D&D 5E Modifiers, Bounded Accuracy, and Saving Throws

[Calivar]

Susan the Sorcerer casts Burning Hands, in a cone which includes Carol, Doris and William. Susan is level 20, and has Charisma 20, so the saving throw DC is 8+stat+proficiency, or 8+6+10, total 24. (PHB page 205, Saving Throws, refers to "any special modifiers". What are some examples of special modifiers?)

I think you miscalculated the DC a little bit. Ability-Bonus of a "20" is +5 and the proficiency-bonus of a charakter of 20th level is +6. Therefore, the overall DC should be: 8+5+6=19
That is a HUGE difference...

 

[Riley37]

For me, I don't want to get into 3E stack city.

You're clear about what kind of play you do and don't want. That general principle can guide a lot of choices. Players at your table might be free to propose particular exceptions - as long as those exceptions don't lead the table back to Stack City.

That principle seems implicit in the PHB itself. I'm questioning how well the PHB (as written) is consistent with that principle, and how well it holds up when PCs have a valid reason to bring *every resource they can bring to bear* on a task which is, to the PCs, the most important thing in the world... because I want a game in which what makes sense for the players to choose, and what makes sense for the PCs to choose, are closely aligned.

I think Resistance and Bless could stack, without catastrophic reversion to 3E Stack City, and thus a party could have good reason to have casters maintaining both, but that's my theory and not yet tested in actual game-play.

On another hand, a crowd of Lore Bards, stacking Cutting Words to negate *all* the damage from a Meteor Swarm, is an event which I consider so awesome that I *want* the rules to support that possibility.

To pick up on an oft-discussed-elsewhere example, I want Gandalf to have a compelling reason NOT to ride an eagle into Mordor until the Ring has been destroyed. (I think those reasons already exist in LotR, in the form of Nazguls on flying mounts, but again, that's an example discussed elsewhere.)

 

[AmerginLiath]

Spells and Temporary Hit Points both, for instance, explicitly operate under the rubric of "replace instead of stack" (technically, the target gets to choose between the two values and will choose the better total). Since the rules also explicitly note that Specific beats General and mentions that exceptions are called out, cases where bonuses stack (in my interpretation, at least) are the specific case to the general case of bonuses-don't-stack. So, if a given bonus (such as the Paladin's aura) doesn't mention stacking, I'd rule it as following the general rule.

 

[Tormyr]

That's how I figure.

It doesn't explicitly say they do not stack - so in other words they do. However most DM's (myself included) would probably rule that it's a magical effect similar to a spell and doesn't stack. If you're theorycrafting though like Riley is then that's another matter.

Another thing that would go towards the "they don't stack argument" is that the Oathbreaker Paladin's Aura of Hate is virtually the same but includes text that says the benefit can only come from one paladin at a time. I think they realized that they goofed on the Aura of Protection.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Susan the Sorcerer casts Burning Hands, in a cone which includes Carol, Doris and William. Susan is level 20, and has Charisma 20, so the saving throw DC is 8+stat+proficiency, or 8+6+10, total 24. (PHB page 205, Saving Throws, refers to "any special modifiers". What are some examples of special modifiers?)

DC was already corrected in a different post, so I'll answer this one. The only special modifiers I know of are from Robe of the Archmagi (+2 to DC) and that one rod that boosts Warlock spell DC by +1/+2/+3.

 

[Riley37]

the rules also explicitly note that Specific beats General and mentions that exceptions are called out, cases where bonuses stack (in my interpretation, at least) are the specific case to the general case of bonuses-don't-stack.

You say "bonuses-don't-stack" as if that were a general rule, listed in PHB, and applying everywhere, except where overridden by a specific rule in a specific situation (spell, class ability, feat, magic item, etc.)

Is it?

Should it be?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

You say "bonuses-don't-stack" as if that were a general rule, listed in PHB, and applying everywhere, except where overridden by a specific rule in a specific situation (spell, class ability, feat, magic item, etc.)

Is it?

Should it be?

Combining Magical Effects, PHB pg 205 seems relevant here. Two paladin auras is the same effect and therefore shouldn't stack by these guidelines.