the existence of some sinister event in his family's past.

The benefits of many Abyssal heritor feats actually improve as the character takes more of them. Doing so, however, helps to cement the character's chaotic alignment and link with demonkind,

Abyssal heritor feats do not come without penalties. The deformity such a feat inflicts on the mind and body imposes a -2 penalty on checks made with a particular skill designated in the feat description.

Other heritor feats corresponding to planes other than the Abyss might certainly exist, although they are beyond the scope of this text.

Ambush Feats

Ambush feats allow you to use your sneak attack ability to inflict an additional harmful or hindering effect upon an opponent, at the cost of one or more of the extra damage dice you normally deal with a successful hit. You must declare your intent to use an ambush feat before making your attack roll, and your sneak attack must deal at least one extra die of damage (that is, you can't reduce the number of extra damage dice to zero). You can apply multiple ambush feats to the same attack as long as you still deal at least one extra die of damage with the attack.

The sudden strike class feature of a ninja (Complete Adventurer) is the equivalent of sneak attack for the purpose of qualifying for ambush feats.

Creatures immune to extra damage from sneak attacks are also immune to the secondary effects created by ambush feats. Even if a creature is vulnerable to sneak attacks, if your attack deals no damage to the creature (for example, if it is negated by the creature's damage reduction), the secondary effect doesn't occur.

Although the skirmish class feature of a scout (Complete Adventurer) doesn't count as sneak attack or the purpose of qualifying for feats, a scout with the Swift Ambusher feat can combine sneak attack and skirmish extra damage for the purpose of qualifying for ambush feats. Even with this feat, a scout can't sacrifice skirmish bonus damage to gain the benefit of an ambush feat.

Two feats that should retroactively be considered ambush feats appeared in the Complete Warrior supplement: Arterial Strike and Hamstring. The feats require no change, except to note the requirements given above.

Ancient Feats

Those who study the lore of the vanished past often come across long-lost arcana, forgotten schools of combat, and boons granted by gods who are no longer worshiped in Faerûn. In addition, characters with a scholarly interest in the works and writings of fallen civilizations often wish to learn unusual tricks and techniques to make their studies easier.

Arcane Lore Feats

Introduced in Dragon #359. Arcane Lore feats grant supernatural abilities that cannot be dispelled but are suppressed in an antimagic field. They are the result of spending endless hours delving into supernatural lore and nearly forgotten tomes, dredging up obscure secrets of the arcane that can transform the body and soul of the mage.

Bardic Music Feats

Bardic music feats, as the name suggests, require the bardic music ability, and they cost daily uses of the bardic music ability to activate. All bardic music feats require that the character be able to produce music to use the feat, even those that require only a free action and those that require no action at all.

Despite the names of the various bardic music feats, they work equally well with any variety of the Perform skill.

Class features that resemble bardic music, such as the war chanter's chanter music (Complete Warrior) or a seeker of the song's seeker music abilities (Complete Arcane), can be substituted for the bardic music prerequisite of this feat, and uses of those class features can be spent in place of bardic music uses to gain the benefit of the feat.

In general, bardic music feats do not function in an area of magical silence.

Birth Feats

Similar to Racial Feats, these can only be taken at 1st level and only one birth feat can be taken. A birth feat indicates the character was born under the circumstances dictated by the chosen feat and has come to terms with the mythos associated with those circumstances.

Bloodline Feats

Bloodline feats (as opposed to the Bloodline in Unearthed Arcana) are designed with sorcerers in mind, although any character who meets the prerequisites can choose them. Each of the base feats in this category (the ones with the word "bloodline" in their names) grants a character the bloodline of a particular kind of magical creature, plus a specific set of extra arcane spells known. When the first bloodline feat is chosen, the character must decide to which list of arcane spells known that the spells granted by the feat are added if more than one of her classes allows her to cast arcane spells without preparation. Choosing such a feat represents not only having a particular sort of ancestor, but also coming to terms with that heritage sufficiently to benefit from it. A character may choose only one base bloodline feat.

Breath

Dragons and creatures of draconic heritage that have breath weapons can choose these feats, which channel the destructive energy of a breath weapon into some other magical or supernatural effect. Using a breath channeling feat requires a creature to activate its breath weapon and counts as a use of that breath weapon.

