Please help me understand the fear effects and how the stack.

[veven]

My google foo is weak and I have been unable to find really definite answers to some questions.

First off, I know that fear effects stack but the sources of the effects are what confuse me.

My understanding is that if you have Never outnumbered (skill trick) and you demoralize your opponents so they are Shaken, then your wizard friend casts Scare (assuming your enemies fail their saves) they are then panicked instead of frightened.

My confusion is that I don't know how fear effects that come from the same person would stack. Would Righteous Wrath stack with the demoralize use of intimidate? It's coming from the same character but one is just a static will save and one is based on a skill check so I feel like this would work.

Would Righteous Wrath stack with Frightful Presence?
Would the demoralize option stack with Intimidating rage?

I feel like those two examples wouldn't work because they are so similar...Righteous Wrath and Frightful Presence are based off of will saves and Demoralizing and Intimidating rage are both based off of intimidate checks (intimidating rage is actually just a free action demoralize so I am fairly positive that those won't work together).

Also, where does Imperious Command fit into all this? Cowering is an awesome status but where does it fit in on the status path of fear effects? Shaken-Frightened-Panicked.....but Cowering is somehow it's own thing?

Please someone make sense of all this! I have been wracking my brain trying to sort it all out. I will love you forever if you can help.

[shadow_archmagi]

My understanding is that if you have Never outnumbered (skill trick) and you demoralize your opponents so they are Shaken, then your wizard friend casts Scare (assuming your enemies fail their saves) they are then panicked instead of frightened.



Correct. The easiest way to think about it is to think of fear as being Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, with those being Shaken, Frightened, Panicked. All fear effects stack forever, and they always kick it up another notch. So if you have an effect that causes Fright, that's worth 2, and if you add it to 1, you get 3. Even if it's the same spell cast a second time, it still stacks. Fear always stacks. So yes, if you have Rightous Wrath *and* Imperius Command and Never Outnumbered, you can feel free to make all the enemies cower at once. Cowering is just Panicked that can't move.

[Divide by Zero]

Fear always stacks.

Unless it specifically says it doesn't. I don't remember which off the top of my head, but there are a few fear effects that explicitly don't stack. But stacking is the default.

[gorfnab]

Here is a fairly nice Fear Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3809.0) that may be of interest to you.

[ILM]

Also, where does Imperious Command fit into all this? Cowering is an awesome status but where does it fit in on the status path of fear effects? Shaken-Frightened-Panicked.....but Cowering is somehow it's own thing?
Generally, you cower when panicked and cornered (panicked means you run away from the threat using all means available; if you can't, you're cornered and start cowering). Sometimes, some effects bump you to cowering without actually needing the cornered part.

[Person_Man]

The caveat is that effects never stack with themselves. So if a dragon has Frightful Presence (or you take it as a feat) then by itself it will never make enemies anything more then Shaken, no matter how many times it trigger.

And as others have mentioned, there are a few (weak) Fear sources which explicitly don't stack with others.

But other then that, Fear always stacks, and it's an excellent low level combo. But as you move up the difficulty scale, it tends to be less and less useful, because so many things are immune or resistant.