[3.5] Ability Damage / Ability Penalty Order of Operations

[Maginomicon]

Do ability score penalties and ability damage stack?

Does it matter in what order ability score penalties and ability damage happen?

For example, if someone takes a constitution penalty (somehow) that drops them to 1 CON (ability score penalties can't reduce an ability score to less than 1) and then they take 1 CON damage, are they dead?

[Khedrac]

Ability Damage is applied against the actual stat (which may be reduced by other ability damage or drain) then the penalty is applied to determine the effective stat.

There are a few spells which do ability damage which is of limited duration - they don't make really make sense, but act like the reverse of temporary hit-points and are best applied between the real ability damage and before the penalty.

Edit: In answer to your example, no - as the penalty is applied last and still "caps" (floors?) at 1.