Ceremony Feats

A ceremony feat grants you the knowledge and training needed to complete several specific ceremonies. Each feat uses the Knowledge (religion) skill to gauge the depth of your study. As you gain more ranks in that skill, the ceremonies available through the feat increase.

A creature can benefit from one ceremony at a time. If you attempt a second ceremony on the same creature, the first ceremony's benefits immediately end and the second ceremony applies. Each ceremony has a cost in time and resources. The ceremony consumes the materials needed for it when it ends (not when the benefit ends). If the ceremony is disrupted, such as if an opponent attacks before you finish, the material components are not lost.

Character Flaws (Unearthed Arcana)

Flaws are like the flip side of feats. Whereas a feat enables a character to be better than normal at performing a task (or even to do something that normal characters can't), a flaw restricts a character's capabilities or imposes a penalty of some sort. A player may select up to two flaws when creating a character. After 1st level, a character cannot take on additional flaws unless the DM specifically allows it (for examples of times when doing this might be appropriate, see Character Traits, Chapter 3, Unearthed Arcana). Each flaw a player selects entitles his character to a bonus feat. In other words, when you create a character, if you select two flaws, you can also take two bonus feats beyond those your character would be normally entitled to. Unlike traits , flaws are entirely negative in their impact on a character's capabilities.

Divine Feats

Divine feats are the province of those who are able to turn or rebuke undead. Instead of attempting to affect an undead creature, you expend a turn or rebuke undead attempt to trigger the benefit of a divine feat you have. You can activate only one divine feat per round, though overlapping durations might allow you the benefits of more than one divine feat at a time. Activating a divine feat is a supernatural ability, requires a type of action or an amount of time depending on the feat, and does not provoke attacks of opportunity unless otherwise noted in the feat description. Activating a divine feat is nor considered an attack unless doing so would directly cause damage to a target.

Combat Form Feats

While most warriors draw on their strength agility and toughness in battle, a few learn to tap into the true potential of their minds. Somewhat like a monk, such a warrior supplements his physical practice with rigorous mental training to hone his fighting abilities. His mind and body become one as he fights, allowing him to achieve unparalleled levels of combat mastery. Being in this state of perfect mental and physical harmony is known as maintaining a combat focus. (Taking the feat called Combat Focus is how a character learns to achieve this state; all other combat form feats have Combat Focus as a prerequisite ) The task of maintaining a combat focus is both difficult and straining. Thus, a warrior cannot remain in this state for long While he does, however, he can use any combat form feats he possesses.

Devil-Touched Feats

These feats reflect the insidious nature of the baatezu, as they tempt and corrupt mortals, offering characters a sample of infernal power without necessarily making them evil. Devil-touched feats are open only to humanoids and monstrous humanoids. After selecting a devil-touched feat, you can no longer use or select exalted feats. Also, each devil-touched feat selected imposes a -1 circumstance penalty to all Charisma-based skill checks made to interact with good creatures and animals.

Divine Feats

The feats in this category share a number of characteristics that restrict them to certain classes or class combinations. First, they all have as a prerequisite the ability to turn or rebuke undead. Thus, they are open to clerics, paladins of 3rd level or higher, and members of a prestige class or creatures that have the ability.

Second, the force that powers a divine feat is the ability to channel positive or negative energy to turn or rebuke undead. Each use of a divine feat costs you a minimum of one turn or rebuke attempt from your number of attempts per day. If you don't have any turn or rebuke attempts left, you can't use a divine feat. Turning or rebuking undead is a standard action (unless you have a special ability that says otherwise). These feats often take a standard action to activate, but might require other actions as specified. Regardless, you can activate only one divine feat (or use tie ability to turn or rebuke undead once) per round, though overlapping durations might allow you the benefits of more than one divine feat at a time.

Third, turning or rebuking undead is a supernatural ability and a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, but counts as an attack. Activating a divine feat is also a supernatural ability and does not provoke attacks of opportunity unless otherwise noted in the feat description. Activating a divine feat is not considered an attack unless the feat's activation could be the direct cause of damage to a target. Divine Justice, for example, adds 2dd points of damage to all melee attacks, but does not directly deal damage to an opponent upon its activation. It is not itself an attack.

Domain Feats

Domain feats are a new category of feats from Complete Champion that signify a character's dedication to a particular religious ideal or tenet. You and your DM should determine a reason for this devotion as part of your character's background. A domain feat usually corresponds to one of the domains to which a particular deity grants access, or those representing a set of ideals.

