Just played a game where the Boss had taken Improved Initiative three times? Legal??
From PRD: Improved Initiative (Combat)
Your quick reflexes allow you to react rapidly to danger.
Benefit: You get a +4 bonus on initiative checks.
It does not say that it cannot be taken multiple times and seeing as how it is not a typed bonus RAW it sounds possible.
You can generally only take each feat one time. There are several exceptions however, which specifically mention being able to take them multiple times. For example: Spell Focus, Weapon Focus, and Exotic Weapon Proficiency, among others.
They'll look something like this:
Spell Focus
Choose a school of magic. Any spells you cast of that school are more difficult to resist.Benefit: Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against spells from the school of magic you select.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new school of magic.
Improved Iniative should only be able to be taken once.
You can't take the same feat twice unless it says you can.
Still, multiple improved initiatives don't do a great deal. More initiative? The best you're going to do is go first. You can go first by ten points or a million and it makes no difference.
There is no general restriction on TAKING a Feat more than once.
The rules DO say:
Benefit: What the feat enables the character (“you” in the feat description) to do. If a character has the same feat more than once, its benefits do not stack unless indicated otherwise in the description.
That line only makes sense if it assumes you can take the same Feat more than once. But obviously, it`s directly saying that the effects of the Feat do not stack unless directly stated. This allows Feats which can effect DIFFERENT targets to have their full effect on each different target, because there is no stacking issue... For that reason, the wording in Weapon Focus, Skill Focus, etc, is really superfluous and just for emphasis, you could still select those Feats (for different Weapons/Skills) without that wording, based on the quoted rule.
But since Imp. Init doesn´t say it stacks, it doesn´t.
@Longtime1stTimePoster: Not being typed is of marginal relevance.
Identical effects normally don´t stack, regardless if they are Untyped. For that reason, Bonus Typing is really about preventing NON identical effects from stacking, under the assumption they are under the same ´family´ of mechanism or whatever. The quoted rule can be seen as just a re-emphasis of that rule, though it can be read as somewhat stronger since the normal no-stacking rules are about stacking bonuses to a roll or stat, while the quoted rule can be read to affect ´benefits´ more generally, e.g. increasing usages/day (which aren´t ´bonuses´ per se subject to stacking rules).
...I would think IF you could stack Imp. Ini multiple times, it WOULD be a signifigant effect. Sure, if just 1 lets you go first that´s all you need, but with Init using a d20 there´s enough variability that just taking Imp. Init DOESN´T ensure you will go first... Not by a long shot. Anyways, you can´t BENEFIT from multiple Imp. Inits, even if you can take them.
Just played a game where the Boss had taken Improved Initiative three times? Legal??
All feats which can be taken multipe times and that can stack will always explicitly state so in the feats text.
No, it is not legal, RAW.
i am currently running a charecter that has +12 to init: +4 from dex, +4 from Imp init, +2 from feat (quick Recon.) +2 from trait (reactionary). and going first is a goos thing.
