Silence and the rogue's sneak attack

[durza120]

My group was in a session when the rogue in our group desided to do a sneak attack while other people are in the room. And i asked, would it be possible for him to kill him silently, and he said no, not really, unless you use silence. (the rogue uses a rapier)

Is there a way to kill some1 silently using a rapier? and if not, is casting silence on an ally a good idea, so he can continuesly sneak attack? (without any one realising that he is there)The only draw back is there would be a problem with communicating with him.

He could just do flick of the wrist for the sneak attack, but the people will still know he is there. Making him unable to kill them off one by one.

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

I would say that if an npc could be finished before they got off a an action, that killing them in silence would be reasonable. Thus if killed before they had any action, I would call for another move silently check, but no more.

If you mean killing someone without it looking like it, if they were hiding it from friends or npcs they did not want to alert, I would say it would have to be a one round kill with a bluff check.

Basically, if you can deny someone an action in any event, I would let the PC's rolls on any skill or action take priority.

 

[hanniball]

Is there a way to kill some1 silently using a rapier?

Whisper Gnomes have a racial feat called Silencing Strike that would do precisely what you're looking for. However, you have to be a Whisper Gnome...

The Ninja of the Crescent Moon (Sword and Fist) has a class feature called Silencing Attack that mutes an enemy struck by your sneak attack, IIRC.

 

[Len]

I don't think a sneak attack is silent. It is an attack after all. A single sneak attack against an unaware target might be quieter than a full fight (which has Listen DC -10) but by no means silent.

If the targets are helpless, you can do a coup de grace and I'd say that's pretty quiet but still not silent (although there's no rule on this). You're not making an attack roll, just slowly & carefully slitting their throats (or shoving your rapier into their chests). I'd give it a Listen DC of 10, I think.

Also, the others will probably be able to see you after your first attack, won't they? If you were hiding, "It’s practically impossible (–20 penalty) to hide while attacking".

 

[Kmart Kommando]

Somewhere I saw the modifiers for making an attack and keeping quiet. It's a Move Silently check at a hefty penalty. Doesn't prevent the target from making noise though.

In d20 Modern, in a splat book I think, there was a Navy SEAL PrC, which got the ability to make a sneak attack and prevent the target from making noise for like 3 rounds.

 

[AbeTheGnome]

Somewhere I saw the modifiers for making an attack and keeping quiet. It's a Move Silently check at a hefty penalty. Doesn't prevent the target from making noise though.

i think what you're talking about is in Complete Adventurer, under "new uses for skills."

 

[frankthedm]

If the targets are helpless, you can do a coup de grace and I'd say that's pretty quiet but still not silent (although there's no rule on this). You're not making an attack roll, just slowly & carefully slitting their throats (or shoving your rapier into their chests). I'd give it a Listen DC of 10, I think.

I'd Say the listen DC = amount fort save failed by. Simple and gives the victim one last chance to alert his party with his death gurgle. Sure it is annoying when a NPCs death alerts his allies, but when the PCs are on the recieving end at least raising is available provided it is not a TPK.

 

[Sejs]

See, this is why you want to be a good grappler if your the ambush spec in the party.

Supprise round - having sneaked up, initiate a grapple. Win initiave.

First round - pin target. You can prevent a pinned target from speaking if you so desire.

Talk with the DM, see if he'll let you cook up a feat that lets you initiate a grapple for free after knifing someone from supprise. Pick up arterial strike and some poison and you're gold. Failing that, Earth's Embrace or some levels of Reaping Mauler will mean that silent takedowns are all that much easier.

And no magic required!

 

[Thanee]

Whisper Gnomes have a racial feat called Silencing Strike that would do precisely what you're looking for. However, you have to be a Whisper Gnome...

The Ninja of the Crescent Moon (Sword and Fist) has a class feature called Silencing Attack that mutes an enemy struck by your sneak attack, IIRC.

This is one of those things, where I think D&D goes too far with feats and abilities.

Bye
Thanee

 

[MarkB]

This is one of those things, where I think D&D goes too far with feats and abilities.

It's only an attempt to simulate the scene, commonplace throughout fantasy fiction and beyond, where the stealthy party members sneak up and take out the guards before they can call out an alarm. It's an unfortunate side-effect of D&D's combat system that such attempts are almost impossible within the rules as written, and compensating for that lack through feats and class abilities is a reasonable stop-gap.