You can select a domain feat at any level. Once you have chosen one, however, you cannot select another unless the second fits thematically with the first. Furthermore, you can never have more than two domain feats (except as specified in Clerics and Domain Feats, below).

Unless otherwise noted, the benefit granted by any domain feat is a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to your character level. All such effects are subject to spell resistance, and you can dismiss any continuing effect as a free action. If a domain feat allows a saving throw, its entry provides the necessary information, if you have the ability to turn or rebuke undead, you can gain additional daily uses of a domain feat's benefit by permanently sacrificing daily uses of that ability.

Usually, domain feats go together only if they correspond to the domains offered by the deity you follow. For example, Kord grants access to the Chaos, Good, Luck, and Strength domains, so a worshiper of Kord could choose the Chaos Devotion, Good Devotion, Luck Devotion, or Strength Devotion feats without going outside his deity's sphere of influence.

For characters who do not worship a particular deity, use the following guidelines for which domain feats allow or preclude the selection of others. This should be done in concert with the DM.

Opposing Domains: The Good and Evil domains, and the Law and Chaos domains are in opposition, so no character should have both Good Devotion and Evil Devotion (or both Law Devotion and Chaos Devotion). In some cases, you might decide that the Healing and Death domains oppose each other, and likewise Destruction and Protection. The Fire domain does not necessarily oppose Water, nor does Air conflict with Earth, since many nature deities (such as Obad-Hai) grant access to all the elemental domains.

Appropriate Theme: If you do not follow any specific deity, your basic system of beliefs should support your domain feat choices. A good rule of thumb is to designate one to three domains (in addition to that corresponding to your first domain feat) that are important to you. These beliefs must also be consistent with your alignment.

Clerics and Domain Feats: If you are a cleric (or any other character class who gains access to a domain), you can choose any domain feat corresponding to the list of domains offered by your deity, even if you do not have access to those particular domains. A cleric of Pelor, for example, can choose to cast spells from the Good and Healing domains but select the Strength Devotion and Sun Devotion feats.

In addition, you can choose to give up access to a domain in exchange for the corresponding domain feat. Doing so allows you to select up to three domain feats, hut you cannot prepare domain spells or use the granted power of the sacrificed domain. In essence, you trade in a domain for an extra feat slot that you can spend only on a specific domain feat. For example, the above cleric of Pelor could choose to give up the granted power and spells of the Good domain for the Good Devotion feat.

Caster level: Unless otherwise noted, the benefit granted by any domain feat is a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to your character level. All such effects are subject to spell resistance, and you can dismiss any continuing effect as a free action. If a domain feat allows a saving throw, its entry provides the necessary information.

Draconic Feats

Draconic feats can be taken by sorcerers, granting them abilities akin to those of their draconic ancestors. Some increase a character's physical capabilities, granting him claw attacks or making him more resistant to attacks, while others allow him to channel his abilities into a potent breath weapon or grant him affinity with his draconic progenitor's breath weapon energy type.

Epic Feats

These feats are available to characters of 21st level or higher. Dragons of at least old age also can choose these feats even if they have no class levels.

Exalted Feats

Only intelligent characters of good alignment and the highest moral standards can acquire exalted feats, and only as a gift from powerful agents of good - deities, celestials, or similar creatures. These feats are thus supernatural in nature (rather than being extraordinary abilities, as most feats are).

A character must have the DM's permission to take an exalted feat. In many cases, a ritual must be performed; often this simply amounts to a character swearing a sacred vow, for example, in the presence of a celestial being. A character who willingly and willfully commits an evil act loses all benefits from all his exalted feats. She regains these benefits if she atones for her violations.

Aura of Good: A character with at least one exalted feat radiates an aura of good with a power equal to her character level (see the detect good spell), as if she were a paladin or a cleric of a good deity.

Faith Feats

Feats with the faith tag give your character a pool of faith points that you can spend to attain various bonuses and benefits during the game. Unless noted otherwise, you can spend only one faith point per round. Spending a faith point isn't an action - it doesn't even have to be your turn - but whatever you're doing with the faith point might be an action, if so, it's described as such in the feat description.

