Do inspiration and luck / panache stack?


Rules Questions

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

If an investigator (sleuth) needs to make a skill check - let's use Escape Artist as an example - and has points available in both his inspiration pool and his luck pool, can he spend a point from both and get 2d6 added to the check?

Inspiration (excerpt) wrote:
An investigator has the ability to augment skill checks and ability checks through his brilliant inspiration. The investigator has an inspiration pool equal to 1/2 his investigator level + his Intelligence modifier (minimum 1). An investigator’s inspiration pool refreshes each day, typically after he gets a restful night’s sleep. As a free action, he can expend one use of inspiration from his pool to add 1d6 to the result of that check, including any on which he takes 10 or 20. This choice is made after the check is rolled and before the results are revealed. An investigator can only use inspiration once per check or roll. The investigator can use inspiration on any Knowledge, Linguistics, or Spellcraft skill checks without expending a use of inspiration, provided he’s trained in the skill.
Luck wrote:

At 1st level, a sleuth gains the following deeds.

Daring (Ex): At 1st level, a sleuth can spend 1 luck point when he makes an Acrobatics, Climb, Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, or Swim check to roll d6 and add the result to the check. He can choose to add this die after he rolls. If the d6 roll is a natural 6, he rolls another d6 and adds it to the check. He can continue to do this as long as he rolls natural 6s, up to a number of times equal to his Intelligence modifier (minimum 1).

It seems as though these pools, while both are class features, provide untyped bonuses, which I believe usually stack. They also seem to be different kinds of bonuses from an in-game point of view - one is based on the investigator's brilliance, the other on his good fortune. On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be any reference in the sleuth archetype's write-up about stacking the inspiration and luck dice, which makes me a little uncomfortable about it.

Am I missing something obvious here? Anyone encounter this question before?


SLEUTH wrote:

Grit, Luck, and Panache

Grit, luck, and panache represent three different means by which heroes can gain access to the same heroic pool, using it to accomplish fantastic feats. For characters with a mix of grit, luck, and panache, they pool the three resources together into a combined pool. (Those who use panache and luck do not gain twice their Charisma bonuses in their pools.) For feats, magic items, and other effects, a panache user can spend and gain luck points in place of grit points or panache points, and vice versa.
A luck user does not count as a grit or panache user for the purpose of meeting feat prerequisites.

As far as I can see you wouldn't be able to use Luck with either Grit or Panache, but Inspiration is separate so it should work.


I don't see any reason why they would not work together. If it is something your really interested in, you could take Amatuer Swashbuckler (Derring Do) and end up with the ability to add a third d6...

Not a terrible invest anyways, as it gives you a much easier way to recover luck points: Crits or Finishing Blows with light or one handed piercing weapons.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Thanks, MrCharisma and toastedamphibian. That's where I'm leaning as well; it seems as though the only limitation would be whatever the GM decides about limiting free actions for skill checks during combat.

@MrCharisma - Your quote from the SRD matches what's in my copy of the ACG, and points out an error in Hero Lab that I hadn't caught: in Hero Lab, the parenthetical reads "(Those who use panache and luck do not gain twice their Charisma bonuses in their pools.)" Deleting "do not" from the sentence makes a sleuth with a dip in swashbuckler, or swashbuckler with a dip in sleuth, seem much more attractive than it should be.

@toastedamphibian - with respect to Amateur Swashbuckler, as MrCharisma noted above, I'm pretty sure that luck and panache do not stack since they are coming from the same effective source, so there wouldn't be any way to get that third d6 (other than rolling a natural 6 on the inspiration check).


Not sure I'm seeing it.

Luck does not count as panache or grit for feat prerequisites. The prerequisite of Amature swashbukler is that you not have levels in a class that grant's panache, and you do not.

It is is different ability, with a different name, and a slightly different affect (Max based on different attribute).

What you can do is use luck and panache interchangeably to trigger your effects, and use an affect that recovers either to refill their combined pool.

Dodging deed is probably a better choice, as I can't see an event where you really would want to add 3d6 onto one of those skill checks being super common.

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