I have a question regarding Summoner Eidolons and their feat choices. I am making a Broodmaster Summoner Lv10 with two bipedal humanoid Eidolons. One of these will be more of a tank and the other will be more of a caster type. My question arises from the caster Eidolon as I am unsure whether it can take Eldritch Heritage or any of the other feats in that tree. Under the Eidolon description it states "Eidolons can select any feat that they qualify for, but they must possess the appropriate appendages to use some feats." the Eidolon has hands and arms and also has the required Charisma score for the feat, as well as having the Skill Focus feat in the required skill, the problem is that Eldritch Heritage has a Character Level 3 requirement. In this instance would the Eidolons Hit Dice be applicable or would the Summoner's level be used, or is it just not possible for an Eidolon to take this feat and any other with a Character Level requirement?
The common terms section of the rulebook tells me that:
"Character Level
The total level of the character, which is the sum of all class levels held by that character."
Unless there is something elsewhere that overrides this, unfortunately monsters without class levels are not eligible for feats that have a character level prerequisite. Thus, your Eidolon cannot take Eldritch Heritage.
I originally thought that HD = character level, but by strict RAW the above rule makes it pretty clear that's not the case.
This has more issues then. This means that Eidolons would gain no real benefit from feats like Stunning Fist or Cockatrice Strike that have a save based on character level either. The other issue is Caster Level. This Eidolon will have the Basic and Minor Magic Evolutions and they state its caster level is equal to its hit dice or its hit dice -2, does the Eidolon then posses a caster level for the purpose of Feats?
This has more issues then. This means that Eidolons would gain no real benefit from feats like Stunning Fist or Cockatrice Strike that have a save based on character level either. The other issue is Caster Level. This Eidolon will have the Basic and Minor Magic Evolutions and they state its caster level is equal to its hit dice or its hit dice -2, does the Eidolon then posses a caster level for the purpose of Feats?
Yes, RAW that means those feats are not useful for an Eidolon.
The evolutions clearly state the eidolon has a caster level. This means it has a caster level for the purpose of feats. That's pretty straightforward and i'm failing to see the confusion.
Point. I wonder if it would be possible for the Eidolon to use the Summoners' class level as its character level. That might be up to the GM as the same rules would apply to an animal companion.
By the rules it has no character level.
If you were looking to allow it one, the most appropriate value would be using it's number of hit dice as it's character level. That is what is typically used for anything like that.
Don't see a problem with house ruling the hd as a class level in this case.
I don't either, I'm making a Aasimar Broodmaster and basically he summons aspects of fallen heroes (may or may not be influenced by Fate/Stay Night).
So it made more sense in this instance to me to use the hit dice. Our Hunter was having similar questions about his Animal Companion. Thankfully my GM agrees. Thanks for the help!