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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Liquide" data-source="post: 494657" data-attributes="member: 1407">OK lets see what are the questions that come up most of the time in my games then, I figure that these questions come up a lot in other peoples games as well.When can I sneak attack?You can sneak attack with any melee weapon (even if sneak attacking with a greatsword makes for a funny image), or with a ranged weapon if within 30 ft. of your opponent. And it needs to have a discernable anatomy (see further below), and you need to be able to strike a vital spot such as an organ in order for sneak attack damage to be allowed.Ther are three occasions where you are allowed to sneak attack:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> When you catch your opponent flat-footed This happens in the first round of combat before your opponent is allowed to act on his initiative. So in essence if you are before your opponent in the initiative order in the first round of combat and are able to attack him/her you are allowed to add sneak attack damage to your attack if you hit. Exception If you are ambushing an opponent and get a suprise round and your opponent you can in theory get off two sneak attacks (or as many as you have attacks) due to the flat-footed rule. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">When your opponent is denied Dex bonus to AC This happens either whenever you opponent have a Dex bonus to AC or not. If the opponent has a Dex penalty to AC or no Dex bonus at all you are not allowed to sneak attack, since even due to the fact that the opponent doesn't have a Dex bonus to AC it doesn't mean they are denied a Dex bonus to AC. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">When you are flanking an opponent This happens when you and a friend (or foe for that matter) is attacking an opponent in melee from opposite sides. Note A person that is shooting can never flank, only melee combatants can flank an opponent. [/list=1] On a note: If the DM says you are allowed to add sneak attack damage to your attack when you ask you are allowed to do it. Sometimes he might say no even if it seems likes you should be allowed to then see the the below two questions for clarification. The follow-up questions would be these. When are my opponents denied their Dex bonus to AC? (note even if you doesn't have a Dex bonus you can be in a situation where you would have lost one if you had one so in theory it should be: When would my opponents be subject to a situation where they would be denied their Dex bonus to AC, whenever they had one or not?) Well the rules say it like this : Let us throw out a few examples where you are denied your Dexterity bonus then.<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">An opponent shoots you from behind  that you didn't know was there! </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">An opponent sneaks up on you from behind using Move Silently and you fail your listen check horribly! </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">An Invisible opponent attacks you in melee! </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">You lose track of a goblin in the woods (hide), that attacks you from its hidden spot when he notices that you didn't see him! [/list=1] Why wasn't I allowed to Sneak Attack? Many reasons mate <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The opponent is immune to Critical hits. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The opponent is either an Undead, Construct, Ooze, Plant or Incorporeal creature. (either is immune to critical hits, has no discernable anatomy or both) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The opponent wears armor of fortification and therefore is immune to your sneak attacks. (or partially immune I'm not totally sure how the percentage chance works against sneak attacks) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">You are trying to sneak attack the tail of a Red Dragon Great Wyrm. (OK you can prolly do this if you have a nice DM, but last time I checked there are no vital organs in a tail on a Dragon, but who really knows) [/list=1] Well next I'll adress the Monk (if something is way off above just correct me, especially you Caliban).</li> </ol></li> </ol></li> </ol></blockquote>

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