(PF) Sneak attack of opportunity???

[Aurenthal]

Does it happen? I started looking if it was possible apply it or not, and found nothing about it. But in 3.5 attacks of opportunity don't apply sneak attacks, unless one takes the Epic feat "Sneak Attack of Opportunity". Opinions? How would you handle it in your game?

[Squirrel_Dude]

You can apply sneak attack to AOOs, and there are a couple of ways it might happen, off the top of my head.
- A character provokes an AOO from an invisible opponent.
- A character provokes an AOO from an enemy who is using stealth and that he hasn't detected.
- A character provokes an AOO by moving from a flanked square.
- A character provokes an AOO from an arcane trickster with impromptu sneak attack.


There are probably a few other ways.

[StreamOfTheSky]

But in 3.5 attacks of opportunity don't apply sneak attacks, unless one takes the Epic feat "Sneak Attack of Opportunity".

False. The epic feat causes ALL AoOs to be sneak attacks.

Without it, only AoOs that meet the conditions for sneak attacking are sneak attacks.

Huge, huge, HUUUUUUGE difference.

[Baroncognito]

The capstone for Halfling Opportunist (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/e-h/halfling-opportunist) causes all Attacks of Opportunity to do sneak attack damage.

[Hyde]

It's been said, but to rephrase:

Any attack that would qualify for a sneak attack, regardless of the cause or origin (Regular, AoO or otherwise) is a sneak attack and deals sneak attack damage.

also, unless you're a strength rogue, take butterfly sting. Unrelated, but awesome for your other melee.

[Ravens_cry]

It's been said, but to rephrase:

Any attack that would qualify for a sneak attack, regardless of the cause or origin (Regular, AoO or otherwise) is a sneak attack and deals sneak attack damage.

also, unless you're a strength rogue, take butterfly sting. Unrelated, but awesome for your other melee.
Oh, yes. *laugh* Oh. YES! :amused:

[Cerlis]

yea, feats like Sneak attack of opportunity basically allow you to sneak attack when you otherwise wouldnt be.

and for the record, the reason you arent is because attacks of opportunities are basically when someone is doing something to provoke an attack (such as casting a spell, or moving through your space) , and thus arent flat footed and can keep you from stabbing them in the neck. You are lucky enough to just get in an attack while they are distracted. what that feat and some class abilities lets you do is be trained enough to turn those half-second opportunities into great opportunities

So most attack of opportunities would happen because they are moving and active. The antithesis of the whole ordeal of sneak attacking.

So otherwise someone who isnt really trained to capitalize on such an opportunity is lucky to attack at all, much less do a precise attack.

For those who are. i'd point out that Imp feint allows you to feint as a move action. and the SRD says
the next melee attack you make against the target does not allow him to use his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). This attack must be made on or before your next turn.

meaning you could use a standard action, and then feint and the first time you hit them with an attack of opportunity it would be a sneak attack.

This is of course assuming you have to spend your standard action doing something else, less it would be better to just feint and sneak attack.

[gr8artist]

Oh, yes. *laugh* Oh. YES! :amused:
In one of our campaigns, we have a Puppet Master who uses this feat a lot.
It's a homebrew class, made from tweaking a summoner to have Ki instead of spells and a construct companion instead of an outsider.
Anyway, he uses a keen 18-20 so he gets lots of crits, and he passes them on to our lvl 16 greatsword-wielding fighter. Said fighter deals 3d6+25 or more on a normal hit. He gets, essentially, one free crit every round for something like 55-80 damage, if my math is right. (He would deal more, but he's mostly an archer)