At level 10, the max that a character can have on an attack is +10, with a +10 damage.  At level 11, it's +11 atk, +11 dam, and at PL 12, it becomes +12 atk/+12 damage, and so on and so on.  A level 9 character can only do a +9 atk with +9 damage.<br/><br/>Your character has an attack that does +12 damage.  She is a level 10 character, which means that technically the damage does too much damage.  However, she can trade off--do more damage so long as her attack is reduced, so that the numbers equal level x 2.<br/><br/>So your hero does +12 damage when she whips someone with her tentacles, but she can only ever hit with a +6, when her max attack bonus COULD be +8.  She doesn't need to add +2 to her attack.  She could, IDK, create opportunities to reach her caps by having a sneak attack.<br/><br/>Hatless's character has the opposite problem.  She does +12 damage, but when she is in the sky, she hits for +10 because of a feat she possesses.  That means she exceeds the limits placed on the character by +2.<br/><br/><br/>