[RPG] Can you retrain a feat acting as a prerequisite if you get a different ability that fulfills the prerequisite

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From Retraining:

You may change one feat to another through retraining. Retraining a feat takes 5 days with a character who has the feat you want. The old feat can’t be one you used as a prerequisite for a feat, class feature, archetype, prestige class, or other ability. If the old feat is a bonus feat granted by a class feature, you must replace it with a feat that you could choose using that class feature.

If, for example, I took Shield Focus to qualify for a Shield Mastery feat, took said Shield Mastery feat, but then I reached Fighter 3 and got Armor Training (which counts as Shield Focus for the purpose of meeting Shield Mastery feat prerequisites) could I then retrain Shield Focus into something more useful now that I no longer need it?

Best Answer

RAW: No, "The old feat can’t be one you used as a prerequisite..." Here, 'used' is past tense, and in the example given you did indeed use the feat as a prerequisite in the past. This could be flavored as the feat was the base knowledge upon which you built for the later feat and as such, losing the base knowledge would require you relearn the later feat again.

RAI: Sure, It appears the intent is to ensure that prerequisites aren't replaced after the later feats are gained. Its trying to prevent over-leveraging of resources that would bypass the 'prerequisite' requirements.

While it ultimately is up to the GM, I personally would rule that so long as prerequisites are still met for "a feat, class feature, archetype, prestige class, or other ability" a feat providing a redundant prerequisite could be retrained.

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