Faith feats impose significant constraints on character behavior, and they rely on DM judgment calls. Thus they may not be appropriate for every campaign.

Fighter Bonus Feats

Fighters gain bonus feats (in addition to normal feat acquisition) from a specially designated set of feats.

Flaws

Flaws penalize a character in a specific way. Most of these flaws have obvious roleplaying consequences, but they also have game mechanics penalties. The concept of flaws first appeared in Unearthed Arcana, but you don't need that book to use flaws. A character may only take up to two flaws, and they must be selected at 1st level. For each flaw you take, your character may select an additional feat. Thus, a 1st level human character with two flaws may take four feats.

Heritage Feats

A heritage feat (see also Bloodline feats - above) signifies a specific ancestry of the character. The player and DM are encouraged to come up with a background story explaining the character's heritage, though the exact source of this ancestral link isn't crucial to the feat's operation (and may remain a mystery to the character). For sorcerers, heritage feats allow a character to tap into the celestial, draconic, or infernal source of his magical power to master new abilities

A character may select a heritage feat at any level. Choosing a heritage feat after 1st level signifies that the ancestral power of the character is only now manifesting itself.

Once a character selects a heritage feat, he cannot select another heritage feat unless it lists his first heritage feat as a prerequisite. For instance, a character who selects Fire Heritage cannot also take Shadow Heritage, but he could select additional heritage feats that have Fire Heritage as a prerequisite (such as Improved Elemental Heritage).

Exception: While different sorts of heritage feats cannot normally be combined, a single sorcerer could possess draconic, infernal, and celestial sorcerer heritage feats. In this case, the sorcerer claims a truly varied family tree that includes a variety of strange beings. Sorcerers with both infernal and celestial traits are exceedingly rare, however. These casters are tormented souls, pulled between the polar opposites that lurk within their blood.

Host Feats

Formless entities that prefer to be housed in physical flesh are mysterious in origin, though some types of these entities refer to themselves as "quori." Others have different names for themselves, but all are formless entities that require a body in which to make their presence known in this reality. Formless psionic entities attracted by taking host feats are benign.

Host feats can only be taken by a character who is acting as a physical host to another psionic entity. Once a creature accepts a psionic entity and becomes its host, the creature and the entity are treated as a single creature for all purposes. The entity cannot be purged (except through use of the psychic reformation power), nor can it choose to leave.

A creature can have as many host feats as it desires to take. Host feats are also considered psionic feats.

Illithid Heritage Feats

Illithid heritage feats are those that allow a character to discover that he has an illithid ancestor somewhere in his line, and then to nurture that heritage. As a character takes more and more illithid heritage feats, he becomes more and more like a mind flayer in his abilities, appearance, and outlook. Illithid heritage feats are also considered psionic feats.

Incarnum Feats

Incarnum feats are similar to soulmelds in that they allow you to invest essentia into them, increasing their power. Unlike most other incarnum-based abilities, a character can invest essentia into each incarnum feat only once per day. Once invested, the essentia is unavailable for other purposes until 24 hours have passed.

However large your essentia pool is, you can only invest a certain amount of essentia into any one soulmeld, feat, class feature, magic item, or other incarnum receptacle. Your character level determines this essentia capacity, as shown on Table 2-1. (Magic of Incarnum)

Incarnum feats display visual manifestations of their effect, such as a faint radiance or glow. Unless noted otherwise, these effects do not provide any actual illumination and do not affect a character's ability to hide (nor do they give away an invisible character's location).

Initiate Feats

Initiate feats show that a follower has achieved some distinction with his or her patron deity, and therefore has gained access to additional spells and abilities. Some of these feats allow the addition of these spells to the spell lists of other classes. If you have more than one class that qualifies for this addition, you must choose only one spell list to which they will be added. No character can have more than one initiate feat, since such a feat presumes a deep level of commitment to a single deity.

Item Creation Feats

Spellcasters can use their personal power to create lasting magic items. Doing so, however, is draining. A spellcaster must put a little of himself or herself into every magic item he or she creates.

An item creation feat lets a spellcaster create a magic item of a certain type. Regardless of the type of items they involve, the various item creation feats all have certain features in common. See page 88 Player's Handbook, for more details.

Ki

For Ninjas: All ki feats require ki power, and unless otherwise noted, cost one of the ninja's daily ki power uses. Using a ki feat is a swift action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Additionally, in order to use a jutsu feat the ninja must have both hands free and empty.

