Active "held" items per limb?

[EoNhOeKnOwS]

So a human has 2 hands. A sword and a shield will be active.

A sword and a sword would be active and a dual wielding shield would confer both bonus (unless the bonus doesn't stack ofc)

So if I hold, let's say, two rods of undead mastery would they stack?

What if I now have girralon's blessing with 4 swords/shields/rods?

Thanks!

Edit: What if I enlarge person and graft 6 extra medium undead arms to myself and equip each with all sorts of combinations? Would the person just explode from magic overdose?

[SangoProduction]

Effects from the same "source" (in this case, those rods of undead mastery, or what have you) don't stack.

[EoNhOeKnOwS]

So for example, if I enchant my "arms" item slots with +2 dex per pair of hands, I wouldn't get +10 dex? (2 human hands, 2 girralon's blessing hands and 6 undead graft hands or amrs*)

EDIT: those aren't held but I suppose I'm curious as well, does the same rule apply for having 2 pairs of legs and 2 pairs of boots?

[tomandtish]

Probably not. Bonuses are broken down into types. As a general rule, two bonuses with the same type don't stack. So if you have two items that give you a deflection bonus to armor class (+3 ring of protection and +5 ring of protection), only the higher one counts. It doesn't matter where the items are worn/carried. But if one item gives you gives you a deflection bonus to AC and one gives you an enhancement bonus (+3 ring of protection and +3 leather), then those will stack.

It's important to also understand when something stacks and when it doesn't. For example, You can dual-wield +3 short swords. But you don't have a +6 to attack. You have two items that each have +3 to attack, because each item attacks separately.

Armor and shield have a specific exception that allows those enhancement bonuses to stack when determining AC.

[SangoProduction]

Also, generally, you don't gain or lose magic item slots, regardless of your physiology.

[torrasque666]

Also, generally, you don't gain or lose magic item slots, regardless of your physiology.
The exception (AFAIK) being the Extra Magic Item slot feat from Savage Species.

[Khedrac]

Armor and shield have a specific exception that allows those enhancement bonuses to stack when determining AC.
Actually they don't - and I have never seen an item that grants an [I]enhancement/I] bonus to AC...

A shield grants a shield bonus to AC.
A magic shield has magic that grants an enhancement bonus to the shield bonus provided by the shield.
Similarly a suit of armor grants an armor bonus to AC and a magic suit of armor has magic that grants an enhancement bonus to the armor bonus provided by the armor.
This is why having mage armor (+4 armor bonus) and +1 leather armor (+3 armor bonus comprised of +2 armor bonus with a +1 enhancement bonus) overlap to give +4 AC not +5 (which would happen if the +1 leather leather gave an enhancement bonus to AC).
I haven't yet seen anyone get this one wrong when working it out, but it's an important distiction when explaining AC bonuses.

[tomandtish]

From the SRD


Armor

In general, magic armor protects the wearer to a greater extent than nonmagical armor. Magic armor bonuses are enhancement bonuses, never rise above +5, and stack with regular armor bonuses (and with shield and magic shield enhancement bonuses). All magic armor is also masterwork armor, reducing armor check penalties.

Shields

Shield enhancement bonuses stack with armor enhancement bonuses. Shield enhancement bonuses do not act as attack or damage bonuses when the shield is used in a bash. The bashing special ability, however, does grant a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls.

So the pluses on armor and shield are (normally anyway) enhancement bonuses. Maybe I wasn't clear when I wrote, but that is what I was talking about. And technically there's nothing in RAW that says you wouldn't also get the +1 enhancement from the leather with the mage armor (although you wouldn't get the +2 armor bonus from the leather itself).

[EoNhOeKnOwS]

I see, that's kool.

Are there a ton of sources that add to bonus to items, like profane and sacred and deflection that I could use to stack? We used to stack all the different body slots, for example gloves of dex +6 and boots of dex +6 would give you +12 dex. This is incorrect?

[torrasque666]

I see, that's kool.

Are there a ton of sources that add to bonus to items, like profane and sacred and deflection that I could use to stack? We used to stack all the different body slots, for example gloves of dex +6 and boots of dex +6 would give you +12 dex. This is incorrect?
If they are the same type (the gloves of Dex are enhancement) then yes. That is incorrect. But if you found a way to get say.... circumstance bonus on the boots instead of enhancement then you would be correct.

[SangoProduction]

I see, that's kool.

Are there a ton of sources that add to bonus to items, like profane and sacred and deflection that I could use to stack? We used to stack all the different body slots, for example gloves of dex +6 and boots of dex +6 would give you +12 dex. This is incorrect?

If they both of different bonus types and they aren't simply enchanted by the same spell/enchantment, then they would stack, because they are different "sources"

But If those were both Enchantment bonuses, then only +6 would apply, because they don't stack. Or if they were simply items with the "Great Dexterity" enchantment (made up, btw, probably something similar out there somewhere), then that wouldn't stack because that's the same enchantment thus same source. And if it's simply that they both have an instance of the spell "Cat's Reflexes" (or whatever it is), then that wouldn't stack, because they are the same spell (even if cast by different casters), thus the same source, even if they weren't typed bonuses.