3.5 Calculation Guidelines

This explains some general guidelines to follow when calculating character statistics.

3.5.1 Stacking Rules

Usually, modifiers stack with each other, meaning that you add or subtract all of the modifiers to get the final result. However, some modifiers do not stack with each other, as described below. When bonuses don’t stack with each other, you only apply the largest bonus. Likewise, when penalties don’t stack with each other, you only apply the largest penalty.

• Effects from abilities with the same name do not stack.
• Enhancement bonuses do not stack with each other.
• If a creature gains the same condition multiple times, the effects do not stack, but each instance of the condition is tracked separately. The creature must remove all instances of the condition before the effects are removed.
• Multiple magical ✨ effects that change a creature’s size category do not stack. If multiple magical effects both increase and decrease size, size increases offset size decreases on a one-for-one basis to determine the creature’s final size.
• If you have two separate abilities which grant you a special sense with a particular range, such as darkvision or blindsight, you sum the range from both abilities to find your total range with that sense.

3.5.2 Minimum and Maximum Modifiers

Some bonuses specify that they cannot increase the value beyond a given point. These bonuses must always be applied last, and cannot be combined with other bonuses to exceed the maximum value. If multiple bonuses specify different maximum values, use the lower maximum value. If a bonus with a maximum value is applied to a value that already exceeds the maximum value the bonus can provide, simply ignore the bonus and its maximum value.

Similarly, some abilities have a minimum total modifier. The minimum is applied after all other modifiers.

3.5.3 Doubling and Halving

If you double any in-game value twice, it becomes three times as large. An additional doubling would make it four times as large, and so on. Likewise, if you halve any in-game value twice, it becomes one-third as large. For example, if you have two different abilities that double your power with an attack, you triple your power with that attack.

This also applies to calculations using real-world values, such as movement and distance, as long as you’re calculating the effects of abilities. For example, if you have two different abilities that double your range with a spell, your total range with that spell is three times the spell’s normal range.

Doubling Damage

If you double your damage with a dice pool, you roll the same number of dice and modify the result. This is different from a critical hit, which changes the number of dice you roll. As a result, if you get a critical hit with a double-damage attack, you roll twice as many dice and then double the result, which typically means you deal 4x your normal damage.

3.5.4 Changing Statistics

Your modifiers and defenses can change for many reasons. In general, all changes take effect immediately.

It is not normally possible for a character to lose access to resources that require them to make choices, such as insight points or trained skills. If a character does somehow lose the prerequisites for choices they have made, such as if their Intelligence is permanently reduced, they immediately lose relevant abilities until they are within their new limits.

3.5.5 Rounding

In general, if you encounter a fractional number, you round it down. For negative numbers, this means rounding it away from 0, not towards 0.