Leader Feats

Heroes of Battle has introduced a new type of feat called leader feats. Leader feats augment or alter the effects of the Leadership feat. Typically, a leader feat affects your cohort and/or your followers but has no effect on other allies.

Since all leader feats include Leadership as a prerequisite, their presence in the game is subject to the DM's approval. If the DM prefers not to include the Leadership feat in the campaign, then all feats of the leader type are similarly off limits.

In addition to their listed benefits, each leader feat taken by a character improves his Leadership score by +1.

Legacy Feats

In addition to the listed prerequisites, you must physically possess (carry, wear, or use a legacy item to benefit from any legacy feat.

Metabreath Feats

Dragons (and other creatures) have developed ways to control their breath weapons to produce varying degrees effects, from the subtle to the conspicuous. To take a metabreath feat, a creature must have a breath weapon whose time between breaths is expressed in rounds. Therefore, a hell hound (which can breathe once every 2d4 rounds) take metabreath feats, whereas a behir (breath weapon usable 1/minute) cannot. For more information on Metabreath feats see page 66, Draconomicon.

Luck Feats

Most scoundrels think themselves to be clever, surviving by their wits and escaping capture or injury with their masterful skills and abilities. Often, though, scoundrels survive simply out of dumb luck. The luck feats put the power of luck (good and bad) into the hands of characters.

Luck feats don't directly improve your abilities or add new features to your repertoire. By selecting a luck feat, you gain access to a specific lucky effect (usually a reroll) that helps keep you alive or ensures that you succeed. Each additional luck feat grants you another specific lucky effect that can help you win even when the dice say you should lose, in addition to another daily luck reroll.

Though you as a player decide when to use a luck feat, in the game world a lucky result almost never occurs consciously. Instead, a luck reroll represents a fortuitous event, such as a fire giant inexplicably losing his grip on his weapon, a puddle on the floor causing you to slip and be missed by an arrow, or a bit of rust on a lock preventing it from fully closing-making it easier to pick than normal.

Metamagic Feats

As a spellcaster's knowledge of magic grows, she can learn to cast spells in ways slightly different from the ways in which the spells were originally designed or learned. For example, a spellcaster can learn to cast a spell without having to say its verbal component, to cast a spell for greater effect, or even to cast it with nothing but a moment's thought. Preparing and casting a spell in such a way is harder than normal but, thanks to metamagic feats, at least it is possible. See page 88 Player's Handbook, for more details.

Metashadow Feats

Just as other casters enhance their spells through metamagic, so mystery users can manipulate their castings with metashadow feats. While metamagic feats increase the casting time of a spell to a full round when attached to spontaneously cast spells, this is not always the case with metashadow feats. Metashadow feats function identically to metamagic feats in all ways not specifically contradicted herein.

A metashadow feat improves a mystery regardless of whether it is cast as a spell, activated as a spell-like ability, or used as a supernatural ability. The exception to this rule is Still Mystery, which only affects a mystery cast as a spell.

Monstrous Feats

The feats in this category all require a "monstrous" form ability as a prerequisite. Monstrous forms and abilities unavailable to normal humanoid or animal creatures, and can include extra or nonstandard appendages and supernatural or spell-like abilities. With the DM's permission, player may be able to choose monstrous feats if his or her character has acquired unusual abilities through transformation or by advancing in a prestige class.

Racial Feats

Beings of the same race have a bewildering variety of body types, appearances, and abilities. Most of these variations fit within the D&D definition of that being's race, but some are well outside the standard. Thus - racial feats to alter a character's racial characteristics, creating a creature different from others of her kind. They alter racial bonuses and penalties, or create them where they do not exist. In many cases, they make deeper changes to your character as well.

A character may only have one racial feat, and it must be selected at 1st level. Fighters cannot use their fighter bonus feat at 1st level to gain a racial feat.

Recitations

Recitations are special feats that allow you to affect yourself with the power of truenames. You must know your own truename to use these feats and you are aware that it uniquely identifies and defines you. By repeating your own truename with a particular inflection, you can redefine yourself in some way.

Most recitations remove harmful changes to you; in a sense you are reminding the universe of how you're "supposed" to be. A few augment you temporarily; you speak your personal truename and add a little "extra".

