A creature’s ability score can’t drop below 0

[Incriptus]

I just had an NPC hit for 25 points of dex [ie. Maximized Empowered Shivering Touch], well he only had 13 dex to begin with. Fortunetly an NPC ally had access to Restoration and it didn't matter how far down it was, but I started thinking. If he had -12 Dex a single lesser restoration wouldn't have been enough. I was going to initially ask "Can you have a negative ability score" . . . Well I did a search as I typed this and found Rules Compendium pg 6 "A creature’s ability score can’t drop below 0".

Well this has also lead me some odd questions. How would that interact with enhancement bonuses?

If the character who has 13 base Dex + 2 Enhancement Bonus gets 25 points of dex damage. Does he have 0 dex? Does he have 0 base dex + 2 Enhancement Dex?

What happens if he gets hit with Cat's Grace for a + 4 Enhancement to Dex afterwards?

[Hiro Protagonest]

Yes, he has 0 dex. All boosts put him above 0.

[tyckspoon]

If the character who has 13 base Dex + 2 Enhancement Bonus gets 25 points of dex damage. Does he have 0 dex? Does he have 0 base dex + 2 Enhancement Dex?

What happens if he gets hit with Cat's Grace for a + 4 Enhancement to Dex afterwards?

In the first situation, he still has 0 Dex, because your concept of how it gets put together is wrong. The character does not have "13+2" Dex; the source of the bonuses only matters for determining if a particular bonus does get to be included or not. Outside of the stacking rules, he just has 15 Dex- his native score and his Gloves of Dex +2 are not separate parts of his score.

If you Cat's Grace him after reducing him to 0, he'll be mobile again with 4 Dex for as long as the spell lasts.

[Drolyt]

In the first situation, he still has 0 Dex, because your concept of how it gets put together is wrong. The character does not have "13+2" Dex; the source of the bonuses only matters for determining if a particular bonus does get to be included or not. Outside of the stacking rules, he just has 15 Dex- his native score and his Gloves of Dex +2 are not separate parts of his score.

If you Cat's Grace him after reducing him to 0, he'll be mobile again with 4 Dex for as long as the spell lasts.
So what's to stop someone from removing his gloves and putting them back on?

[Flickerdart]

The way I would interpret that is like this: you can't have a Dexterity score of -12, but you can still have 25 Dexterity damage with 13 normal Dexterity. It just doesn't count as being less than 0. Getting a Cat's Grace afterwards doesn't cancel out all of the penalty you have, so you're still paralyzed.

[Cog]

So what's to stop someone from removing his gloves and putting them back on?
Beyond time, nothing. You basically just need to 'reboot' the gloves.

[Deathslayer7]

Personally I would rule that he takes 25 dex damage, and drops to 0. After that it is done. No more dex damage since he can't go below zero. If someone cast Cat's Grace on him, then he would be up to four, if someone cast restoration, then even better.

Personally I just don't like the spell Shivering Touch. No save dex damage is too powerful.

[Drolyt]

Beyond time, nothing. You basically just need to 'reboot' the gloves.
Yeah, that's how I would interpret the rules, but I might not allow it as a DM, depending on the circumstances.

Personally I would rule that he takes 25 dex damage, and drops to 0. After that it is done. No more dex damage since he can't go below zero. If someone cast Cat's Grace on him, then he would be up to four, if someone cast restoration, then even better.
I do believe this is how the rules work as written, but I'm not 100% positive.

Personally I just don't like the spell Shivering Touch. No save dex damage is too powerful.
It is too powerful, yes, especially with metamagic feats. I wouldn't allow it in a game unless all the players had such powerful abilities.

[McClintock]

we just had this come up with a char wearing a headband of intellect. the feeblemind reduced him from 16 (14+2) to 3 (1+2), per our DMs ruling. Item could not be reduced by a spell, as it is a perm magic item and the spell did not disable/dispel it.

[Curmudgeon]

So what's to stop someone from removing his gloves and putting them back on?
The fact that at 0 DEX they're paralyzed and unable to do anything at all, mainly. If some other person came along and removed their gloves (3 move actions: get there, left glove, right glove) they'd still be at 0 DEX and still paralyzed. If some other person then put the gloves back on the paralyzed person (2 move actions: left glove, right glove) they'd be at 2 DEX and no longer paralyzed. But by then the fight is probably over anyway, because it's unlikely someone would be able to devote 3 turns to glove refresh during combat.

[Boci]

The fact that at 0 DEX they're paralyzed and unable to do anything at all, mainly. If some other person came along and removed their gloves (3 move actions: get there, left glove, right glove) they'd still be at 0 DEX and still paralyzed. If some other person then put the gloves back on the paralyzed person (2 move actions: left glove, right glove) they'd be at 2 DEX and no longer paralyzed. But by then the fight is probably over anyway, because it's unlikely someone would be able to devote 3 turns to glove refresh during combat.

Depends if the party has any spare hands. A necromancer's mininons, a summoned creature capable of such fine manipulation. A follower who cannot contribute much to combat. 2 of them and you can have it done in 2 rounds.