Revised 3e Seminar: Stacking bonuses

[theoremtank]

It would be nice to see one consistent rule that made it that all bonuses of the same type never stacked. Special cases should always be avoided unless essential.

 

[Droogie]

Come to think of it, it will be interesting to see what they do with Tower Shields if they're eliminating all traces of facing. . . .

Maybe they'll just give it a +3 or +4 shield bonus and just leave it at that.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I guess I've come to be suspicious of WotC's balance judgements when I've seen things like Armor of Speed, Peerless Archer, and Ninja of the Crescent Moon come off their presses.

For what it's worth, the Ninja of the CM in Sword and Fist is totally incorrect, and has been drastically altered in the published errata. It was a printing and layout error, not a balance error.

Just for the record.

 

[Hardhead]

What kind of bonus it will give is unknown.

Your original post said:

Andy C. stated that a Shield spell would be a shield bonus

My question is: were you going out on a limb and guessing about the shield-type bonus for Shield, or are you just no longer sure you heard him say it was a shield-type bonus, seeing as how you were working on very little sleep?

 

[Perithoth]

Your original post said:

My question is: were you going out on a limb and guessing about the shield-type bonus for Shield, or are you just no longer sure you heard him say it was a shield-type bonus, seeing as how you were working on very little sleep?

The problem is with the swirl of information out there (some accurate and some not so accurate) and my hazy memory of what was said about the shield spell combined into something not very accurate. I have gone back and fixed my post to reflect that which I can remember clearly from the seminar. Right now I am trying to track down a copy of the video tape that was made during the second session by a local Public Access Cable show in Ft. Wayne.

I have stopped posting information as I can no longer trust that what I remember has not been influenced by what others have said here on the EN World Message Boards and other locations. The material I have posted PRIOR to this message was accurate. I think this was one post too far for me and I am pulling back until I can get a more reliable source... sorry for the confusion.

Bryan Blumklotz
AKA Perithoth
Lord of Grumpiness

 

[MadScientist]

Finally! I was wondering why they just didn't do this to begin with! Frankly I think the ability to stack a sheild with Mage Armor and Bracers of Armor certainly isn't game breaking and this is just so much simpler than having that weird stacking exception. I've been giving sheilds a "sheild bonus" as a house rule for a while as well.

 

[Hardhead]

The problem is with the swirl of information out there (some accurate and some not so accurate) and my hazy memory of what was said about the shield spell combined into something not very accurate.

I'd bet a grand that you're right about Shield's bonus type, though. It only makes sense. If they're going to have a sheild-type bonus, then it only makes since that the Shield spell would provide one.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Maybe and maybe not. It would make sense for the Shield spell to provide a bonus similar to an animated shield. I'm not certain that ought to be the same bonus that a character receives from having a shield on his arm. In fact, I think it makes a lot of sense for it to be different. It's hard to cover both sides of your body with a real shield. Not any problem at all for an animated or magical shield. In fact, it seems like you ought to be able to protect part of your body with a magic or animated shield at the same time as you protect the other parts with the shield on your arm. They seem like they should stack.

Maybe it should be a cover bonus or an unnamed bonus or even a dancing shield bonus.

I'd bet a grand that you're right about Shield's bonus type, though. It only makes sense. If they're going to have a sheild-type bonus, then it only makes since that the Shield spell would provide one.

 

[Hardhead]

A floating, magical sheild (i.e., one with the Animated ability) still gives the same bonus as one on your hand.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

And a shield spell or a dancing Shield from the splatbooks currently gives cover bonusses. I'm speculating about what the rules could be here rather than what they are.

And I see no logical reason that a magical floating shield (spell or item) should not stack with a wielded shield. Consequently, I think it would be a good thing if the bonusses were arranged such that a magical floating shield (spell or item) gave a different kind of bonus from a "shield" bonus.

A floating, magical sheild (i.e., one with the Animated ability) still gives the same bonus as one on your hand.