I am playing a melee-oriented Shaman with the Battle spirit, and make a lot of use of the Enemies' Bane ability from that spirit.
Enemies' Bane (Su): As a swift action, the shaman imbues a single weapon she’s wielding with the bane weapon special ability, choosing the type of creature affected each time she does. The effect lasts for 1 minute. If the weapon already has the bane weapon special ability of the type chosen, the additional damage dealt by bane increases to 4d6. The shaman can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier.
It just occurred to me today that I could potentially use it twice -- once to give the weapon the Bane weapon special ability, and then again on a subsequent round, to increase the additional damage up to 4d6.
Does this seem legitimate? Requires two uses from a fairly limited pool of resources, but it might be useful in some situations.
Hmmm...I think so. I don't think there is anything barring it necessarily, since while technically the same source the effects change depending on what the weapons current abilities are.
I was kinda thinking along similar lines.
On a strict reading, I see no reason why it wouldn't work, but I'm not sure that really aligns with the intent of the ability (which is probably why I'm only thinking of this idea now, six levels after the character first got the ability).
Happy to get further feedback, though.
No. You can't stack the same ability twice from the same source without it saying you can.
If you were to add Bane from an Inquisitor ability though, it may stack due to it coming from a different source. However, expect table variation even for this.
Rory -- I assume you're referring to the rule about how different bonuses stack? I was thinking this over, and I'm not sure that rule applies here.
Bonuses are numerical values that are added to checks and statistical scores. Most bonuses have a type, and as a general rule, bonuses of the same type are not cumulative (do not “stack”)—only the greater bonus granted applies.
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. Bonuses without a type always stack, unless they are from the same source.
Poster's Note: There is also a lengthy table listing the various bonus types which I will not reproduce here.
This Enemies' Bane ability does not grant a "bonus" as such, because it isn't giving a numerical bonus and just adds the Bane quality to a given weapon (while also speaking specifically to what happens if you use the ability on a weapon already having Bane). So I do not see the rule about stacking bonuses as being applicable.
Is there another rule dealing with stacking of abilities that maybe I'm just not aware of?