Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hypersmurf" data-source="post: 922653" data-attributes="member: 1656">Firstly, the mechanics of flanking in the Core Rules make no mention of perception.  There's no flavour text at all, in fact.The closest we have is reasons why things can't be flanked.Elementals can't be flanked because they have no clear front or back.Beholders can't be flanked because they can see in all directions.It's not a simple matter of knowing that there are opponents on either side.In the absence of flavour text, you can make up whatever you want to fit the rules.  But you shouldn't then make up new rules to fit the flavour text.If you are struck by an invisible attacker with 5' reach, you know where the attack originates.  But even though you know the invisible attacker is directly opposite his ally, that ally doesn't gain a flanking bonus, because the ruling relies on sight, not simple knowledge or perception.If you are directing all of your attacks against the square you know the invisible attacker to be in, then still, the invisible attacker gains a flanking bonus, but his ally (who you're essentially ignoring) does not.If a second-level barbarian is surrounded by eight invisible rogues, they cannot sneak attack.  They can't flank because they're invisible, and he isn't denied his Dex bonus because of Uncanny Dodge.If that second-level barbarian is flanked by two visible rogues, all he needs to do to prevent sneak attacks is to close his eyes at the end of his action.And according to the rules for gaze attacks, a person flanked by a rogue and (say) a monk can negate the sneak attacks by turning his back on the monk, treating him as invisible, and thus denying the rogue the flanking condition.Whereas the only weirdness, as far as I'm concerned, in the rules as written in the PHB is that someone invisible can sneak up into a flanking position and take the Total Defence action (or whatever) and provide an ally with flanking bonuses.  I can live with that.  The FAQ ruling makes far less sense to me.-Hyp.</blockquote>

Verification