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<blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 3973316" data-attributes="member: 94">Giving the rogue the ability to sneak attack any kind of enemy does not make the rogue a better combatant than the fighter. The rogue is already balanced against the fighter with the assumption that sneak attack is &quot;ON.&quot;Classes are not balanced against the expectation of Encounter X or Encounter Y or X% of this type and Y% of that type. That's not how design works. The monsters pay a premium in terms of CR for the ability to ignore crits or sneak attacks.The rogue does not suddenly become &quot;broken&quot; if the adventure includes nothing but goblins, orcs, and other soft targets that can be sneak attacked. By extension, the rogue is not &quot;broken&quot; if you just give him the ability to sneak attack anything, however an individual monster's CR might be a smidge lower than reported. And by &quot;a smidge,&quot; I mean, &quot;Not enough to even adjust CR by 1 point.&quot;EDIT: The limitations on sneak attack have nothing at all to do with game balance and everything to do with sacred cows left over from 1e backstab &quot;verisimilitude.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Wulf Ratbane, post: 3973316, member: 94"] Giving the rogue the ability to sneak attack any kind of enemy does not make the rogue a better combatant than the fighter. The rogue is already balanced against the fighter with the assumption that sneak attack is "ON." Classes are not balanced against the expectation of Encounter X or Encounter Y or X% of this type and Y% of that type. That's not how design works. The [i]monsters[/i] pay a premium in terms of CR for the ability to ignore crits or sneak attacks. The rogue does not suddenly become "broken" if the adventure includes nothing but goblins, orcs, and other soft targets that can be sneak attacked. By extension, the rogue is not "broken" if you just give him the ability to sneak attack anything, [i]however[/i] an individual monster's CR might be a smidge lower than reported. And by "a smidge," I mean, "Not enough to even adjust CR by 1 point." EDIT: The limitations on sneak attack have nothing at all to do with game balance and everything to do with sacred cows left over from 1e backstab "verisimilitude." [/QUOTE]

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