All recitations are full-round actions that provoke attacks of opportunity. They require Truespeak checks because you must correctly speak your own personal truename. The DC for the Truespeak check is 15 + (2 x your HD) + 2, once you increase the DC by 2 for speaking a personal truename. Because it's your own personal truename, you get a +4 competence bonus on your Truespeak check.

To learn a recitation, you must take the appropriate feat. Truenamers gain a bonus recitation feat at 8th level and again at 15th level.

Regional Feats

If you choose a home region preferred by your character class, you may select regional feats appropriate to that region. These feats represent the common sorts of talents that people from that region learn.

If you did not choose a character class preferred in your home region, you cannot begin play with one of those regional feats. You are still limited by the number of feats available to your character based on class and race.

You can acquire regional feats later in your adventuring career. With a few exceptions, any regional feats appropriate to your race or homeland that you don't select at 1st level are still available the next time you gain the ability to select a feat.

You may even learn feats from a new region altogether, whether or not you belong to an encouraged class for that region. After 1st level, each 2 ranks in Knowledge (local) you have allow you to select feats from a single region (other than your home region, if applicable).

Reserve Feats

These feats are usable only by spellcasters, and they employ an unusual form of prerequisite. Reserve feats draw upon the magic inherent in a caster's body and soul, utilizing (but not consuming) energy from available spells to augment the character's already prodigious magical talents.

Each reserve feat's primary benefit is a supernatural ability usable at will. Unless stated otherwise, it requires a standard action to activate and does not provoke attacks of opportunity. If a saving throw is allowed, the DC is equal to 10 + the level of the spell allowing the ability's use + the ability modifier you would apply to that spell's save DC. For example, if a wizard with a +3 Intelligence modifier and a reserved 3rd-level sonic spell succeeds on a touch attack using the Clap of Thunder reserve feat, she causes the target to make a successful DC 16 Fortitude save or be deafened.

In addition, each feat provides a caster level boost to a certain category of spells that applies at all times, regardless of whether the character has any spells left to cast.

The primary benefit can only be activated if the caster has a spell of an appropriate variety (of a particular school, subschool, or descriptor) available to cast. The definition of "available to cast" depends on whether the character prepares spells or casts spontaneously from a list of spells known.

A spellcaster who prepares spells each day (such as a wizard) must have an appropriate spell prepared and not yet cast that day. If the character has more than one appropriate spell prepared and uncast, she gains the benefit only from the highest-level spell; she can't gain multiple benefits, or stack benefits, by preparing more than one appropriate spell.

A spellcaster who does not need to prepare spells (such as a sorcerer) must know an appropriate spell and must have at least one unused spell slot of that spell's level or higher. If the character has more than one appropriate spell known, he gains the benefit only from the highest-level spell for which he has an unused spell slot of that level or higher.

If a spellcaster has spells from more than one class, only spell slots that could actually be used to cast the appropriate spell count toward granting this benefit. A bard/sorcerer who knows the appropriate spell only as a bard spell can't use his sorcerer spell slots to qualify for the reserve feat's primary benefit.

Once the spellcaster no longer has an appropriate spell available - either because of casting it, exhausting the appropriate spell slots, or a daily spell selection that does not include that spell - she can't use the feat's primary benefit until she once again has an appropriate spell available for casting. She retains the secondary benefit of the feat, however.

Only actual spells or spell slots allow the character to use the primary benefit of a reserve feat. Spell-like abilities, supernatural abilities, and extraordinary abilities - even if they mimic or duplicate an appropriate spell - do not qualify. Spells that do not have a descriptor until cast (such as the summon monster spells) can't be used to gain the primary benefit of a reserve feat.

A spellcaster can key two or more reserve feats off a single spell. For example, if a wizard had the Sickening Grasp and Winter's Blast feats, she could use both primary benefits of those feats if she had a single 3rd-level or higher) necromancy cold spell prepared and nor yet cast. The secondary boosts likewise stack; a spellcaster who has the Aquatic Breath and Drowning Glance feats gains a +2 competence bonus when casting water spells.

Example: Consider the feat Mystic Backlash. In order to use the feat's primary benefit, a wizard must have an abjuration spell of at least 5th level prepared and not yet cast. As soon as she casts her last abjuration spell of 5th level or higher, or if she prepares no abjuration spells of 5th level or higher on a given day, she loses the primary benefit of the feat until she once again prepares an appropriate spell.

