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Here are some questions about feats which is almost everything in this game.
Class Feats
So a character hits level X of their class. Do they have to pick from the level X class feats? Or can they pick X or lower class feats? I'm trying to find where in the book it says that a character can or can't pick a lower level feat. Some of my players are confused and I haven't been able to find the sentence in the book that says one way or another.
Example for people who can't solve for X: Willy the Wizard gets to level 2. He wishes to take a level 1 Wizard feat. Is that allowed by the rules as written? Where in the rules does it say yay or nay? Can Willy gain a Familiar, or is he forced for pick from level 2 feats?
Skills Feats
There's this line that says something like:
The level of a skill feat is typically the minimum level at which a character could meet its proficiency prerequisite.
So that seems to imply that number on the skill feats isn't a prerequisite, but there's this other rule someplace that I'm pretty sure said that when you read all these feats that big number on the right is absolutely a level needed to have the feat. So is that wrong? The level isn't in the prerequisite field but it seems like it normally is a prerequisite, but then something contradicts that for skill feats which seems like specific beating general... Can a character just take any skill feat they meet the prerequisites for then by the rules and ignore the normal level restrictions?
The level of a feat---class, skill, whatever---is always defined as the minimum level you need to be to take the feat. In fact all prerequisite numbers of any sort are minimums. If something requires Int 14, you can satisfy it with Int 15 too. If a feat requires level 14, you can satisfy it at level 15 too.
When you take a class feat, you can take any that you meet the requirements for... including the minimum level... which means the feats of lower levels are wide open (if you meet their other prereqs, of course).
The line about skill feats you quote is purely an FYI; don't treat it as a rule. It does not allow you to bypass level restrictions. Your GM can always make a houserule that does, of course, if you're not in Organized Play.
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A feat's level is its level prerequisite. I'm not seeing any implication otherwise--an explanation of how it's typically set doesn't change what it is. No, you can't ignore the level requirement and the quoted line doesn't say anything like that--and even if you could, you won't meet the other prerequisites anyway because a skill feat's level is typically the minimum level you could meet its other prerequisites. What's the contradiction?
You can always choose a feat of your level or lower, as long as you meet its other prerequisites.
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When you take a class feat, you can take any that you meet the requirements for... including the minimum level... which means the feats of lower levels are wide open (if you meet their other prereqs, of course).
Yes, I'm looking for the particular sentence, paragraph, picture, diagram or whatever in the rulebook that says that's the case. Like what page is it on?
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Page 18.
"Prerequisites Any minimum ability scores, feats, proficiency ranks, or other prerequisites you must have before you can access this rule element are listed here. Feats also have a level prerequisite, which appears above. "
The prerequisite is a minimum.
The level is a prerequisite.
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Hrm...I don't know. That might work. They're really having trouble since they're divided out by level. I was hoping for something more specific about it calling it out. They're seeing the giant headers that shout out, "2ND LEVEL" and are assuming that they can only pick from those options and I'm not finding anything that contradicts that idea. Plus it's entirely possible that given that it's a new game, that's actually how it's supposed to work and I don't think it should because of having played the older d20 games for years.
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So since the only one that says anything like that is the Ancestry Feats when it has those headings you are completely locked to your current level except for Ancestry Feats which have an exception? I suppose that would explain that sentence in the skill feat section saying the level is just a guideline as another exception.
No. Because that is not how prerequisites work.
Because the general rule is that prerequisites are a minimum, for class feats to be locked to taking from your current level, there would need to be a specific rule explicitly stating that they are "locked".
When no specific rule is stated, the general rule holds.
Edit: I suppose you could also look at the sample builds under sorcerer, which take 1st level feats when they gain their first class feat at level 2.