Sneak Attack + Touch Spells... Sneak Harm ?

[Caliber]

Energy Drain

What does a Critical with an Enervation do? 2d4 levels? Just curious.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Re: Energy Drain

What does a Critical with an Enervation do? 2d4 levels? Just curious.

1d4 negative levels and 0 * 2 damage, I think.

 

[Xahn'Tyr]

I'm sorry but I don't have Tome & Blood and am curious about this "Sneak attack with a touch spell" thing. For a rogue to add sneak attack damage onto a spell, they have to make an unarmed attack instead of just a touch attack right? It seems rather unbalanced otherwise (ie. a Rogue would be much better off using a Wand of Ray of Frost than a Longbow since the former only requires a touch attack, while the latter would require a "real" hit to add sneak attack damage).

 

[Gez]

I'm sorry but I don't have Tome & Blood and am curious about this "Sneak attack with a touch spell" thing. For a rogue to add sneak attack damage onto a spell, they have to make an unarmed attack instead of just a touch attack right? It seems rather unbalanced otherwise (ie. a Rogue would be much better off using a Wand of Ray of Frost than a Longbow since the former only requires a touch attack, while the latter would require a "real" hit to add sneak attack damage).

Except that the longbow deals more damage in itself, don't requires a skill check, and is far less expensive, yes.

It isn't in Tome & Blood, it is in the Core Rules. You can make sneak attack on any attack rolls, provided you meet the prerequisite (target denied its Dex bonus to AC or flanked, target within 30 ft. of you, target without without any concealment miss chance -- this one is often forgotten, but it makes Blur or Displacement good anti-rogue spells).

The rogue don't need to make an unarmed attack (especially with a ranged spell !) to hit, but it is possible (for a melee spell) if he try to make normal damage in addition to the spell's damage and his sneak damage.

What does a Critical with an Enervation do? 2d4 levels? Just curious.

I don't remember exactly, but I think you don't have criticals on attacks that don't deal damage. However, note that (IIRC) ability damage are considered as damage, since they're ability damage, and you could thus crit on spells like Ray of Enfeeblement, dealing twice as much Str damage. But sneak attack damage don't get added to ability damage. Things are even more complicated given that you would add your sneak attack damage (as normal hit point damage cause by negative energy) on spells like Enervation.

 

[Caliber]

Well, the reason I brought up a critical on Enervation is because I was pretty sure you couldn't critical on it. However, you could sneak attack with it.

I could see as much of an argument saying that your sneak attack would do extra negative energy damage from a Harm. But I guess thats just me.

 

[Xahn'Tyr]

So by using any old worthless touch spell, a Rogue can just ignore all of the armor on the bad guys? That seems pretty messed up both from a balance stand point and a logic stand point. I suppose each rogue should pretty much has to have a Wand of Ray of Frost and a Wand of Chill Touch handy now eh? AC34 dragon? I don't think so...

 

[Ace]

Heh. Potions of Haste do the job just as well. And I do think that almost everyone has rule0ed Harm in one way or another by now.

Not I
harm stays as is. Its a pretty rare spell IMC anyway

 

[keb]

Energy drain attacks inflict double the normal number of negative levels on a critical hit; see MM page 8.

Ray of Enfeeblement inflicts an enhancement penalty to Strength, not ability damage; it cannot cause critical hits (see the "Spells" section of the DnD FAQ on Wizards's website).

 

[Kytess]

Energy drain attacks inflict double the normal number of negative levels on a critical hit; see MM page 8.

The MM errata's not out yet, but:

http://www.d20reviews.com/Eric/errata.htm
Energy Drain: On p. 8 of the Monster Manual, under Energy Drain, you should strike out the part in parentheses in the following sentence: "For each negative level inflicted on an opponent, the draining creature heals 5 points of damage (10 on a critical hit)." Skip Williams says, "The parenthetical should be struck (it's a leftover from an earlier draft of the rules)."

 

[Pevishan]

The main thing about sneak attacks + spells is this:

It must require a attack roll, and must actually deal damage.

And there several feats that can be used w/spells. such as weapon focus, etc. They weapons are called Ray, touch, and energy missles. Of course, they also need a attack roll to really have any effect.