Do Curses Stack?

[Olaf the Stout]

Do the effects from various curses stack with each other?

For example, if someone had Bestow Curse cast on them and their Dex was reduced by 6 points, could a second Bestow Curse be cast on them to reduce their Dex by a further 6 points?

Olaf the Stout

 

[Runestar]

Penalties from the same source do not stack, so you had better target another stat.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Ok, what about the Dark Companion for the Hexblade (PHB2 pg 47) and the Curse of Impending Blades spell (Spell Compendium pg 56). Both the Dark Companion and the CoIB spell give a -2 penalty to AC. Would they stack?

Olaf the Stout

 

[Vegepygmy]

Both the Dark Companion and the CoIB spell give a -2 penalty to AC. Would they stack?

The penalties are from different sources, and are untyped. So yes, they would stack.

The basic stacking rule is on page 313 of the PHB.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Penalties from the same source do not stack, so you had better target another stat.

That's also debatable. If you allow such things as the PCs to have have two different resist energy spells up at the same time (like fire and acid, for example), then this is true. If you declare for such spells that the second casting overrides the first, then even if the second curse was completely different from the first, it would not stack.

 

[javcs]

Penalties don't stack with penalties. And usually, they can't drop something below 1.
Damage, however, stacks with everything.
Thus, what you do is you smack them with a penalty effect, and then slap them with ability damage/drain.

 

[Runestar]

Penalties don't stack with penalties. And usually, they can't drop something below 1.

My understanding was that penalties from the same source do not stack (so you simply take the higher of 2 rays of enfeeblement), but penalties from different sources would stack (so you can combine a bestow curse with ray of enfeeblement, just that the stat still cannot go below one).

Have I been mistaken all along?

 

[moritheil]

My understanding was that penalties from the same source do not stack (so you simply take the higher of 2 rays of enfeeblement), but penalties from different sources would stack (so you can combine a bestow curse with ray of enfeeblement, just that the stat still cannot go below one).

Have I been mistaken all along?

No; this is my understanding as well.

 

[Vegepygmy]

Penalties don't stack with penalties.

PHB, page 311:

penalty: A negative modifier to a die roll. Penalties do not usually have a type, and always stack with other penalties (except those from the same source) unless otherwise stated.

 

[javcs]

Then, my bad ... don't know what I was thinking of when I wrote that.