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I'd like some clarification on the Legendary Influence feats from Ultimate Intrigue. The wording isn't as clear as I'd like and one interpretation makes the Improved version almost crippling. Here's the exact wording of the feats as posted on D20PSRD;
"Legendary Influence
Prerequisite(s): Lesser spirit power class feature.
Benefit(s): Immediately select one feat (other than an item creation feat) for each spirit you can channel. Whenever you perform a seance to channel a spirit, you can allow the spirit to gain 1 point of influence over you to gain access to that spirit's Legendary Influence feat for as long as you channel that spirit. You can use this bonus feat as a prerequisite for any feats granted by a spirit power (such as the champion's legendary champion ability), but not for any other feats."
"Improved Legendary Influence
Prerequisite(s): Legendary Influence, lesser spirit power and propitiation class features.
Benefit(s): For each spirit you can channel, choose a second feat other than an item creation feat. Whenever you allow a spirit to gain 1 point of influence over you to gain that spirit's associated feat via Legendary Influence, you can allow that spirit to gain 1 additional point of influence over you to gain the second feat."
My confusion is how this interacts with the Medium's Spirit ability, especially this paragraph;
"In addition to granting power to the medium, a channeled spirit can influence the medium. By channeling a spirit, the medium allows the spirit to gain 1 point of influence over him. If the medium loses that 1 point of influence, he loses contact with the spirit, though he is still unable to perform a new seance until the normal 24 hour period has elapsed since his last seance. When the spirit leaves after the 24-hour duration and before the next seance, the spirit's influence over the medium resets to 0. Certain abilities allow the medium to gain additional power in exchange for allowing the spirit more influence over him."
Interpretation A: You must gain 1 influence to channel the spirit, then a 2nd point to gain the first feat, then a 3rd point to gain the second feat.
Interpretation B: The 1 influence you're required to gain to channel the spirit also qualifies you for the first feat. You then must gain a 2nd point for the second feat.
As written, Interpretation A would would put you at the 3 influence threshold at the start of your day and you're automatically taking the spirit's influence penalties and initiative penalties, which are all more severe than any feat you might gain. Not to mention you're only 2 influence away from being an NPC for the rest of the day.
Interpretation B still puts you at 2 influence, but at least that gives you a bit of breathing room and no automatic penalties. However, from the way the feats read this doesn't seem to be the one that is intended.
A is correct. Improved requires propitiation, so you can propitiate right away to evade the penalties for a little while.