This is sort of an odd request. I know there are countless threads covering this question and there's little to no disagreement since the rule in question is spelled out fairly clearly.
At 1st level, 2nd level, and every four levels thereafter, a master of many styles may select a bonus style feat or the Elemental Fist feat. He does not have to meet the prerequisites of that feat, except the Elemental Fist feat. Alternatively, a master of many styles may choose a feat in that style’s feat path (such as Earth Child Topple as one of these bonus feats if he already has the appropriate style feat (such as Earth Child Style). The master of many styles does not need to meet any other prerequisite of the feat in the style’s feat path." Please note that no prerequisites are required for the bonus feat beyond having its associated style feat*,* so all "Monkey feats" should be available.[
As written in the part I bolded, it seems that a Master of Many styles is free to choose any of the feats in a style's path while ignoring the prerequisites, except of course that he have the initial style feat itself. My question is, is there a citation somewhere from Paizo confirming this is the case? I'm trying to convince someone (no, not my GM) that this is how the class ability works but he contends that the path's feats must be selected in order and insists on seeing something official to that affect. Any help?
It's no good. It was the fine folks at Hero Lab who I was trying to convince. I made my case but this is their response:
"We have had this report and the discussion about the way MoMS bonus feats work before. By our interpretation, the text of the Master of Many Styles bonus feat section which refers to "appropriate style feat" means the previous feat in the chain. It doesn't allow you to leap from the entry feat to the final feat in the chain."
I can understand that they've embraced their own interpretation. What baffles me if their insistence on enforcing that interpretation within their software. The Master of Many styles archetype automatically obliges users to follow a sequence in selecting the feats in a style group; all other selections are blocked out. It'd seem preferable to enable all options and allow their users to pick the interpretation their group adheres to.
I generally like HL, but now I have to either jump through hoops to make my character work properly or ditch it in favor of pen and paper. Muh.
Sorry. Frustrated. :(
I have. It seems clear, and yet...