Firstly, I am really loving the Cataclysm. It has really added a lot to the game for me. There are so many more card draws and stuff which makes turns more interesting for sure.

Now my question.

We have a dispute about the Personal Journal card. If you acquire two of them, does the ability stack or not?

(The ability is to lower the strength/craft trophy cost of obtaining cones by 1. IE: from seven down to six.) One opinion states they are duplicated and therefore the effect is the same and does not stack, only reducing the cost by one. The other opinion states that they do stack and reduce the cost by two.

Thoughts

They stack, just like the Haunt and Jester do, etc.

Yes they stack.

Concur, I've always played it that if two abilities that have the same effect are on two separate cards, the abilities both trigger.

Unless the Wizard has the Wand; these do not stack!

Thanks friends. The argument was heated in the first game because one player thought getting both journals was too overpowered.

Incidentally, we played a second game wherein my Tinkerer started out with 2 and then acquired the third personal journal in the woodlands. We played that they do stack and I got beefy pretty quick. However I didn't get a talisman fast enough and the lucky swashbuckler who made it to the CoC and won the hand of doom ending.

This turn of events settled the argument since the supposed guaranteed win I had going was proven to be no guarantee at all.

yep nasty now with the Tinkerer maybe there should of been a "you cannot start the game with this card" in its text.

In my experience abilities that adds or subtracts from stats or rolls stack. But things that states a specific number (wand, flail etc.) don't.