Defensive Casting vs. Thief

[Horrendos]

Hiho Community

Situation: We are fighting vs. a Thief. Our Fighters HP has been hitted down
and our Priest want to Heal him up. He tries Defensive Casting.
He is wearing a Shield.

My Questions are:

1. Does the Thief get the Sneak-Attack-Bonus?
2. Does the Priest loose his Dex-Bonus( i think yes), does he loose his
Shield-Bonus( i think yes)?

Thx
Horrendos

 

[Thanee]

No, no and no.

You only lose Dex bonus to AC in very specific circumstances, which are clearly outlined in the rules (i.e. surprised/flat-footed, attacker is invisible, you have been feinted/bluffed).

Note, however, that the cleric cannot cast spells at all, if he has a weapon and shield in hand, unless the shield is a buckler (needs one free hand to cast). He would need to loose the shield first, which in turn denies him the AC bonus from the shield, of course. If his other hand is free (i.e. he has no weapon or dropped/sheathed it), he can use the shield and also gets the AC bonus while spellcasting.

Bye
Thanee

P.S. "Thieves" are called "Rogues" now.

 

[Horrendos]

ah Thx

 

[FireLance]

Generally, no, no and no.

When a spellcaster casts a spell on the defensive, he does not provoke an attack of opportunity for casting the spell. The opponent does not even get to make an attack roll, so the questions of Dexterity and shield bonuses to AC and sneak attack damage would not even arise. However, the spellcaster has to make a Concentration check (DC = 15+spell level). If he fails, he does not cast the spell, but the spell is still lost.

If a spellcaster chooses to cast a spell normally, he provokes an attack of opportunity from opponents that threaten him, but the attacks are otherwise normal melee attacks. The spellcaster does not lose either his Dexterity or his shield bonus to AC (if any). A rogue would only get to make a sneak attack if he would normally be able to, e.g. he flanks the spellcaster.