LORDAJ said:
Hi all,
I'm he DM in question on this thread. What the PC is trying to do is sneak attack whenever a monster is in melee with another PC. I would think that a monster when in combat is not going to loose sight of a thief that is trying to stab it in the back. What i allowed is that if the PC's hide check beat the monsters spot that the thief would get a sneak attack. But I don’t think that simply because the monster is engaged with another melee opponent that the thief gets a free sneak attack. I also know that there is an extraordinary ability that allows for that type of melee sneak attack. Any examples of play would be great as well.
LordAJ
It's actually worse than you think!
Consider the following example: (X - blank square, M - monster, R - rogue, F - fighter)
XXX
RMF
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Flanking occurs when two attackers are directly opposite an opponent. For creatures larger than 5'x5' size on the combat grid, Song & Silence has a nice section in it for determining if the larger creature is flanked.
The rogue is directly opposite the fighter and in melee (with shortsword in hand), so the creature is flanked. ALL melee attacks the rogue make in the round are "sneak attacks". So for say, a 15th level rogue with three melee attacks in a round dealing +8d6 sneak attack damage per hit could possible perform a Full Attack Action, and if he hits, does 1d6+8d6 damage per hit, up to three times(!).
Fear the rogue in melee!
But do not dispair!
It depends on the creature. Certain creatures are immune to criticals and sneak attacks (undead for one). Other creatures have no dicernable anatomy (thus immune to sneak attacks - any elemental for an example). Other creatures might not be able to be flanked (example - Xorn, which has 360 degree vision), along with Barbarian and othe Rogues (which the attacking rogue has to be four levels higher in order to flank due to the Uncanny Dodge ability).
Also, the rogue does not have the "staying power" in melee. He only has d6's for hit dice, and is usually restricted to light or no armor for a lower AC.