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<blockquote data-quote="Hypersmurf" data-source="post: 54956" data-attributes="member: 1656">You know... I think they've used the wrong condition to describe the effect of the Troglodyte's Stench.It shouldn't be &quot;1d6 temporary Strength damage&quot;.&nbsp; It should be a &quot;1d6 effective Strength penalty&quot;.Temporary ability damage lasts for days - you recover 1 point per day.&nbsp; Not for just 10 rounds.DMG p83 : &quot;Ability damage is different from effective ability loss, which is an effect which goes away when the condition causing it goes away.&quot;The condition causing the loss of Strength is being &quot;overcome with nausea&quot; (as opposed to nauseated, of course) for 10 rounds.&nbsp; When the condition goes away, the Strength penalty goes away.&nbsp; Sounds like the exact definition of effective ability loss.The other thing is that effective ability loss is a penalty, and penalties resulting from the same source don't stack - as in your example quoted above.But the Monster Manual description of Stench is &quot;temporary Strength damage&quot;, and ability damage keeps adding up until you hit 0 Strength.Which would make multiple trogs really, really dangerous to low level characters.&nbsp; The average 2nd level wizard, for example, will probably make slightly less than half his DC 13 Fort saves.&nbsp; If he ends up getting stenched by six Trogs, he could expect to take 10-14 points of Strength damage.&nbsp; That's incapacitated, for the average 2nd level wizard.Temporary Strength damage must be wrong, surely.-Hyp.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hypersmurf, post: 54956, member: 1656"] You know... I think they've used the wrong condition to describe the effect of the Troglodyte's Stench. It shouldn't be "1d6 temporary Strength damage". It should be a "1d6 effective Strength penalty". Temporary ability damage lasts for days - you recover 1 point per day. Not for just 10 rounds. DMG p83 : "Ability damage is different from effective ability loss, which is an effect which goes away when the condition causing it goes away." The condition causing the loss of Strength is being "overcome with nausea" (as opposed to [i]nauseated[/i], of course) for 10 rounds. When the condition goes away, the Strength penalty goes away. Sounds like the exact definition of effective ability loss. The other thing is that effective ability loss is a penalty, and penalties resulting from the same source don't stack - as in your example quoted above. But the Monster Manual description of Stench is "temporary Strength damage", and ability damage keeps adding up until you hit 0 Strength. Which would make multiple trogs really, [i]really[/i] dangerous to low level characters. The average 2nd level wizard, for example, will probably make slightly less than half his DC 13 Fort saves. If he ends up getting stenched by six Trogs, he could expect to take 10-14 points of Strength damage. That's incapacitated, for the average 2nd level wizard. Temporary Strength damage [i]must[/i] be wrong, surely. -Hyp. [/QUOTE]

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