Talk:Stack

Suggested revision:

In NWN2, items, spells, character level and ability scores give characters certain bonuses. If a character is wearing an item that grants a bonus to his strength score, for example, he would be more likely to hit opponents and more likely to deal them more damage. For game balance reasons, many items and spells that grant these types of bonuses--such as the spell Bear's Strength or a Girdle of Frost Giant Strength--do not stack with one another. In order to determine which spells and effects do and do not stack, refer to the appellation that appears before the 'bonus' in question. For example, both the spell 'Bear's Strength' and the Girdle of Frost Giant Strength give an enhancement bonus to a character's strength ability score. These bonuses do not stack. As a general rule, if two bonuses share the same appellation, they do not stack. If they do not share the same appellation, they do stack. If no appellation is attached to the bonus, it stacks with itself and any other bonus. Two exceptions to this general rule exist. The 'dodge' bonus to Armour Class (AC) stacks with itself, as does the 'circumstance' bonus. Spell effects that do not stack may overlap, coexist independently, or render one another irrelevant, depending on their exact effects.

Example
The bard class and the harper agent class both have a special knowledge class feature (bardic knowledge & harper knowledge respectively). A character with both classes uses the total level of the two classes when calculating how effective their knowledge is.