Ability damage/drain and enhancement

[shilsen]

Simply consider it as damage and don't care for the actual stat. But if the damage is equal or higher than the modified score, be it in wildshape or with enhancement bonuses, the players dead. Where's the problem?

The player's dead? Damn - you are one mean DM

 

[Pax]

Not all attributes make the character DIE when they hit 0. In fact, that is the case only with Constitution. The other attributes have other effects when they hit 0.

 

[Diirk]

It depends.. str 0 is usually helplessness, but if a shadow drains you str to 0, you're dead.

 

[James McMurray]

And, at least in the case of NPCs, any stat of 0 is effetively death unless you planned on capturing them. For PCs the same is true, except that its a death that is much easier to heal, it still removes you from the party until you get it fixed.

This is one of the primary beneifits of a psion, they can tale strength and dex damage all day, and as long as they have a wheelbarrow to telekiness themselves around on, or a charmed critter to carry them, they can effectively ignore the problem.

 

[Scion]

Of course I have always just treated it like damage.

You have 5 points of str damage? all right then, your current effective str is your normal score (base + whatever) -5 (min 0).

But then I also use a houserule that if you are damaged more than the amount you currently have the excess falls to other stats in a certain order of preference. Which means that you actually 'can' die from poisons that will kill a person in real life, eventually.

 

[Cheiromancer]

I thought that enhancement bonuses to an ability did not apply if the base ability score had been reduced to zero.

Am I making this up? Was this a rule in 3.0?

 

[Nifelhein]

I would follow the same idea of Cheiromancer, if the ability bonus is ever reduced to zero any enhancement bonus would not apply, that way only inherent bonuses would be kept and possibly damaged, else a wish will prevent any character from ever being killed by Con loss...

 

[dcollins]

From the 3.0 FAQ (MainFAQ06272003.pdf, p. 34):

When a character loses ability points due to a draining
attack, poison, or whatever, how do enhancements such as a
headband of intellect or gauntlets of ogre power work. Are
those points lost first? If a character takes the item off, does
the item still work? Does the character lose more points if
he takes the item off?

Apply ability score losses to the victim’s total score, no
matter where the score came from. An ability enhancing item is
not harmed by an ability draining attack, and if the victim takes
off the item, the victim’s ability score drops accordingly. No
ability score, however, can be lessened to less than 0.

A creature with an ability score lessened to 0 cannot benefit
from magic that enhances that ability score until rest or healing
increases the ability to at least 1. For example, a human
lessened to Strength 0 cannot benefit from a bull’s strength
spell or a belt of giant strength while the score is at 0. After a
day of rest, the character recovers 1 point of Strength and can
once again benefit from Strength enhancements.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Well, that thread could have been a lot shorter Thanks dcollins!

AR

 

[Nifelhein]

Yes, thanks! Anyway, what do you think about inherent bonuses, I mean, it is kind of permanent... and behaves a lot different than any other magical boost, would Wish be maed into ability drain or the character would drop even though he ahs a +6 inherent bonus?