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<blockquote data-quote="Dykstrav" data-source="post: 5739214" data-attributes="member: 40522">Just like the title says, how do the rogues in your game go about getting their sneak attack damage?I've seen a great deal of confusion about flanking at home games and Pathfinder Society games over the past year or so. For whatever reason, there is a perception that &quot;flanking&quot; is a condition that an enemy suffers rather than a bonus type that an attacker gets to their attack roll.It usually goes a little something like this...Fighter: &quot;I move into position opposite of the cleric--now we flank the ogre.&quot;GM: &quot;Cool, what's the rogue doing?&quot;Rogue: &quot;I drop my shortsword and pull out my bow, then shoot the ogre! If a 19 hits, that's 15 points of damage with my sneak attack.&quot;GM: &quot;How are you able to get a sneak attack on it?&quot;Rogue: &quot;It's flanked.&quot;GM: &quot;Right, the fighter and the cleric flank it--you don't flank it. Flanking isn't a status effect that two attackers impose on a target, it's a circumstantial type of bonus to attack rolls.&quot;Rogue: &quot;What? That's not right, it's right here...&quot; (flipping through book) &quot;Huh. That's not the way that my last GM played it.&quot;GM: &quot;Yeah, that's the way Pathfinder works--sneak attack isn't a carte blanche to gain the damage output of a barbarian at range. It's supposed to represent an underhanded, vital strike, the reason why it's bad for a rogue to catch you unawares. Rogues aren't really designed to stand up to a fighter or barbarian in a straight matchup.&quot;Rogue: &quot;Oh, then my character is useless because I can't gain this circumstantial bonus on every single attack that I make.&quot;Do your players rely on flanking and build their rogues for melee? Do they go for skills, using Bluff or Stealth? Do they ask for invisibility form the sorcerer?Also... Do you have players that view their sneak attack damage as their &quot;thing?&quot; Do they get upset if they can't gain their sneak attack damage on every single attack that their rogue makes?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dykstrav, post: 5739214, member: 40522"] Just like the title says, how do the rogues in your game go about getting their sneak attack damage? I've seen a great deal of confusion about flanking at home games and Pathfinder Society games over the past year or so. For whatever reason, there is a perception that "flanking" is a condition that an enemy suffers rather than a bonus type that an attacker gets to their attack roll. It usually goes a little something like this... [B]Fighter:[/B] [I]"I move into position opposite of the cleric--now we flank the ogre."[/I] [B]GM:[/B] [I]"Cool, what's the rogue doing?"[/I] [B]Rogue:[/B] [I]"I drop my shortsword and pull out my bow, then shoot the ogre! If a 19 hits, that's 15 points of damage with my sneak attack."[/I] [B]GM:[/B] [I]"How are you able to get a sneak attack on it?"[/I] [B]Rogue:[/B] [I]"It's flanked."[/I] [B]GM:[/B] [I]"Right, the fighter and the cleric flank it--[/I]you[I] don't flank it. Flanking isn't a status effect that two attackers impose on a target, it's a circumstantial type of bonus to attack rolls."[/I] [B]Rogue:[/B] [I]"What? That's not right, it's right here..."[/I] (flipping through book) [I]"Huh. That's not the way that my last GM played it."[/I] [B]GM:[/B] [I]"Yeah, that's the way Pathfinder works--sneak attack isn't a carte blanche to gain the damage output of a barbarian at range. It's supposed to represent an underhanded, vital strike, the reason why it's bad for a rogue to catch you unawares. Rogues aren't really designed to stand up to a fighter or barbarian in a straight matchup."[/I] [B]Rogue:[/B] [I]"Oh, then my character is useless because I can't gain this circumstantial bonus on every single attack that I make."[/I] Do your players rely on flanking and build their rogues for melee? Do they go for skills, using Bluff or Stealth? Do they ask for [I]invisibility[/I] form the sorcerer? Also... Do you have players that view their sneak attack damage as their "thing?" Do they get upset if they can't gain their sneak attack damage on every single attack that their rogue makes? [/QUOTE]

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