I've been reading the PHB and haven't seen anything that lists the prerequisites for feats. Is there something that lists the prerequisites for each feat anywhere?
[RPG] prerequisites for feats listed
dnd-5efeat-qualificationsfeats
Related Solutions
No.
Character Advancement
When adding new levels of an existing class or adding levels of a new class (see Multiclassing, below), make sure to take the following steps in order. First, select your new class level. You must be able to qualify for this level before any of the following adjustments are made. Second, apply any ability score increases due to gaining a level. Third, integrate all of the level's class abilities and then roll for additional hit points. Finally, add new skills and feats.
The order of how you level matters. You're allowed take a feat the same level you gain the prerequisites only because gaining feats is the last thing you do. If the prerequisite is a skill, spell, or ability, you already have it by the time you take the feat.
Of course, if the prerequisite is another feat, you must already have the prerequisite feat before you can take the desired feat. However, since character advancement is an ordered process, if you gain multiple feats in a level1, you can choose to take the prerequisite feat first. You can now take the desired feat.
In your example, you can take neither feat first since neither feat has its prerequisite met.
1 Class abilities that give bonus feats give them at the time you normally add new feats (after skill points). It's unclear if you choose your standard feat before your bonus feat or vice versa, but I would generally allow players to select feats in any order if it matters.
Yes.
Scribe Scroll is a feat. It is an "Item Creation Feat." So anyone who has taken Scribe Scroll as a feat would count it towards item creation prerequisites.
The Wizard class receives the ability to scribe scrolls as follows:
At 1st level, a wizard gains Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat.
The Wizard is gaining Scribe Scroll as a (bonus) feat. Scribe Scroll is a feat. It is an item creation feat. Why would it not count towards prerequisites for item creation feats?
Class Features
Does the Wizard gaining Scribe Scroll as a class feature prevent it from counting as a prerequisite? No.
Wizards don't use a class feature to scribe scrolls. They have a class feature that grants them the Scribe Scroll feat as a bonus feat.
So do bonus feats count towards prerequisites? Well, consider the Fighter. If a Fighter takes Power Attack as one of his many bonus feats, is he eligible for Cleave (which has a prerequisite of Power Attack)? If he isn't, most fighters that I've seen are doing things very wrong :)
A murkier wording for the Wizard's class feature would have been:
The Wizard gains the ability to scribe scrolls. This ability functions like the Scribe Scroll feat.
In this case, the Wizard isn't actually gaining the Scribe Scroll feat. So RAW, no feat, no prerequisite.
However, Dan Rasmussen points out in the comments that even with the more restrictive wording, DMs are within reason to grant the prerequisite anyway:
Even worded that way many GMs would (myself included) still allow it to fulfill the prerequisite. The rules seem to let class features fulfill prerequisites when appropriate, such as a Monk's Abundant Step acting similarly to the ability to actually cast Dimension Door.
... Which is probably why they used the bonus feat form of the ability.
Best Answer
Feats only have prerequisites if they say they do
Not every feat has a pre-requisite. Here is the relevant text from the PHB (p. 165):
This doesn't explicitly call out that not every feat has a pre-req, but it says "any prerequisite specified"—if there aren't any specified, then there are none.
Sample Feat 1
Clearly, no prerequisites are indicated to take the Crossbow Expert feat, as none are mentioned anywhere. However, it is recommended to have crossbow proficiency to take advantage of the first and third benefits...
Sample Feat 2
Clearly, right after the feat name (Defensive Duelist), there is a prerequisite called out, in italics, listing a Dex requirement. If you don't meet it, you can't take the feat, and if your Dex drops below 13 while you have the feat, you can't make use of it.
Not every feat has a prerequisite, and the default assumption in absence of one listed is "none," because no other default makes sense. Defaulting to, say, Str 12 is nonsensical for feats like "Observant." We can extend this logic to any decent pre-req assumption and conclude that there is no pre-req by default.
Note: I patterned the display of the feats off of the PHB; this is quite close to how they actually appear; in general, if there is a pre-requisite, it appears in italics following the name of the feat. AFAIK, there is not yet a compiled list of which feats have pre-reqs and what those pre-reqs are.