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Silva Stormrage
2011-01-26, 01:59 AM
Hi a player in my campaign is playing a spell thief in an upcoming session after losing his previous character. But as I looked over his character sheet I noticed that he deals 1d3 + 3 a hit with duel wielding daggers as a halfling.
Now I guess his plan is to mass attack (he can still hit because of weapon finesse he just has 6 str) and steal a bunch of spells by subtracting his sneak attack die. But most creatures have DR at that point. Would he steal spells if he deals no damage to the target. Im really confused about that at this point.

DragonOfUndeath
2011-01-26, 02:02 AM
Isn't there a rule about always doing 1 damage? And I think it is hitting rather than damaging an opponent that triggers the effect (Though I'm AFB ATM so I could be wrong)

Silva Stormrage
2011-01-26, 02:08 AM
Isn't there a rule about always doing 1 damage? And I think it is hitting rather than damaging an opponent that triggers the effect (Though I'm AFB ATM so I could be wrong)

That rule is for things like ravens that deal 1d4 - 4 damage. Things with DR can reduce damage to 0 I am pretty sure. Im not sure about that as I don't have to book and can't contact the player right now. And not sure if his opinion would be unbiased :smallsmile:

Runestar
2011-01-26, 02:13 AM
According to the entry, the spellthief simply needs to hit. I am not sure if that entails dealing at least 1 point of damage, or simply hitting (ie: your attack roll > foe's AC).

Silva Stormrage
2011-01-26, 02:19 AM
According to the entry, the spellthief simply needs to hit. I am not sure if that entails dealing at least 1 point of damage, or simply hitting (ie: your attack roll > foe's AC).

Ya thats what I thought too but what just thinking about it visually what happens? Does the dagger come he hits flesh but doesn't penetrate it? I guess maybe he drains it from their skin? But if thats the case why can't he just use touch attacks?

Loki Eremes
2011-01-26, 02:45 AM
Ya thats what I thought too but what just thinking about it visually what happens? Does the dagger come he hits flesh but doesn't penetrate it? I guess maybe he drains it from their skin? But if thats the case why can't he just use touch attacks?

Is basically considering that "touching" (hitting) the oponent is the trigger for stealing its magical power. Dealing damage is a plus to this.
I think its done via sneak attack to add the flavor of "stealing something from an unaware opponent"

Touch attacks are easier to do beacause you leave armor and other stuff aside, and that would be a pain in the ass for enemy casters facing the spellthief.

Also, read that they can actually steal a spell from a willing person, so thats the same flavor as "having to touch them to drain its powers"


And...magic is not blood or anything inside the body that you have to take out xD. Most of spells (chilling touch, cure, etc) only need touching to channel magical energy.

Skjaldbakka
2011-01-26, 03:15 AM
I'd say that since they can steal a spell from a willing target by touch without dealing damage, that they can steal a spell as long as they meet the requirements for sneak attack.

Heck, I'd probably let them make a non-damaging touch attack for it (provided they meet the requirements for sneak attack), it wouldn't be unbalancing, IMO. That would of course be a house rule, and I am in no way saying that follows RAW.

Yuki Akuma
2011-01-26, 05:29 AM
I'd say that since they can steal a spell from a willing target by touch without dealing damage, that they can steal a spell as long as they meet the requirements for sneak attack.

Heck, I'd probably let them make a non-damaging touch attack for it (provided they meet the requirements for sneak attack), it wouldn't be unbalancing, IMO. That would of course be a house rule, and I am in no way saying that follows RAW.

Hello, dragons losing all their spell slots!

That would be seriously unbalancing. Everything has a lower touch AC than their real AC. There are already ways to make melee attacks touch attacks, anyway.