Aura, Detect Law, Clerics, Incarnates and Sapphire Hierarchs

[Particle_Man]

Ok, Clerics with no god but the Law domain give off an aura of law.

LN Incarnates also give off an aura of law.

Do these stack? Would a Cleric 5/Incarnate 5 give off the same strength of aura as an Incarnate 10?

(Note a similar question could be asked about a Cleric of no god with the Good domain who multiclasses into the paladin class)

Now, Sapphire Hierarchs don't list aura as a class feature. On the other hand, they have Law domain as a prerequisite and they are all about Law as an alignment thing and a thing to promote in the universe. It is their raison d'etre.

So, RAW, would a Cleric 3/Incarnate 2/Sapphire Hierarch 10 have an aura as strong as an Incarnate 15 would?

What about RAI, to all the above questions?

 

[Manabarbs]

By a hyperliteral reading of RAW, no, things don't stack. (I think you're projecting two separate auras.)

On the other hand, I'd just chalk that up to the fact that by the time MoI came out, the game had about a million different mechanical options, and it's not unexpected that not every interaction was something they thought about. I don't even know if there is a RAI for this, because I don't know that there's any "I" at all. In the case of the PrC, there's specific verbiage in the PrC that says you don't gain other benefits of the base class.

I'd let those things stack and count the Hierarch levels too, on the grounds that A) it's thematic and makes sense, and B) it doesn't create a significant mechanical advantage for the character. If either of those things were untrue, I'd roll with strict RAW, but as it is, I think it's fine.

 

[Particle_Man]

Thanks for your reply!