Make some guys Flat Footed!

[Snowbluff]

So I got some ideas complied here for making an Assassin like Ezio or Altaire. http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236793

TL;DR I made/am making a Iaijutsu Parkour Sneak Attacker Assassin. Expert 4/Rogue2/Human Paragon/Assassin/Iaijustsu Master5 so far.

Now my question is "What are some good ways of making people flat footed?".

Grease would be nice, I guess...

How does Hide in Plain Sight affect Sneak Attackers?

Are there some nice feats I can use to get more flat footed people?

Assuming I can get my Gnomish Quick Razor to qualify for the Weapon Style feats, would it be worth the feats picking them up?

EDIT: I am also going for some poisons, if I end up taking Assassin over Shadow Dancer.

[tiercel]

Assassin gets distract assailant (SpC) on its spell list, which will do the job (except that your victim gets a Will save, so not ideal).

Assassin also gets the amusingly named swift-action shock and awe (SpC) spell, so if you can score a surprise round you can hose your opponents' initiative checks (keeping them flat footed longer) and still attack in the surprise round. Also? No save.

Of course there's always the humble bag of marbles (3.0A&EG, FRCS) -- they force a Balance check; if your target doesn't have 5 ranks of Balance, hellllloooooo flat-footed condition.

If someone can't see you (due to being hidden, in plain sight or otherwise, blinking or just invisible) that denies their Dex bonus.

If your party members can render one or more opponents blinded, stunned, or grappled, they lose their Dex bonus.

[Snowbluff]

Assassin gets distract assailant (SpC) on its spell list, which will do the job (except that your victim gets a Will save, so not ideal).

Assassin also gets the amusingly named swift-action shock and awe (SpC) spell, so if you can score a surprise round you can hose your opponents' initiative checks (keeping them flat footed longer) and still attack in the surprise round. Also? No save.

Of course there's always the humble bag of marbles (3.0A&EG, FRCS) -- they force a Balance check; if your target doesn't have 5 ranks of Balance, hellllloooooo flat-footed condition.

If someone can't see you (due to being hidden, in plain sight or otherwise, blinking or just invisible) that denies their Dex bonus.

If your party members can render one or more opponents blinded, stunned, or grappled, they lose their Dex bonus.

Ooh, and getting those spells actually makes not getting HiPS until later not such a big problem. Thanks ^^

So, is Hiding a move action, or can I hide as a free action somehow?

Losing their Dex bonus is nice, but Iaijutsu calls for Flat-Footed, so I'll be able to add my Craven Sneak Attack. Still pretty sweet.

[tiercel]

Gah, missed the point that you're focusing particularly on Iaijutsu Focus and thus flat-footed rather than merely losing Dex bonus to AC.

The cheap way is forcing Balance checks against opponents who don't have 5 ranks in Balance. A little Googlemancy turned up a more comprehensive listing:

http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/20116273/Situations_where_the_opponent_is_flatfooted

Sorry about that -- I've never actually played Iaijutsu Focus in a game and didn't tweak to the distinction.

[Hirax]

Surprising riposte (Drow of the Underdark) and 5 levels of invisible blade (with sane pre reqs) are an easy bake way to get people flat footed. Human paragon1/sneak attack thug Zhentarim exoticist fighter3/human paragon+1 is my favored entry.

[Feytalist]

So, is Hiding a move action, or can I hide as a free action somehow?

Hiding (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/hide.htm) isn't a separate action at all. It's appended to another action, like during a move action or a bluff check. You can use it in only a very few specific circumstances, like after making a ranged attack (see "Sniping").

[Cwymbran-San]

Though it is more of a tactical approach: hit-and-run. Use the surprise round, maybe even the first round if you win initiative, then break and run. Hide as soon your baddies are out of sight, prepare another ambush, have a new sursprise round.

Also, being invisible helps with getting away.

Problem: using this tactic often leaves your buddies alone with the rest of the fray and is prone to drive your DM nuts.

[RndmNumGen]

If Pathfinder is allowed, two levels of Flowing Monk will make any enemy hit by one of your AoOs flat-footed.

[dsmiles]

There were some feats back in 3.0, I don't know if they got updated or not. Plus, if you're going with daggers/kukris, the Invisible Blade PrC gets something.

[Bloodgruve]

I'm currently running an IF build on a FactotumX/Swordsage1. I've taken Dark Creature template on a Whisper Gnome for HiPS and a huge Hide +. My main tactic is to HiPS (in shadows with concealment using Veil of Shadows or Child of the Night stance on a 10' move(DM approved)). You can stay hidden during an attack with -20 Hide but I have +37 base hide to start and I make my checks during a 5' step. I use the a fore mentioned marbles, Sapphire Night Blade (maneuver), Hidden Blade and Acrobatic Backstab skill tricks, Eggshell Grenades and other stuff for blinded concealment n HiPS, winning Initiative etc...

With Iaijutsu Focus I use the Gnomish Quickrazor for the draw effect on each attack and Item Familiar feat to effectively double your IF bonus using its Invest Skills ability.

Throw in the Sudden Leap and Wolf Fang Strike maneuvers for some fun.

Iaijutsu Focus can work reliably.

GL
Blood~

[Kansaschaser]

There is a feat from 3.0 that is still usable. It's called Quicker Than the Eye. It was from Song and Silence. It allows you to make one Bluff check versus everyone's Spot check that can see you. Every person that fails their Spot check is considered flat-footed. The use of this feat is a move action, so you still have a standard action to do something else.

My favorite thing to do with this feat is yell, "Look! A Monkey!". Then when everyone fails their spot check versus my bluff check, every looks around for a monkey while I run off and hide.

[Slipperychicken]

Pretty much everything is on that link there.


A nice thing is to get the maneuvers which do it (late initiator dips), rendering you generally less item-dependent. If you had 8 levels of Factotum, you could spam them all with Cunning Surge for a nice big item-independent nova. Factotums are also great with poisons, since they can cast Minor Creation (black lotus extract) and add their Int mod to damage rolls, including ability damage from poisons.

[Curmudgeon]

I guess the utility of Hide depends on whether your campaign uses Rules Compendium. In the rules in every other D&D 3.5 book, being visually undetectable just gives you the standard benefits (+2 to hit, target denied their DEX bonus to AC). But one of the changes RC made was this one, from page 92:
If you’re successfully hidden with respect to another creature, that creature is flat-footed with respect to you. That creature treats you as if you were invisible (see page 76). So Hide in Plain Sight, a high Hide modifier, and this rule will let you treat enemies as flat-footed long after they've had a chance to act at the start of combat.

[Snowbluff]

Thanks for the tips guys!