There were a couple of threads that asked about if and how the Gloves of Dueling interacted with the Dragoon fighter archetype. The if was resolved, leading to the following FAQ.
The question I have is about the how part, and to my knowledge that has not been officially addressed. A strict reading of the effects involved would state that you simply get +2 attack and +2 damage from the Gloves. A slightly less strict reading, but no less correct logically, would state that you get two increments of the granted bonuses, which would mean +2 attack and +4 damage instead.
For a vanilla fighter, the difference is moot because they're the same values. For an archetype such as the Dragoon, they are not. For the latter interpretation, this is the key difference to explain why the Gloves were written the way they were. As a GM, I would rule in favor of the second interpretation, since that seems closer to how the Dragoon is supposed to function.
My group's table is not following PFS rules per se. For the purposes of this question, however, assume that we are, so a Society-focused answer would be most valuable.
Yeah, the Gloves give a static benefit. If it was meant to be a "step" sort of thing, it'd have used the wording presented in the Sash of the War Champion item.
Yeah, the Gloves give a static benefit. If it was meant to be a "step" sort of thing, it'd have used the wording presented in the Sash of the War Champion item.
Two problems with that, the way the Sash is worded. First, it would need to have an increase of 8 levels, which I've never seen on an item like that; it's almost always between 2 and 5 levels that an item will buff an ability. Second, once you reach 9th level, the effect would cap out at a 17th-level effect, since that is the maximum listed for Spear Training. This also means that as of 17th level, the Gloves would do you no good as far as Spear Training was concerned.
Gloves of Dueling grant a static bonus.
The Sash is merely an example, it still demonstrates the point that the Gloves as written don't function in a manner similar to the Sash.
I'd go with the latter. Gloves of Dueling raises the "level" of your Weapon Training (Attack, damage and CMD), so it'd be plus four. I say this since the gloves work with AWT that use your WT bonus.
No, if that was the case then he could select two more weapon groups or, even better, two Advanced Weapon Training options, since his Weapon Training "level" is increased, which therefore means he gets all of the benefits associated.
Not only are the Gloves not worded that way, but neither would the Sash permit something like that to happen, since both effects only work for existing features, and don't outright grant you new features. (Or at the very least, weren't written with the intent to do so.)