Delaying feats

[smootrk]

If presented with a player who could not decide on a particular feat choice, I would likely allow him/her some time to review, get advice, or otherwise delay the choice for a short period of time.

I do not think that I would allow him/her to actually save the decision until another new level is gained, as I think that this would defy the intent of the rules and procedures that are given (and cited above).

 

[Len]

By my reading of the rules, a character gains a feat when he advances a level. He does not gain a feat slot that is filled; he gains a feat.[/i]

That's right. You get a feat when it says you get a feat.

Note that delaying a feat by a level until the character has all the prereqs might allow the character to qualify for a prestige class a bit sooner. I don't think that's a big problem though.

Edit: Here's another recent thread discussing the question: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=145484

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Can you delay taking a feat for a level or two until you meet a prereq?

Officially, no. When you level up and gain a new feat, in doing so you can't "delay" choosing what that new feat will be. You MUST choose your new feats at the time you level up when you are granted the new feats. You can't NOT choose a feat for a level or two in order to be able to then qualify for a feat that requires a higher level, a higher characteristic, or the like as a prerequisite. If you don't qualify for a given feat RIGHT NOW, you must choose some other feat instead - RIGHT NOW.

Unofficially, do whatever you like. However, it's still generally a good idea to stick to the official answer on this one. In particular because of level prerequisites. If you can't qualify for a feat until you're actually HIGHER level than the actual prerequisite for the feat it is not just possible but PROBABLE that it was INTENTED that you not be able to get that feat until you exceeded the level requirement. If it weren't, the prerequisite WOULD have been set lower.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Generally I'd say - you get to choose the feat at sometime during the level in which it is gained. If I was feeling particularly lenient, then I might allow a player to delay past that, but the feat chosen in the end would still have to be one that the character could qualify for at the level it was gained. Otherwise you really open up the field to overly-powerful "created at 10th level" characters, early entry to prestige classes, early access to many feats and the like.