A sorcerer, on the other hand, need merely have an abjuration spell of 5th level or higher on his spells known list and at least one spell slot of the same level or higher unused for the day. As soon as he casts his last sorcerer spell of 5th level or higher, he loses the primary benefit of the feat until he readies his spells for the next day (or otherwise regains a spell slot of 5th level or higher).

A wizard can take a reserve feat as her bonus feat at 5th, 10th, 15th, or 20th level, in place of a metamagic or item creation feat.

Shifter Feats and Warforged Feats

These categories of feats are restricted to characters of a certain race. Shifter feats enhance a shifter's unique racial ability, while warforged feats allow warforged characters to add construct features and improve their armor. (See Eberrron Campaign Setting.)

Spelltouched Feats

In this variant, a character who has been the target of a spell sometimes finds that some of its magic rubs off on him or her permanently, leaving an echo of the original spell. A character who has alter self cast on her many times, for example, may develop the spell-like ability to alter her features into the specific form she's most familiar with. Beneficial spells can linger on a character like magic radiation, bestowing an advantage somehow related to the original spell. In contrast, some PCs have a homeopathic reaction to hostile spells; by suffering the effects of a spell, they develop a countermeasure to it.

Such spelltouched characters are a mystery to academic-minded spellcasters, who can't reliably duplicate the process by repeatedly casting the same spell on a subject. Magic interacts with each individual in a subtly different way.

Accordingly, the only way to become eligible to select a spell-touched feat is to have been exposed to (that is, targeted by or otherwise affected by) one of the spells associated with the feat. If the spell allows a save, you must have failed a saving throw against it at least once, whether intentionally or not. After meeting the prerequisite, you may select a spelltouched feat when your character would otherwise qualify for a feat. The exposure is the game-world explanation for your new power, and the feat choice is the trade-off that keeps the game balanced.

Tactical Feats

Tactical feats allow characters to perform a number of powerful maneuvers.

If you are playing a character who has one or more tactical feats, you are responsible for keeping track of the actions needed to set up the feat's maneuver. It's also a good idea to briefly mention to the DM that you're working toward a tactical maneuver - a remark along the lines of "I'm using my spiked rebuke maneuver this round. I'll let you know if I gain my attack bonus against any opponents who attack and miss me" is appropriate.

Some descriptions of tactical feats refer to the first round, second round, and so on. These terms are related to the timing of the maneuver, not the encounter as a whole. For instance, if you have the Combat Cloak Expert feat, you don't have to move adjacent to an opponent in the first round of combat to utilize the cloaked strike maneuver during that combat. Any round when you move adjacent to an opponent for the purpose of utilizing this maneuver is considered the first round of the maneuver.

Tainted Feats

Tainted feats can only be taken by those who have taint, as described in Chapter 4 of Heroes of Horror. Certain feats require more taint than others, or a specific type of taint (corruption or depravity). Anyone with a tainted feat who reduces her taint score to below the feat's prerequisites loses access to the feat. She does not, however, lose the feat itself; she has no empty slot to fill with something else, and she instantly regains use of the feat should she once more raise her taint score to the appropriate level.

These feats represent a manifestation of the fundamental corruption in both body and soul of the character who possesses them. Those who use these feats are literally drawing upon the mystical malevolence growing within like a cancer, an attitude that is not conducive to efforts to cleanse themselves of the taint.

A character who makes use of a tainted feat appears as evil to all alignment-detecting spells and abilities for 2d4 rounds thereafter, even if she is not of evil alignment. During this period, she is also subject to abilities that normally function only against evil beings, such as magic circle against evil or a paladin's smite evil ability. Tainted feats are supernatural abilities (though they do not require any extra time to use, unless stated otherwise in their individual descriptions) and do nor function within the area of an antimagic field.

Vile Feats

Vile feats are available only to intelligent characters of evil alignment. Vile feats are granted to characters at the behest of a powerful evil agent - in this case, a demon lord. As such, the benefits granted by these feats are supernatural rather than extraordinary abilities. Some DMs might also want to require any character wishing to take a vile feat to perform a special ritual or make an actual bargain with a demon lord. The demon lord could even (at the DM's discretion) have the ability to revoke the feat should the character displease his new patron.

