Attacking a grappler

[Tabarnak Smokeblower]

When 2 opponents are grappling, and you want to attack one of those people, the 3.5 SRD mentions that you roll randomly to determine which grappler you strike.

- Does that mean a 50/50 chance of hitting either opponent?

- What if I am a rogue, my ally is grappling our opponent. I want to sneak attack our opponent. Oops, I hit my ally by mistake. Do I automatically sneak attack my ally, or could I hold back and only do normal weapon damage?

- Do the chances of hitting either opponent change if they are not of the same size? If so, by how much?

- Is the only way for a rogue to safely sneak attack a grappling opponent to join the grapple and use a light weapon? No, wait, this doesn't work since the grappler only loses his Dex modifier for people outside the grapple.

Thanks in advance

TS

 

[Henrix]

When 2 opponents are grappling, and you want to attack one of those people, the 3.5 SRD mentions that you roll randomly to determine which grappler you strike.

Where does it say that? I don't recognize this.

 

[nsruf]

Re: Re: Attacking a grappler

Where does it say that? I don't recognize this.

I haven't checked this in 3.5. but in 3.0 it applied only to ranged attacks, and the info was well hidden in the footnotes of one of the combat tables. I suppose it is the same for 3.5.?

 

[Tabarnak Smokeblower]

Oops my bad. That was for ranged attacks. The questions still apply to ranged attacks. For melee attacks, this means there are no modifiers for non-grapplers attacking grapplers, apart from the fact that the grappler loses his Dex bonus to AC, correct?

TS

 

[Darklone]

Right.

 

[Henrix]

Yes, there it is, still hidden in the footnotes to the armor class modifiers table.

Yes, presumably you roll evenly among the participants, anything else would be up to the DM.
And sneak attack is a voluntary action, you don't have to deal sneak attack damage every time you hit somebody. Aiming for the thugs kidneys but hitting your friend by mistake does not mean you hit your friends kidney.

 

[hong]

Yes, there it is, still hidden in the footnotes to the armor class modifiers table.

Yes, presumably you roll evenly among the participants, anything else would be up to the DM.

Which is kinda dumb, really. It just gets back to the problem in 2E: if you were in melee and your friend took a shot, you were in greater danger if your friend was Eldor Eagle-eye, 20th level archer with 20 Dex and a +5 bow, than if they were Blind Bob the Aged, 1st level wizard.

The chance for a stuff-up should depend on character skill in some fashion.

 

[Henrix]

I think it is just WotC's way of saying: Don't shoot into a grapple!

 

[hong]

I think it is just WotC's way of saying: Don't shoot into a grapple!

Heh, yeah. That, or get Improved Precise Shot.