Rogues and Sneak Attacks

[Infection]

I've been playing D&D for about 3 months with my friends now, and I primarily play rogues or multiclassed rogue characters. My question is about the rogue's sneak attack ability. It states in the PH that the rogue gets the extra sneak attack damage against an opponent whenever they are flatfooted or being flanked by the rogue and one of his allies.

However, my group has been in some confusion about rogues with multiple attacks. Does the sneak attack damage only apply to the first strike a rogue makes in a full attacks, or does it go on every successful strike, if they meet the other requirements to get their sneak attack?

My DM rules that it is only applied to the first strike, since my rogue has 3 attacks right now, 2 from BAB and one off-hand from two weapon fighting. He says that if it was applied to every attack it would make me too powerful. What do you guys think about this?

 

[Sithobi1]

You get it from each attack, but only if the person being attacked is eligible for sneak attacking for all attacks. IE if you have invisibility, you lose invisibility right after the 1st attack, so you only get it for 1 attack. If you are flanking the enemy, you get sneak damage on all attacks. IMO, this is not too powerful for several reasons:
1.Rogues are not geared toward toe-to-toe combat-they have low HP, can't use heavy armor without penalizing themselves a lot, and don't have high BAB.
2.At higher CRs, when rogues start doing more SA damage, the proportion of monsters immune to SA increases sharply.
3.In many situations, SA is useless, because flanking is too hard, etc.

 

[Infection]

Also, I'm not playing a full out rogue. I use a Rogue3/Fighter2/Invisible Blade5. The Invisible Blade class is in Complete Warrior. I just finished it, and I am able to use the fienting action in combat as a free action, and my bluff is fairly high, so I can attempt to get a sneak attack even when the other requirements (flanking, catching the opponent flat-footed) is not a viable option.

 

[Shin Okada]

It is OK.

Invisible blade is a good class. But at that level, fighter or barbarian types (especially those with 2 handed weapon) can inflict really big amount of damages, too. You are relatively vulnerable comparing to them (much lower hp and possibly lower AC). And in average campaign, some considerable amount of opponents are immune to critical hits, thus immune to your sneak attacks. Also, you cannot make sneak attacks when opponent has concealment. Blur, darkness, obscuring mist, etc. There are so many spells which creates some degree of concealment.

Sneak attacks are sweet. But not all-mighty.

 

[Jhulae]

My DM rules that it is only applied to the first strike, since my rogue has 3 attacks right now, 2 from BAB and one off-hand from two weapon fighting. He says that if it was applied to every attack it would make me too powerful. What do you guys think about this?

By the RAW, your DM is incorrect.

The only time you'd get one sneak attack (if your rogue has multiple attacks and the target meets the requirements) is if you don't make a full attack action.

And let me tell you, Sneak Attack is good, but it is by no means as powerful as everybody makes it out to be.

 

[Shellman]

Sneak Attack damage

I've been playing D&D for about 3 months with my friends now, and I primarily play rogues or multiclassed rogue characters. My question is about the rogue's sneak attack ability. It states in the PH that the rogue gets the extra sneak attack damage against an opponent whenever they are flatfooted or being flanked by the rogue and one of his allies.

However, my group has been in some confusion about rogues with multiple attacks. Does the sneak attack damage only apply to the first strike a rogue makes in a full attacks, or does it go on every successful strike, if they meet the other requirements to get their sneak attack?

My DM rules that it is only applied to the first strike, since my rogue has 3 attacks right now, 2 from BAB and one off-hand from two weapon fighting. He says that if it was applied to every attack it would make me too powerful. What do you guys think about this?

Hey Infection,

Just to clarify, sneak attack applies anytime the opponent is denied its DEX bonus to AC (i.e. when it is considered Flat-Footed, Helpless, Paralyzed or immobilized etc.).

This means, that you get your sneak attack damage applied to all attacks even multiple attacks (as long as all those attacks meet the criteria for sneak attack damage).

 

[Darkness]

And let me tell you, Sneak Attack is good, but it is by no means as powerful as everybody makes it out to be.

Yeah. For starters, multiple creature types grant complete immunity against sneak attack: Undead, construct, elemental, ooze, plant.

 

[shilsen]

I'm thinking this forum needs a stickied FAQ thread, with the "can rogues sneak attack more than once per round?" question right at the top.

 

[dcollins]

Official D&D FAQ reference:

I don’t see any limit on the number of sneak attacks a rogue
can make in a round. Suppose a high-level rogue is hiding.
Two villains walk within 5 feet of her. Can the rogue use an
attack of opportunity as a sneak attack and then, assuming
she gets initiative, make as many sneak attacks as she has
attacks? Can she sneak attack each of the villains? What if
the rogue has a bow? If she has Rapid Shot, does this
increase the number of sneak attacks she can make?

A rogue deals extra damage with a sneak attack anytime the
target is denied Dexterity bonus to Armor Class or anytime the
rogue flanks the target, no matter how many attacks the rogue
makes. These conditions are not likely to occur during an attack
of opportunity, but if they do (such as when the rogue is
unseen), the rogue gets her sneak attack bonus damage. The
same holds true for ranged weapons (but see the next question),
provided that the rogue is within 30 feet of her target. Note that
sneak attacks are never possible when the rogue cannot see her
target.

 

[ForceUser]

Your DM is wrong. As long as the conditions for sneak attack are met, you can sneak attack as many times as you can attack per round. For instance, a 10th-level rogue with Two Weapon Fighting and haste who is flanking a foe and makes a full attack action could sneak attack that foe four times in one round--once for each iterative attack, once for the offhand attack provided by Two Weapon Fighting, and once for haste.