Adaptive special property with Strength Penalty

Question

Question:

When an archer wielding an Adaptive composite longbow's strength is reduced below 10, should the archer suffer a -2 penalty to attacks for using a composite bow with a strength rating that is too high for the character to use effectively?

Supporting Information:

Here is the description of the Adaptive special quality:

An adaptive bow responds to the strength of its wielder, acting as a bow with a strength rating equal to its wielder’s Strength bonus. The wielder can fire it with a lesser Strength bonus (and cause less damage) if desired.

Here is the description for a composite bow when using a strength below the strength rating for the bow:

If your Strength bonus is less than the strength rating of the composite bow, you can’t effectively use it, so you take a –2 penalty on attacks with it.

The following was the closest I could find in the PFSRD for formal definitions for the following terms which I think are germane to the question (Italics were added by me):

The modifier is the number you apply to the die roll when your character tries to do something related to that ability.

A positive modifier is called a bonus

[A] negative modifier is called a penalty.

The situation that gave rise to this question

I am the DM for a group with an archer character. The character has a 14 Strength (+2 strength bonus). He purchased a +1 Composite Longbow with a +2 base Strength rating and the Adaptive property. Ordinarily, the archer applies +2 to damage from his strength bonus.

In a recent combat, the party wizard cast Reduce Person on the archer. While reduced, his Strength was only 12, reducing his bonus to damage to only +1. Because the bow is Adaptive, I assigned no penalty to the attack rolls. Then, the Skald inspired rage, increasing the archer's strength to 16. The bonus to damage likewise increased to +3, again because of the adaptive property. Then, the archer was the target of a nasty poison that caused 10 strength drain. This brought the archer's strength down to 6 with a modifier of -2. I made a ruling in the moment that the -2 penalty did apply. After the game, the player asked me to reconsider for the future.

Answer 1

You have no Strength Bonus!

Let us look at Timothy the Weak. He has a strength of 8, and his grandfather's +1 Adaptive Composite Longbow, made with a strength rating of 2. He has a Strength penalty of -1. Timothy has a problem. He has no Strength bonus. Any time that the game asks for "Timothy's Strength bonus," the answer is N/A. Timothy's Strength Bonus is not -1, it is nonexistent. So.... what do the items say?

The Mythical Strength -1 Composite Longbow

All composite bows are made with a particular Strength rating (that is, each requires a minimum Strength modifier to use with proficiency). If your Strength bonus is less than the strength rating of the composite bow, you can’t effectively use it, so you take a –2 penalty on attacks with it.

Okay, cool. A composite bow can be made with a particular Strength rating. That means you can make it with a Strength of -1, right? It says "Strength modifier," and Timothy has that! The next sentence is a little unsettling because Timothy doesn't have a Strength bonus, but that's still certainly fine if he has a Strength -1 Composite Longbow, right?

A composite longbow can be made with a high strength rating to take advantage of an above-average Strength score; this feature allows you to add your Strength bonus to damage, up to the maximum bonus indicated for the bow.

This is the issue, for Timothy. Maybe you can make a Strength -1 Composite Longbow, but then the bow does not indicate a Strength bonus. It says "this feature," right? Maybe you don't need to use "this feature?" to make a low-strength composite longbow? Still, Timothy begins to see flashing warning lights, even before he sees the next sentence.

The default composite longbow requires a Strength modifier of +0 or higher to use with proficiency. A composite longbow can be made with a high strength rating to take advantage of an above-average Strength score; this feature allows you to add your Strength bonus to damage, up to the maximum bonus indicated for the bow. Each point of Strength bonus granted by the bow adds 100 gp to its cost.

Yikes! How much does Timothy have to pay for his 8 Strength Composite Longbow? It seems you can only make a +0 Composite Longbow, or one with a higher Strength Rating, for it to have a clear cost. But... maybe the Mythical Strength -1 Composite Longbow just needs to theoretically exist for Adaptive to use it? Now, what does that "Adaptive" magic weapon property do?

Unadaptable

An adaptive bow responds to the strength of its wielder, acting as a bow with a strength rating equal to its wielder’s Strength bonus.

And Timothy's hopes are dashed. Because... He has no Strength bonus. Timothy's bow does not act as a bow with a strength rating equal to its wielder's Strength bonus, just as it does not act as a bow with a caster level equal to his own, for Timothy has no caster level. Adaptive can do nothing for Timothy here, and so it acts as a +1 Composite Longbow with a strength rating of 2. With the proficiency penalty, to boot.