Master Psion
First Post
Took me awhile to locate my Tome and Blood. So I was wrong in one of my previous posts. Only the Duelist bonus is an unnamed bonus while the bladesinger is a dodge bonus.
Bladesinger and Duelist AC bonus... do they stack?
- Thread starter Arravis
- Start date
Hypersmurf
Moderatarrrrh...
The two abilities are modifiying different things, then, so they naturally stack.
Bladesinger adds his Int bonus to AC directly, as a Dodge bonus.
Duellist adds his Int bonus to his Dex bonus to AC.
Similar to how an Enhancement bonus on a suit of armor doesn't actually increase your AC; it increases the Armor bonus of the armor... which in turn increases AC. A Duellist's Int bonus isn't added to his AC directly, but is rather added to his Dex bonus to AC... which in turn increases AC.
-Hyp.
Bladesinger adds his Int bonus to AC directly, as a Dodge bonus.
Duellist adds his Int bonus to his Dex bonus to AC.
Similar to how an Enhancement bonus on a suit of armor doesn't actually increase your AC; it increases the Armor bonus of the armor... which in turn increases AC. A Duellist's Int bonus isn't added to his AC directly, but is rather added to his Dex bonus to AC... which in turn increases AC.
-Hyp.
ThirdWizard
First Post
Just to point out, the latest Bladesinger is in Complete Warrior, and its pretty nice. It's still a dodge bonus.
silentspace
First Post
Just curious... If you min/max it, how quick can you get both abilities?
aurance
Explorer
Hypersmurf said:
This is definately how it reads in the rules. And I would allow it as a DM as well.
There is a tradeoff built in here - You can't add your duelist bonus to AC while you're wearing armor, so in the end if you're a duelist/bladesinger or bladesinger with some magical light armor it's about even AC.
Kae'Yoss
First Post
aurance said:
Can I play in your group please? I wanted to play another bladesinger anyway, one with a little more spellcasting and with a rapier instead of a longsword (the original bladesinger, which I used, was more restrictive in that regard), and I'll just play a monk/bladesinger/duelist. I call him guy-without-armor-that-cannot-be-hit.
Hypersmurf
Moderatarrrrh...
KaeYoss said:
Ditch the monk level (must be Lawful), pick up a Monk's Belt, and go a level of Freeport Pirate instead (must be non-Lawful, Cha bonus to AC).
-Hyp.
Seems to be that by the rules it stacks, though there are opinions by some that it shouldn't.
Personally, I don't have a problem with it stacking at all. It's pretty darn unlikely that a fighter/wiz/sorc type is going to have a 30 int or some such. Even then, that character has spent every gold piece he has to gain Int items and sucks in every other respect. Additionally if the players does do something as silly as a monk/duelist/bladesinger/wizard, whatever combo... he's spread to thin to be particularly powerful anyway. He might have a fairly high AC, but he's pretty weak in every other way. He can do a bunch of stuff, but all of it badly. Seems more than balanced to me and fits the rules.
Personally, I don't have a problem with it stacking at all. It's pretty darn unlikely that a fighter/wiz/sorc type is going to have a 30 int or some such. Even then, that character has spent every gold piece he has to gain Int items and sucks in every other respect. Additionally if the players does do something as silly as a monk/duelist/bladesinger/wizard, whatever combo... he's spread to thin to be particularly powerful anyway. He might have a fairly high AC, but he's pretty weak in every other way. He can do a bunch of stuff, but all of it badly. Seems more than balanced to me and fits the rules.
