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Wisdom to AC ... twice?
eamon said:
Anyways, completely irrespective of whatever the rule-text of the two blurbs say, don't forget the "behind the curtains" on DMG page 21:
BEHIND THE CURTAIN: STACKING BONUSES
Balance: [sblock]The main reason to keep track of what stacks and what doesn’t stack is to keep total bonuses from getting out of hand. If a character wears a belt of giant Strength, it’s unbalancing to allow the cleric to cast bull’s strength on her as well and allow both bonuses to add up. [...etc...][/sblock] Summary: Disallowing stacking avoids easy loopholes that might provide wildly different power levels.
Consistency and Logic: "The system of bonus types provides a way to make sense out of what can work together and what can’t. At some point, when adding types of protection together, a reasonable player realizes that some protections are just redundant.
This system logically portrays how it all makes sense together." This is the big issue - what's the sense? The swordsage's and the monk's AC bonus seem to model almost the same thing in-game. That you can find similar in-game events modelled by differing game mechanics in the tens of thousands of pages of rules published by WotC does not surprise me. They try to bunch similar concepts into similar "named modifier" buckets. But the in-game world is a little fuzzy and the rules aren't perfect. If you're trying to perform to model the same thing twice, and the mechanics happen to grant different modifiers, that doesn't mean they shouldn't overlap nevertheless.
Encouraging Good Play: [sblock]Categorizing bonuses by type allows players to put together suites of effects that do work in conjunction in a consistent manner—encouraging smart play rather than pile-it-on play.[/sblock] Trying to find multiple rules with the same source (your wisdom) and the same effect (your AC gets better) is definitely pile it on play.
Even if the class abilities had a name, the fact that the in-game justification is so similar, and the fact that the source is similar (your wisdom, presumably due to spot/listen/insight/sense motive/etc) and the effect is identical, should make it clear that these effects are too similar to stack.
I would encourage simply thinking of the actually source of any bonus, if it comes from the character's will power in one class, divine inspiration another, and awareness in another, then yes while they all come from wisdom, they would and
should stack. In this case I see that both classes are based on the oriental motief and similarly both character seem dedicated to avoiding damage throw awareness and withstanding damage or gaining some knowledge from psychic powers or divine insight, the bonues seem to be the same bonus, and an insight bonus at that.
Remember a bonus is almost one of the following
[sblock]
Alchemical:An alchemical bonus represents the benefit from
a chemical compound, usually one ingested prior to receiving the
bonus. Antitoxin, for example, provides a +5 alchemical bonus on
Fortitude saving throws against poison.
Armor:
This is the bonus that nonmagical armor gives a character.
A spell that gives an armor bonus typically creates an invisible,
tangible field of force around the affected character.
Circumstance:
This is a bonus or penalty based on situational
factors, which may apply either to a check or the DC for that
check. Circumstance modifiers stack with each other, unless they
arise from essentially the same circumstance.
Competence:
When a character has a competence bonus, he
actually gets better at what he’s doing, such as with the
guidance
spell.
Deflection:
A deflection bonus increases a character’s AC by
making attacks veer off, such as with the
shield of faith spell.
Dodge:
A dodge bonus enhances a character’s ability to get out
of the way quickly. Dodge bonuses do stack with other dodge
bonuses. Spells and magic items occasionally grant dodge bonuses.
Enhancement:
An enhancement bonus represents an increase
in the strength or effectiveness of a character’s armor or weapon,
as with the
magic vestment and magic weapon spells, or a general
bonus to an ability score, such as with the
cat’s grace spell.
Inherent:
An inherent bonus is a bonus to an ability score that
results from powerful magic, such as a
wish spell. A character is
limited to a total inherent bonus of +5 to any ability score.
Insight:
An insight bonus makes a character better at what he’s
doing because he has an almost precognitive knowledge of factors
pertinent to the activity, as with the
true strike spell.
Luck:
A luck bonus is a general bonus that represents good fortune,
such as from the
divine favor spell.
Morale:
A morale bonus represents the effects of greater hope,
courage, and determination, such as from the
bless spell.
Natural Armor:
A natural armor bonus is the type of bonus
that many monsters get because of their tough or scaly hides. An
enhancement to natural armor bonus bestowed by a spell (such as
barkskin
) indicates that the subject’s skin has become tougher.
Profane:
A profane bonus represents the power of evil, such as
granted by the
desecrate spell.
Racial:
Creatures gain racial bonuses—usually to skill
checks—based on the kind of creature they are. Eagles receive a
+8 racial bonus on Spot checks, for example.
Resistance:
A resistance bonus is a general bonus against
magic or harm. Resistance bonuses almost always affect saving
throws.
Sacred:
The opposite of a profane bonus, a sacred bonus relates
to the power of good, such as granted by the
consecrate spell.
Shield:
Much like an armor bonus, a shield bonus to AC represents
the protection a nonmagical shield affords. A spell that gives
a shield bonus usually represents an invisible, tangible shield of
force that moves to protect the character.
Size:
When a character gets bigger (such as through the effect
of an
enlarge person spell), his Strength increases (as might his Constitution).
That’s a size bonus.
[/sblock]