Weaponlike Spells and Feats

Any spell that requires an attack roll and deals damage functions as a weapon in certain respects. As such, several feats that improve weapon performance can be used to enhance weaponlike spells.

For the purpose of taking combat-enhancing feats, weaponlike spells fall into two categories - ranged spells and touch spells.

Ranged Spells: Ranged spells include those that require ranged touch attack rolls, such as rays or hurled missile effects (examples include Melf's acid arrow and lesser orb of acid. This category also includes spells that generate effects that act as ranged weapons and require ranged attack rolls (but not ranged touch attack rolls), such as decapitating scarf or fire shun ken.

Touch Spells: Touch spells include any damage-dealing spells with a range of touch.

Eligible Feats

The following feats can be chosen to enhance the performance of weaponlike spells in combat.

Improved Critical: Choose one category of weaponlike spells (ranged spells or touch spells). When you use a spell of the selected category, its threat range is doubled, so that a spell that normally threatens a critical hit on a roll of 20 has a threat range of 19-20. You can gain this feat a second time, choosing a different category of weaponlike spells.

Improved Unarmed Strike: You can add the damage of your unarmed strike to the damage of a touch spell by delivering the spell as a regular melee attack instead of a melee touch attack. The defender gets the full benefit of armor and shield, but if the attack hits, the unarmed strike deals normal damage over and above any damage the spell does as it is discharged. If the unarmed strike misses, then the spell is nor discharged.

If the unarmed strike scores a critical hit, damage from the spell is not multiplied.

Point Blank Shot: You get a +1 bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls with ranged spells that deal hit point damage at ranges of up to 30 feet Spells that deal only ability damage, bestow penalties on ability scores, or deal energy drain gain a +1 bonus on their attack rolls but get no bonus on damage.

Precise Shot: You can fire a ranged spell at an opponent engaged in melee without taking the usual -4 penalty on your attack roll.

Stunning Fist: When you use your unarmed strike to deliver a touch spell with a successful melee attack (as described in Improved Unarmed Strike, above), you also stun any target that fails a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your character level + your Wis modifier).

Weapon Finesse: You can treat touch spells as light weapons and use your Dexterity modifier (instead of your Strength modifier) on your touch attack tolls with such spells.

Weapon Focus: Choose one category of weaponlike spells (ranged spells or touch spells) and gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls made with such spells. You can gain this feat a second time, choosing a different category of weaponlike spells.

Wild Feats

All wild feats have as a prerequisite the wild shape class feature. Thus, they are open to druids of 5th level or higher, as well as any character who has gained wild shape or a similar class feature from a prestige class.

Each use of a wild feat generally costs you one daily use of your wild shape ability. If you don't have any uses of wild shape left, you can't use a wild feat. Changing form with wild shape is a standard action (unless you have a special ability that says otherwise); these wild feats likewise take a standard action to activate unless otherwise noted. You can activate only one wild feat (or use the wild shape ability to change form once) per round, though overlapping durations may allow you the benefits of more than one wild feat at a time.

Activating a wild feat is a supernatural ability and does not provoke attacks of opportunity unless otherwise specified in the feat description. Activating a wild feat is nor considered an attack unless the feat's activation could be the direct cause of damage to a target.

Sandstorm Feats and Determining Loose Soil

Many of the feats from Sandstorm on knowing the composition of surrounding soil and work to best advantage only if the land is made up of or covered by a layer of ash, dust, loose earth, or sand.

It can be assumed that most waste environments, whether outside or within a ruin, have either a sandy surface or a requisite layer of ash, dust, loose earth, or sand 1 or more inches thick. In other environments, the following table can be used to make this determination.

Environment	Chance of 1 Inch Loose Soil* *Material can be ash, dust, grit, loose earth, or sand.
Desert	100%
Desert ruin/dungeon	100%
Desert dwelling/city	90%
Forest	80%
Forest ruin/dungeon	70%
Forest dwelling/city	60%
Plains	70%
Plains ruin/dungeon	60%
Plains dwelling/city	50%
Hills	60%
Hills ruin/dungeon	50%
Hills city/dwelling	40%
Mountains	50%
Mountains ruin/dungeon	40%
Mountains dwelling/city	30%
Marsh	10%
Marsh ruin/dungeon	10%
Marsh dwelling/city	10%

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