Fencer and Weapons Expert: Bonus to Defend

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by Axly Suregrip

These talents have a Bonus to Defend and it states:
"Bonus to defend. All melee attacks against a Fencer who
has weapon(s) in hand are at -1 DX. If a Fencer chooses
the Defend option, attackers must roll an extra die when
attacking."

I take this to mean
a) the DX -1 happens when attacking.
b) the extra die when defending.

but, when defending does the DX -1 still apply or has it been replaced by the extra die?

I have been playing they get both when defending but now I am rethinking how these stack.

My groups have played it with both the DX penalty to attacks made against the Fencer AND the extra die. But, I agree that it is best if they don't stack, because if they do stack, the -3DX to attacks against a Master Fencer who is defending effectively makes it a 7d roll (4d for Defend, plus two extra dice for Master Fencer, and a -3DX penalty which can be rounded to a an additional die) which is ridiculous. That is, unless we are reading Fencer incorrectly, and its mention of requiring an extra die for attacks against a Fencer who chooses to defend is just a reminder that the Defend option requires 4 dice.

I am growing to intensely dislike the Legacy Edition advanced combat talents. Adding a mere fifth die to attacks against a defending Fencer or Weapon Expert means that those who need to roll a 15 or under will only hit 30% of the time.