Epic Feats (Rules)

Perhaps more than any other single aspect, it is feats that make an epic character. They are the primary method of gaining new powers, augmenting your considerable strengths, or eliminating what few of your weaknesses remain. You can learn to project magic with a thought, slice through steel as easily as flesh, or feather your foes from a mile away.

Like normal feats, epic feats give your characters new abilities or improve existing ones. These abilities transcend the ordinary, however, instead entering into the legendary. Even the most "mundane" epic character is capable of acts that defy belief, be it leaping across canyons and outrunning galloping horses or calling upon the arcane power of true dweomers.

The feats listed in this chapter are designed to address not only epic characters in general but to present at least a few options specific to each of the 19 character classes covered in this document. That being said, you should not consider this list definitive; the scope of an epic campaign is tremendous and the potential for character growth should be equally without limits. If there is something specific you wish your character to accomplish, discuss it with your GM and see if you can work out a feat or series of feats to make it happen. If you can dream of doing it, it can probably become an epic feat.

## Acquiring Epic Feats

Epic feats are acquired just like normal feats, except that they can never be acquired by a character below 21st level.

There are two methods of gaining epic feats:

* At 21st level and every two levels afterwards (23rd, 25th, 27th, etc.), a character's bonus feat can be used for either a regular feat or for any epic feat that the character meets the prerequisites of.

* Each character gains bonus epic class feats based on their class description in their respective class descriptions or via multiclassing at 21st level or beyond. These feats must be selected either from the list of bonus epic class feats for that class or any non-epic feat for which they meet the prerequisites.

## Prerequisites

Most epic feats have prerequisites (in addition to the universal prerequisite of a character being level 21 or higher). You must have the listed feats and/or class features and meet or exceed any indicated ability score, skill rank, and attack modifier in order to select the feat. For ability scores, you can include non-temporary bonuses from magic items such as those granted by belts or headbands, though if you lose those bonuses later and your ability score falls below the minimum necessary, you lose access to the feat's benefits until you have again raised your relevant ability score. Attack modifiers include the sum of both your base attack bonus and your epic attack bonus.

A character can select an epic feat at the same level which he or she meets the prerequisites, just as with regular feats.

Unless otherwise indicated, a prerequisite expressed as a numerical value is a minimum; any value higher than the one given also meets the prerequisite.

You cannot use an epic feat if you've lost any of the prerequisites. Upon regaining them, you immediately restore access to the relevant feat(s).

## Archetypes and Feat Prerequisites

The subject was touched upon in Chapter 3, but it bears a more thorough examination here: many epic feats require specific class features as prerequisites but many of those features can be altered or replaced by the various archetypes that exist for every class. Unless there are thematic or mechanical reasons not to, any archetype class feature that replaces a base class feature should be allowed to serve in its place as a prerequisite for an epic feat.

This is an especially important consideration with the 'capstone' abilities that most classes receive at 20th level, such as a fighter's Weapon Mastery or a magus's True Magus class features. In almost every case, these are included as prerequisites for epic feats as a stand-in for explicitly stating that the character must have a full 20-level progression in a specific class, rather than because the feat requires the ability. Indeed, many of these epic feats do not even affect the abilities or bonuses provided by the capstone class feature.

In these situations, the archetype's capstone ability should be allowed to serve in place of the original class's feature (once again, unless there is some reason related either to game mechanics or the fluff associated with the archetype).

## A Note About Prestige Classes

Unlike archetypes, prestige classes are distinct from the base classes taken to qualify for them. That being said, there are some situations where it could be argued that a prestige class's abilities are similar enough to existing class features to be allowed to stand in for the prerequisites for an epic feat.

In all situations, I would argue that a character must have taken at least the full, 10-level progression of a prestige class before considering it as a replacement for a base class's capstone ability. This is a decision that is ultimately the GM's to make, however, and I would encourage any interested players to broach the subject with theirs.

## Retraining Epic Feats

If your campaign allows the retraining rules introduced in Ultimate Campaign, it is important to note that epic feats follow different rules than their non-epic counterparts and are significantly more difficult to retrain.

Retraining an epic feat requires a full 30 days of devoted attention and costs an amount of gold equal to 3,000 x your character level. Otherwise, the process follows all the normal retraining rules and the retraining requirements for non-epic feats. Often times, characters will discover that, rather than the cost, the true difficulty lies in finding another epic character with the feat you want to learn who is willing to take a month out of their busy schedule.

Additionally, even if a character is 21st level or higher, they cannot retrain a non-epic feat gained during the first 20 levels of character progression into an epic feat, though feats gained after 21st level can be retrained even if the character originally selected a non-epic feat. For instance, if a 22nd-level barbarian had selected the non-epic feat Extra Rage Power for their bonus character feat gained at 19th level, they could choose to retrain it into another non-epic feat such as Toughness or Improved Initiative, but could not retrain it into an epic feat. However, if they had selected Extra Rage Power for their 21st level bonus character feat, they could retrain it either into another non-epic feat (using the normal feat retraining rules) or into an epic feat like Mightier Rage (using the epic feat retraining rules above).

## Feat Types

Both for ease of use and to help keep characters thematically distinct, epic feats are divided into 12 categories, which are used to determine which classes can select them as bonus epic class feats. The categories are as follows:

**Alchemical**: Feats having to do with bombs, extracts, and mutagens.

**Channeling**: Feats that relate to the ability to channel positive or negative energy.

**Combat**: A broad category of feats related to offensive and defensive abilities in battle.

**General**: Feats that do not fall into any other category. They usually have to do with improving a character in some basic way. They are the only category of feat that cannot be selected as an epic class feat by any class.

**Item Creation**: Feats that are used to craft magic items.

**Ki**: Feats that require the user to possess a ki pool.

**Magic**: Non-metamagic feats related to using magic.

**Metamagic**: Feats that modify spell effects in return for increasing their spell level.

**Morale**: Feats that bolster your allies or hinder your foes.

**Rage**: Feats that affect characters while they are raging.

**Skill**: Feats that affect a character's skills.

**Summoning**: Feats that relate to eidolons and the summoning of creatures.

**Wild**: Feats that affect a character's ability to wildshape.