[RPG] Feat prerequisites when gaining the feat as bonus feat

featspathfinder-1e

The Dervish of Dawn gains the Feat Dervish Dance as a bonus feat at level 1. This feat has the following prerequisites: Weapon Finesse, Perform (dance) 2 ranks, proficient with scimitar. Which I can obviously cannot fulfill on level 1. Can I now us this feat without the prerequisites or do I have to wait till I fulfill them and can use the feat afterwards?

Best Answer

James Jacobs says a bonus feat ignores prerequisites

The bard archetype dervish of dawn (né Inner Sea Magic's dawnflower dervish) does get the feat Dervish Dance at level 1 and can't meet the prerequisites. According to this May 2012 forum post from Paizo creative director James Jacobs, that's okay:

Question: Many classes/archetypes have class features that grant bonus feats. Some say you need to have prerequisites to gain the feat, some say you can ignore any prerequisites for a chosen feat, some just say you gain the feat with no mention of the prerequisites.

Which is the default rule on meeting the prerequisites for any feats gained when there is no specific language in the class feature's description instructing to do otherwise?

Answer: If a class grants you a feat as a bonus feat, you never need the prerequisites unless it says specifically that you do.

Presumably, Jacobs means a lone, named feat, not, like, all feats from a list or something. A fighter, for instance, still must meet prerequisites for fighter bonus feats, but a dervish of dawn needn't meet the prerequisites for the feat Dervish Dance.