Inherent bonus?

[DarkMaster]

So what? Keep in mind he's losing several levels in the process. Which is more powerful- a 20th-level Wizard with a 50 intelligence, or a 25th-level Wizard with 30 intelligence?

I would say a 20th level with 50 Int.

 

[anon]

[RANT]
Otherwise, by your definition, if a character received temporary Con damage, enough to be reduced to 0 and died, applying the Amulet of Health after would bring the character back to life as this would raise the Con to 4, because a Con of 0 is different from no Con at all.

Once a creature dies it becomes a corpse. Corpses don't have Con scores so there is nothing for the Amulet to affect.

 

[Artoomis]

[cough17thcough]

As well as doing it via scrolls, you can also simply elect not to level from 17th to 18th, even once you have 17k xp over and above the 17th level requirement. And keep electing not to level until you hit 25k, then cast five wishes.

Saves you the scribing time and 306 xp...

-Hyp.

17th. Right.

Still, you end up about 1-1/2 levels behind.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Otherwise, by your definition, if a character received temporary Con damage, enough to be reduced to 0 and died, applying the Amulet of Health after would bring the character back to life as this would raise the Con to 4, because a Con of 0 is different from no Con at all. This would apply to any temporary bonuses applied to any ability.

Let's say I have a spell that grants 20 temporary hit points to someone.

I have a character with 10 hit points. He gets hit for 20 points of damage - he's at -10 and dead. I cast the spell on him. Nothing happens - he's still dead.

I take another character with 10 hit points, and cast the spell on him. He gets hit for 20 points of damage. He's not dead - his hit points have never dropped below zero, let alone -10. The order of events matters.

If I'm wearing an Amulet of Health +4, and I have a Con of 10, and I take 13 points of Con damage, my Con is still above 0. I'm not dead.

If I weren't wearing my amulet, I would be dead. Putting it on after I'm already dead makes no difference.

-Hyp.

 

[Ackem]

So what? Keep in mind he's losing several levels in the process. Which is more powerful- a 20th-level Wizard with a 50 intelligence, or a 25th-level Wizard with 30 intelligence?

The Wizard with 50 intelligence. +10 to Save DC is pretty bloody insane. Having some more hitpoints and some Epic Spells is nothing compared to your magic being unresistable.