Flanking with a ranged weapon?

[jontherev]

PH II has a special ranger variant. They give up animal companion and at 4th level an opponent they hit with missile fire is considered flanked for 1 round for all those in melee combat.

I like this variant a lot.

It doesn't last for 1 round. It lasts either until the start of your next turn OR until one of your allies strikes it, whichever comes first. So, only 1 ally can get this bonus, and it's only for 1 attack (not a full attack). Still, it's a pretty nice help for the rogue.

 

[Milagroso]

Of course, if I'm Character A, going melee against the opponent while Character B is firing arrows or throwing daggers at his back... I'd be worried about what happens to me if Character B misses. Precise Shot or no, that missile has to land somewhere.

 

[azhrei_fje]

Precise Shot or no, that missile has to land somewhere.

No it doesn't.

This is D&D.



On another note:

Sorry, you need to get a grappler or deny Dex for your target in some other manner.

This brings up a question that I'm sure must've been covered here before. There is a random chance when using a ranged weapon and firing into a grapple that you might hit any creature involved in the grapple. I'm not going to ask how that "random factor" is determined (it's nowhere in RAW, IIRC). What I will ask is, "Should sneak attack damage be applied to the attack roll even if the target which is hit is not the one the rogue was aiming at?"

 

[jontherev]

No it doesn't.

This is D&D.



On another note:

This brings up a question that I'm sure must've been covered here before. There is a random chance when using a ranged weapon and firing into a grapple that you might hit any creature involved in the grapple. I'm not going to ask how that "random factor" is determined (it's nowhere in RAW, IIRC). What I will ask is, "Should sneak attack damage be applied to the attack roll even if the target which is hit is not the one the rogue was aiming at?"

Table 8-6, PHB pg. 151. Roll randomly to determine which grappling combatant you strike. This works if you are attacking melee OR ranged. It's not a good idea to hit a creature that has your buddy. The defender loses dex bonus to AC, so you could also sneak attack your buddy. You can't go back in time and decide not to strike your buddy's vitals just because the random roll didn't go in your favor...that would be metagaming imo. The way I see it, you make the decision to "go for it" when you attack. Your DM might disagree with me though. I mean, grappling SHOULD be nasty, considering it becomes pretty much a non-issue once everyone has rings of freedom of movement.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Table 8-6, PHB pg. 151. Roll randomly to determine which grappling combatant you strike. This works if you are attacking melee OR ranged.

Despite only the Ranged column bearing the footnote?

-Hyp.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

This brings up a question that I'm sure must've been covered here before. There is a random chance when using a ranged weapon and firing into a grapple that you might hit any creature involved in the grapple. I'm not going to ask how that "random factor" is determined (it's nowhere in RAW, IIRC). What I will ask is, "Should sneak attack damage be applied to the attack roll even if the target which is hit is not the one the rogue was aiming at?"

Covered.. and debated, and argued over and over..

My understanding is that per RAW, "Roll randomly to determine which grappling combatant you strike." is the only guidence... so for a 'normal' grapple between two medium characters would be a 50/50 chance. I HR to adjust based on the size of the characters in question, giving an appropriate percentage.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Covered.. and debated, and argued over and over..

My understanding is that per RAW, "Roll randomly to determine which grappling combatant you strike." is the only guidence... so for a 'normal' grapple between two medium characters would be a 50/50 chance. I HR to adjust based on the size of the characters in question, giving an appropriate percentage.

Note that the question you just answered is the question he said he wasn't asking.

The question he's asking is if sneak attack damage applies if you randomly strike the target you didn't mean to... since, as he is grappling, he is denied his Dex bonus to AC.

-Hyp.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Do you feel that, in the corridor example - where your ally is fifty feet from the opponent, but lined up nicely - you can gain your sneak attack damage?

If not, what is your reasoning... and why would that same reasoning not preclude gaining your sneak attack damage with the bow when your ally does threaten the opponent?

-Hyp.

Hmmm, I just looked over it again, and I guess I would answer Yes. I would seperate the +2 flanking bonus when using a melee weapon from the second sentence which tells you how to determine if an opponent is flanked. And in that sentence, there is no mention of "melee" or "threatening". It all has to just do with positioning.

So if my ally is 50 feet away from the opponent in one direction, and I am 30 feet away from the opponent in the opposite direction, the opponent would be considered flanked. Neither one of us get a +2 flanking bonus since neither one is using a melee weapon. My ally can not Sneak Attack since he is more than 30 feet away, but I can since I am within 30 feet.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Table 8-6, PHB pg. 151. Roll randomly to determine which grappling combatant you strike. This works if you are attacking melee OR ranged. It's not a good idea to hit a creature that has your buddy. The defender loses dex bonus to AC, so you could also sneak attack your buddy. You can't go back in time and decide not to strike your buddy's vitals just because the random roll didn't go in your favor...that would be metagaming imo. The way I see it, you make the decision to "go for it" when you attack. Your DM might disagree with me though. I mean, grappling SHOULD be nasty, considering it becomes pretty much a non-issue once everyone has rings of freedom of movement.

Same goes for critical hits. What if you make an attack roll, it is a possible crit, you roll to confirm the crit (and you do), and then when you randomly roll you end up hitting your ally in the grapple, not the target you intended?

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Note that the question you just answered is the question he said he wasn't asking.

-Hyp.

My bad.... its been an interesting day for me.. I just spent 15 minutes staring an financial data for my college homework....
I have absolutley no idea what all those ratio numbers are supposed to mean!

So.. to answer the question asked...

Personally I ask the attacker to decide whether to use the extra damage or not before finding out which target gets hit. That way if he 'goes all out' and nips his buddy... oh well.

This allows for Rogues to be a bit careful instead of penalizing them for an extra damage special ability.
Of course, this puts me into Poster C territory, but I think I am more well known for that than anything else