| Saldiven |
Here is the text of the spell:
It doesn't appear to be specifically typed, so does that mean it would stack with any other modifier?
Similarly, Inflict Pain doesn't seem to type it's modifier.
I'm working on a Intimidate Inquisitor build who worships Zon Kuthon, and I was trying to find thematically appropriate spells and such that focus on the whole "pain" thing. I'm just trying to decide which de-buffs will stack and which won't.
| Pizza Lord |
Both spells are [pain] spells but their penalties are not typed so by the rules, they do stack together. [Pain] is a relatively new descriptor and other than symbol of pain not many spells that utilize have been around very long.
While the penalties from both spells are clearly meant to be because of 'pain' it is actually typical for most penalties to be untyped.
Usually, a bonus has a type that indicates how the spell grants the bonus. The important aspect of bonus types is that two bonuses of the same type don't generally stack. With the exception of dodge bonuses, most circumstance bonuses, and racial bonuses, only the better bonus of a given type works. The same principle applies to penalties- a character taking two or more penalties of the same type applies only the worst one, although most penalties have no type and thus always stack. Bonuses without a type always stack, unless they are from the same source.
So it is not unusual that the penalties are meant to stack in most cases. Obviously if a situation doesn't make sense, for instance a spell applies a -2 penalty to attack because it paralyzes your elbow and another spell gives a -4 penalty to attacks because it turns your arm to stone... then you can reasonably justify ruling that the -4 is overlapping.
In this case, I see no reasonable problem with just saying "You're now in even more excruciating pain." So the penalties should stack.