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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 286866" data-attributes="member: 1210">My take on this whole thing:First off, be nice, everyone, we're all here for the same reasons.&nbsp; Don't bite!&nbsp; (Unless someone wants you to.)Now, about the topic at hand: when 3e first came out the sneak attack rules made me very nervous.&nbsp; They were clearly superior to the old backstab rules.&nbsp; After watching them in play, both as a dm and as a player, I have to say they're fine.As for sneak attacks through touch spells, rays, etc: the thing about touch attacks is that they IGNORE armor.&nbsp; You don't have to be able to &quot;slip it under the breastplate&quot; to sneak attack someone's chest or lungs with a shocking grasp.&nbsp; You touch their breastplate and the shock goes right through.&nbsp; That ray of frost might hit my codpiece but my nuts get really cold regardless.&nbsp; You can shoot that acid arrow at the fighter's visor and it splashes through the seams and slits.&nbsp; I understand where you're coming from, but I think the key to visualizing this is that the ray or whatnot GOES RIGHT THROUGH the armor as if it wasn't there.&nbsp; That's my take on it, anyway.As to the issue of a rogue with one level of sorcerer... keep in mind that this guy trades 6 skill points, slows down his evasion, sneak attack, uncanny dodge and high level special abilities, and, unless he keeps multiclassing the best he's gonna do for base spell damage is 1d4+1 (with a magic missile).&nbsp; So what if he can cast a ton of rays of frost?&nbsp; There are so many things that are immune to cold- and so many immune to critical hits (and therefore sneak attack)- that I don't think the tactic is breaking anything.But ultimately, there's this thing in the very beginning of the PH that says, &quot;It's your game, run it your way.&quot;&nbsp; It's called Rule 0.&nbsp; I agree that lots of house rules are bad (at least if you're running a &quot;standard&quot; dnd campaign) but even I have some house rules.. about four or something, I thinkTallyho.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 286866, member: 1210"] My take on this whole thing: First off, be nice, everyone, we're all here for the same reasons. Don't bite! (Unless someone wants you to.) Now, about the topic at hand: when 3e first came out the sneak attack rules made me very nervous. They were clearly superior to the old backstab rules. After watching them in play, both as a dm and as a player, I have to say they're fine. As for sneak attacks through touch spells, rays, etc: the thing about touch attacks is that they IGNORE armor. You don't have to be able to "slip it under the breastplate" to sneak attack someone's chest or lungs with a shocking grasp. You touch their breastplate and the shock goes right through. That ray of frost might hit my codpiece but my nuts get really cold regardless. You can shoot that acid arrow at the fighter's visor and it splashes through the seams and slits. I understand where you're coming from, but I think the key to visualizing this is that the ray or whatnot GOES RIGHT THROUGH the armor as if it wasn't there. That's my take on it, anyway. As to the issue of a rogue with one level of sorcerer... keep in mind that this guy trades 6 skill points, slows down his evasion, sneak attack, uncanny dodge and high level special abilities, and, unless he keeps multiclassing the best he's gonna do for base spell damage is 1d4+1 (with a magic missile). So what if he can cast a ton of rays of frost? There are so many things that are immune to cold- and so many immune to critical hits (and therefore sneak attack)- that I don't think the tactic is breaking anything. But ultimately, there's this thing in the very beginning of the PH that says, "It's your game, run it your way." It's called Rule 0. I agree that lots of house rules are bad (at least if you're running a "standard" dnd campaign) but even I have some house rules.. about four or something, I think Tallyho. [/QUOTE]

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