Non-stacking bonuses, and penalties

[billd91]

Ironically, I "argued" for Result B, myself. But it just seems so . . . wrong. I got two +1 bonuses, and it only takes one -1 penalty to completely negate them both.

One thing to keep in mind is that they aren't actually negated. The +1 gained by the character is cancelled out by the -1. Watch the durations on these effects. If one or the other morale bonus has a longer duration than the penalty, that bonus will come back.

You should remember this for any other overlapping bonuses as well. Some may have longer durations than others. Dispel magic might defeat one but not the other. And so on.

 

[Hypersmurf]

One thing to keep in mind is that they aren't actually negated.

Yeah - contrast this with the Daylight and Darkness spells.

Daylight brought into an area of magical darkness (or vice versa) causes the spells to be negated in the overlapping area. I could then bring a second Daylight spell to the same spot, and since it is no longer an area of magical darkness, the second spell will function normally.

In this case, order may matter; if I am carrying two Daylight spells when I enter the area of magical darkness, both might be suppressed, since the darkness has not already been negated as in the first example.

It's also not entirely clear whether the entire radius of the Darkness spell (not just the overlapping area) is suppressed when the area of the Daylight spell overlaps the point of origin of the Darkness spell.

-Hyp.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

I would rule for option A. I'm comfortable saying that the no stacking rule means that the total cannot exceed the highest single bonus (or go below the greatest single penalty) but a variety of penalties and bonuses can all be added up within those limits.