| 1 person marked this as FAQ candidate. |
Consider the following two sections of the Ancestor subtype for Unchained Eidolons, released in Blood of the Beast:
At 1st level, an ancestor eidolon gains all of the racial traits associated with its summoner’s race; a summoner who isn’t a 0-Hit Die creature must choose one 0-Hit Die race of his choice from the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. For any effect dependent on class level, an ancestor eidolon uses its total Hit Dice instead (such as with the human’s skilled racial trait). An ancestor eidolon counts as a creature of its chosen race’s type and subtype for all effects, except for the purpose of meeting feat prerequisite requirements. An ancestor eidolon gains only the standard racial traits of its race; it cannot select alternate racial traits.
[...]
At 16th level, the ancestor eidolon gains a bonus feat, chosen from the following list: Dodge, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Toughness, or any feat that lists the eidolon’s chosen race as a prerequisite. The eidolon must meet all of the chosen feat’s prerequisites.
The 1st level ability states that Ancestor subtype Eidolons do not meet the prerequisites for taking feats. The Ancestor eidolon of a half-elf summoner counts as a half-elf. It's vulnerable to human-bane and elf-bane weapons, it's capable of being hit by Enlarge Person or Hold Person, and so on. But it doesn't count for feats, so it can't take, say, Exile's Path.
The 16th level ability states that, among a list of basic feats, you can also select any feat that lists that race (half-elf) as a prerequisite, which Exile's Path qualifies for. Except that you must meet all the feat's prerequisites, which you don't, because the 1st level ability told you already you don't qualify for feats like Exile's Path. This renders the ability to select a racial feat by this ability self-invalidated, and you are in fact forced to pick one of the other six.
Was it intentional that the Ancestor Eidolon is incapable of selecting a racial feat, even with the 16th level ability that offers them as choices?
It sounds that the 16th level ability is the only opportunity to select a racial feat as it seems to be a specific exception to the general abilities of the archetype.