[Questions] Sneak Attack

[PrinceRenais]

This is a conundrum for me. It's possible to add sneak attack damage to your spells if they have attack rolls. I understand these things from a mechanical stand point.

In D&D 3.5, a rogue can sneak attack with any weapon. A quarterstaff, in example, can work. I don't think it necessarily makes sense for a rogue to deal ridiculous amounts of bonus damage compared to the highest-level monk that has devoted his whole life with that weapon, and in trying to do that much damage, would unfortunately, most likely fail in doing so in one blow.

Why?

Sneak attack damage is precision damage, which in my opinion and that of a friend of mine, is already dealt with by critical hits.

The more pressing issue, though, concerns spells. Can someone explain to me why, from a detailed role-play stand-point, a person can deal significantly more damage with a ray of frost than a normal mage can normally even hope to do without some amount metamagic that would raise it above a level 0, or require a number of other feats to go with it to lower the cost?

A Generic Spellcaster, at level 1 using a ray of frost, would do 1d3+2d6 damage. That's wicked, for a level 0 spell.

A Spellcaster 4 could get the Ranger's Hunter's Eye spell, unless I'm mistaken, for an extra 1d6, for a transitory total of 1d3+3d6 while still only using his level 0 spells.

A Spellcaster 4/Rogue 3/Spellcaster 1 (Total Spellcaster 5), ECL 8, could deal 1d3+8d6 damage with the ranged touch spell that is a ray of frost.

A Spellcaster 4/Rogue 3/Spellcaster

A Wizard 1 would deal 1d3 damage.
A Wizard 4 would deal 1d3 damage.
A Wizard 8 would deal 1d3 damage.
A Wizard 20 would deal 1d3 damage.

Obviously, driving a weapon or a spell into an artery is obviously going to make something deal more damage - but what is it that makes a rogue or a Spellcaster (with sneak attack) deal more damage for striking there in comparison to a fighter or normal wizard?

A theory I have is something along the lines of "knowing your enemy", but if a Rogue met a Beholder, he would deal sneak attack damage even if he had never even heard of one before.




Edit: After thinking more about spells and sneak attack... Cure Light Wounds is a melee touch attack against undead. Does that mean it would deal extra positive-energy damage, in effect healing ridiculous amounts in the process, again even with a level 0 spell?

[Flickerdart]

A Rogue's sneak attack and a critical hit aren't the same thing.

A sneak attack represents catching your opponent off-guard to land a calculated, precise strike in a vulnerable bit of their anatomy that hurts them as much as possible.

A critical hit represents a regular attack that smacked your target somewhat more effectively than usual through luck.

Likewise, a monk or wizard trains with their quarterstaff or with their spells. When they hit someone with them, what they're interested in is landing the hit with as much force as possible. The Rogue doesn't care about the weapon. He cares about where he's striking, rather than how.

[PrinceRenais]

A Rogue's sneak attack and a critical hit aren't the same thing.

A sneak attack represents catching your opponent off-guard to land a calculated, precise strike in a vulnerable bit of their anatomy that hurts them as much as possible.
I realize they're different, but I picture them as vaguely similar concepts of a good hit.

For the second part I have in the quote above, what is it that prevents a Fighter or a Wizard from reasonably doing the same thing? Is it supposed to make sense that a rogue can use precise strikes whereas most normal people can't do it to the same affect?

[Flickerdart]

I realize they're different, but I picture them as vaguely similar concepts of a good hit.

For the second part I have in the quote above, what is it that prevents a Fighter or a Wizard from reasonably doing the same thing? Is it supposed to make sense that a rogue can use precise strikes whereas most normal people can't do it to the same affect?
What prevents a Fighter from casting spells? What prevents a Monk from turning into animals? They don't train to do it. They each fight in their own way.

[PrinceRenais]

What prevents a Fighter from casting spells? What prevents a Monk from turning into animals? They don't train to do it. They each fight in their own way.
Touche.
I suppose one way to look at it is that normal people are trained to hit, whereas rogues are trained to kill.
I'm not entirely convinced, but it is just a game. It can't always bear reality perfectly. The game ignores most of our current understanding of physics, too, so this is going under that rug until someone can add more reasoning to it.