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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hawken" data-source="post: 2607102" data-attributes="member: 23619">I would like to know what other DMs think about this caveat I came up with for Sneak Attack. The basics stay the same but I've added this on to it:Anytime the Rogue voluntarily takes a penalty to his attack roll (Power Attack, Two Weapon Fighting, etc.) he loses his ability to make Sneak Attacks for that round. The reason behind this is that SA is precision based damage. The attack cannot be precise enough to inflict the extra damage when the Rogue is specifically not being so. In the case of Power Attack, the Rogue would be concentrating on raw power, sacrificing accuracy for brute force damage. You can't slit their throat when you're trying to just drive the knife into them like a giant nail!Combat Expertise causes the Rogue to reduce his accuracy while focusing on keeping others from landing blows on him. In this situation, the Rogue is paying more attention to incoming attacks and attackers than vital/soft spots on his target.Two-Weapon Fighting and Rapid Shot are instances where precision is lost over speed. The Rogue is swinging/shooting too fast to aim well enough to inflict SA damage. A Rogue with a BAB of +6/+1 would get either two SA at +6/+1 or regular attacks at +4/+4/+2. While a Rogue with a BAB of +11/+6/+1 and Imp 2 Weap Fighting would get either SA at +11/+6/+1 or 5 attacks at +9/+9/+4/+4/-1. Either or makes the Rogue think and rely on some strategy rather than just flank and become a living Blade Barrier. This also solves the problem of the Rogue taking out BBGs in a round or few and cutting through lesser encounters even faster. The effects this has is keeping SA a dangerous option while not letting it overshadow the damage a straight fighter or other more martial classes can dish out. I do not think it weakens SA, but instead balances it. I have seen too much SA abuse and the damage a Rogue/Fighter with the two weapon fighting feats can dish out is just plain silly. The well trained Fighter or raging Barbarian should always be more of an immediate physical threat than the Rogue with a dagger or shortsword. It's laughable that a Frost Giant would turn from a raging half-orc Barbarian to deal with a halfling Rogue that just SA'ed him for 80% of his HP in 1 round of attacks! I'm not looking to argue semantics, leave those and any insults at the door. Just opinions and thoughts on this rule from DMs and maybe the reasons for those opinions.</blockquote>

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