Grappling Sneak Attack? And other Spell thief questions

[Warsmurf]

So I was just wondering if Sneak Attack worked while grappling?

It says that Sneak Attack works any time the target is denied dex bonus and they are denied this in grappling.

I was beginning to envision a Str based spell thief that used high skill ranks and some items to close with casters.
Once grappling he would proceed to sneak attack, draining their magic and life away with each round.

Granted I would be left open to henchmen buuuuuuuut I figure if I can keep the caster occupied/deadified then my party might save me from the hordes.

Would this work?

[Boci]

I believe there was a feat in one of the complete books that allowed a druid to deal sneak attack damage whilst in wildshape which would imply that by default you cannot, but that could have just been an oversight.

[tyckspoon]

You lose Dex to AC against characters not in the grapple. You and your grapple partner/victim still have Dex against each other, and thus are not normally sneak-attackable. The Druid feat would over-ride that and generate another Sneak Attack trigger for you: Sneak Attacking while grappling in Wildshape.

Or, if you're confident enough in your grapple check and you have a spare attack/grapple action to use, you can Pin your target, which does make them hold still and removes their Dex bonus against you (as well as preventing somatic components and allowing you to gag them if you so choose.)

[Warsmurf]

hmmm so pinning would do it?

What would you guys suggest as a good build for this?
Campaign starts at level one

32 point buy
up to two flaws
Any book as long as its 3.5 (no pathfinder)


I was thinking of a spell thief because this is supposedly going to be a VERY magic intensive campaign world.

[LordBlades]

hmmm so pinning would do it?

What would you guys suggest as a good build for this?
Campaign starts at level one

32 point buy
up to two flaws
Any book as long as its 3.5 (no pathfinder)


I was thinking of a spell thief because this is supposedly going to be a VERY magic intensive campaign world.

If you're set on spellthief, I'd advise going spellthief 1/wizard x and using the Master Spellthief feat from Complete Scoundrel (spellthief and wizard levels stack for the purpose of CL and max level of spells you can steal).

You can try going for something like spellthief 1/wizard 5/unseen seer 2/incantatrix 10/whatever 2

2 levels of unseen seer allow you to pick Hunter's Eye (ranger spell from PHB 2) for 1d6 Sneak Attack/3 caster levels while Incantatrix allows you to persist Hunter's eye and other useful spells.

PS: Sneak Attack+Steal spell+polymorph into Hydra is pretty awesome. also, for easy Sneak Attack, use Grease, becaus 99/100 enemies don't have 5 ranks in Balance.

[Darrin]

This is easiest to do with the Scorpion's Grasp feat (Sandstorm) or the Improved Grab/Multigrab line of abilities. This allows you to start a grapple but take a -20 attack penalty to continue attacking as if you weren't in the grapple. Scorpion's Grasp requires Improved Unarmed Strike and Improved Grapple (essentially, a 1-level monk dip), but you can pick up Improved Grab with a dip into Spirit Bear Totem Barbarian (CChamp, target must be one size smaller) or Amphibious template (Stormwrack) + Scaled Horror PrC (Savage Species, same size or smaller).

Inside of a grapple, you'd need some other way to deny your opponent his Dex bonus. Greater invisibility, ring of blinking + Pierce Magical Concealment, grappling on top of grease/ice/oil, or blinding your opponent might work. Add Crushing Weight of the Mountain stance (Tome of Battle) for constrict damage and a Smoking weapon (Lords of Darkness) for save vs. nausea.

[manyslayer]

Inside of a grapple, you'd need some other way to deny your opponent his Dex bonus. ...ring of blinking ...

Would you be able to maintain a grapple while blinking. You are blinking between the material and ethereal plane. Hard to hold onto someone on the material plane while you are ethereal.

[Devmaar]

You can try going for something like spellthief 1/wizard 5/unseen seer 2/incantatrix 10/whatever 2

iirc, making that 'whatever 2' Factotum will get you Int on your Grapple checks

[Human Paragon 3]

Nope, sorry. A grapple check is not a strength check, so brains over brawn is no help here.

[begooler]

Perhaps make your spelltheif/wizard/unseen seer/incantrix/whatever an Illumian with the sigil combination that lets you get bonus spells based on your strength score. (It would also increase your caster level, but this would not be relevant if you already have master spelltheif.)