D&D 5E Would Rogues be broken if Sneak Attack were always on?

The Crimson Binome · Oct 17, 2018

If you get rid of the circumstantial prerequisites, and also make it a declared action on your turn (rather than a rider on other attacks), that should simplify the ability while retaining some semblance of balance and also curtailing off-turn shenanigans. (Or rather, for new players, it will avoid distracting them by setting up unreasonable expectations for off-turn exploits.)

The only reason I would suggest against doing so is if you are preparing them to transition more smoothly to other tables and you don't want them to learn about the fundamental cornerstone of D&D which is House Rules.

Gavin O. · Oct 17, 2018

Blue said:
A bit of clarification - you mention only the triggers to get it, but "always on" also seems to imply it would apply to more than one attack per round. What is your intention there?

Assuming it's still only a single attack a round, it's a decent buff to the rogue. Perhaps the simplest would just be to say "once per turn you do this extra damage". That gives a bonus of no conditions, but removes a bonus of triggering during other people's turns - mechanically balanced and simplified as much as it can be.

All of that said, I wouldn't do it. First, it changes the feel of the feature. It's not that you can take advantage of distraction/someone not looking at you to get the right shot, now it's just a numerical bonus. Second, it takes away interesting tactical choices. You can always use it. No shooting your second choice target because that's the one engaged. No sneaking in (for advantage) so that you can get a sneak attack even if your allies aren't close. Third, It takes away the teamwork part - where your allies are engaging certain foes so you can sneak attack them, or casting debuffs that grant advantage knowing you'll really shine.

In other words, there's a reasonable give-&-take simplification you can do to keep it reasonable mechanically balanced, but taking away the needed triggers makes the feature less interesting both for the player and the other players and more just a "math add".

My intention wasn't that you could get it more than once per turn, what I meant was only removing the condition upon its use. It would still only be once per turn.

guachi · Oct 18, 2018

It was never only once per round. I can think of circumstances where you could sneak attack up to four times in one round.

Gavin O. · Oct 18, 2018

guachi said:
It was never only once per round. I can think of circumstances where you could sneak attack up to four times in one round.

Apologies, I misspoke. once per turn

Rya.Reisender · Oct 18, 2018

I honestly don't think it's that hard to tell when Sneak Attack applies.

Standing next to an enemy? --> pretty easy to tell, even when doing "Theatre of the Mind"

Using a dex-based weapon? --> pretty much always true, at least my players usually don't use a large number of different weapons every battle, also the attack and damage modifiers alone are enough motivation for the rogue to use dex-based weapons

Attack has advantage/disadvantage --> also pretty easy to tell

I guess the only complication is the combination between standing next to enemy and having advantage disadvantage? But that can be solved by thinking about it in the right order:

1. Does the attack have advantage --> Sneak attack applies (if no check 2)
2. Enemy next to target --> Check if the attack does not have disadvantage --> Sneak attack applies (if no, no sneak attack)

I guess you could do away with advantage/disadvantage checks without much loss or even just replace them with "when attacking from hiding". But the enemy next to target requirement I find strategically important. Makes you want to have an ally to tank as a rogue.

S'mon · Oct 18, 2018

guachi said:
It was never only once per round. I can think of circumstances where you could sneak attack up to four times in one round.

How's that? Don't off-turn attacks pretty well always use up your Reaction?

André Soares · Oct 18, 2018

In my experience you should not underestimate the capability of new players, I've always heard that new players should not chose a wizard, because it's to complicated, but in truth I've never seen a new players, that is invested in the game, that didn't try really hard to keep up with the rules for they're chosen class. Don't put the bar so low for them, encourage them to learn the game, trust their intelligence.

jasper · Oct 18, 2018

Yes it would be broken. D&D has some team combat going for it. So getting your allies to set you up for an sneak attack is a good thing. Also D&D is not really about each class having nearly the same DPR (damage per round).

Swarmkeeper · Oct 18, 2018

guachi said:
It was never only once per round. I can think of circumstances where you could sneak attack up to four times in one round.

Please describe... inquiring minds want to know! Thanks

André Soares · Oct 18, 2018

I'd love to know how I could do FOUR sneak attacks in a round to!!!

D&D 5E Would Rogues be broken if Sneak Attack were always on?

The Crimson Binome

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Gavin O.

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