Mosquito's Bite

[Gamereaper]

How exactly does Mosquito's Bite work?

If someone's HP drops below -10, do they die right away? What about if it's used on PCs? What about Sneak Attacks?

[FocusWolf413]

This trick doesn't allow the opponent to ignore any of the other effects of your attack, such as ability damage from poison on your blade or falling unconscious when reduced to fewer than 0 hit points.

If they die, they die. The only effect is that that don't know they've been hit.

If you sneak attack from hiding, they don't register your attack. They still take the damage, but they don't know they've been hit for one round. They would remain flat footed against you and you would be able to sneak attack them again.

If it's used on PCs, just say "his strike is deflected by your armor," and the next round say they feel blood oozing out from where they thought the enemy missed. If it's a sneak attack, say they feel like they were stabbed twice the round they notice.

[Curmudgeon]

The Mosquito's Bite skill trick only delays the target from noticing the damage; it doesn't change the damage itself. So if you kill them, they're dead immediately; they just don't notice it right away. :smallbiggrin:

[Necroticplague]

How exactly does Mosquito's Bite work?

If someone's HP drops below -10, do they die right away? What about if it's used on PCs? What about Sneak Attacks?

Yes.
They're just as vulnerable as anyone else.
How's sneak attack relevant? That just makes the attack that hit (but looks like it didn't) do more damage.

[Gamereaper]

If they die, they die. The only effect is that that don't know they've been hit.

If you sneak attack from hiding, they don't register your attack. They still take the damage, but they don't know they've been hit for one round. They would remain flat footed against you and you would be able to sneak attack them again.

If it's used on PCs, just say "his strike is deflected by your armor," and the next round say they feel blood oozing out from where they thought the enemy missed. If it's a sneak attack, say they feel like they were stabbed twice the round they notice.

Would an assassin using Unseen Strike be able to do 2 sneak attacks in a round if he uses Mosquito's Bite while under the effects of Unseen Strike?

I would imagine it would work since the moment you strike you turn invisible, plus it would have supposedly missed. Since even if they're aware, their DEX bonus negated (assuming they couldn't see me). I could possibly get 2 in a row.

[Necroticplague]

Would an assassin using Unseen Strike be able to do 2 sneak attacks in a round if he uses Mosquito's Bite while under the effects of Unseen Strike?

I would imagine it would work since the moment you strike you turn invisible, plus it would have supposedly missed. Since even if they're aware, their DEX bonus negated (assuming they couldn't see me). I could possibly get 2 in a row.

Not sure why you'd need Mosquitos bite. Even if they know you stabbed them, they're flat footed if they can't see you, so you can get another sneak attack. Mosquitos bite doesn't let them think you didn't attack, it makes hem think you missed.

[Nifft]

The Mosquito's Bite skill trick only delays the target from noticing the damage; it doesn't change the damage itself. So if you kill them, they're dead immediately; they just don't notice it right away. :smallbiggrin:
"That really was a Hattori Hanzo sword."

:biggrin:

[Rubik]

Maybe Han really did shoot first, but the other guy didn't realize it.

[Gamereaper]

Not sure why you'd need Mosquitos bite. Even if they know you stabbed them, they're flat footed if they can't see you, so you can get another sneak attack. Mosquitos bite doesn't let them think you didn't attack, it makes hem think you missed.

So would a 20th level rogue with improved invisibility do 27D6 Sneak attack as a full round action then?

[SangoProduction]

So would a 20th level rogue with improved invisibility do 27D6 Sneak attack as a full round action then?

If the enemy would stop moving for a whole round, yes. (Assuming your math is correct, and they all hit)

[Necroticplague]

So would a 20th level rogue with improved invisibility do 27D6 Sneak attack as a full round action then?

Assuming a level 20 rogue isn't going against someone who [can see invisible creatures/possess blindsight/have uncanny dodge] (pretty big if right there), and who isn't immune to sneak attack, and all of his attacks hit (which, on a 3/4 BaB class and the penalty for iteratives, isn't really a given), no. He does 30d6 from sneak attack and iteratives alone. This could easily be higher with the use of the TWF line, snap kick, a dip for Whirling Frenzy (you reach max SA damage at level 19, that gives you some wiggle room to work with), Haste, Speed weapons, or adding natural weapons.

[atemu1234]

If they die, they die. The only effect is that that don't know they've been hit.

If you sneak attack from hiding, they don't register your attack. They still take the damage, but they don't know they've been hit for one round. They would remain flat footed against you and you would be able to sneak attack them again.

If it's used on PCs, just say "his strike is deflected by your armor," and the next round say they feel blood oozing out from where they thought the enemy missed. If it's a sneak attack, say they feel like they were stabbed twice the round they notice.

This is kind of funny. Imagine not knowing you're dead. Mosquito Bite Ghosts!

[Gamereaper]

Wow, that's a little crazy (from a sub optimal point of view).

10D6? Oh ok, I thought Sneak attack capped at 9D6 for rogues, my mistake. XD

[Curmudgeon]

10D6? Oh ok, I thought Sneak attack capped at 9D6 for rogues, my mistake. XD
It's not capped at 10d6 either; you get +1d6 every 2 Rogue levels; see here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/classProgressions.htm#epicRogue).

[Necroticplague]

Wow, that's a little crazy (from a sub optimal point of view).

Meh. 30d6 averages out to about 105 damage. A single harm spell at that level would cause 150.

[Curmudgeon]

Meh. 30d6 averages out to about 105 damage. A single harm spell at that level would cause 150.
I guess we're only considering 3 hits from the average full attack, meaning either an enemy with a very high AC or a Rogue built mostly for abilities other than combat. But every Rogue should have Craven, which means you're going to be adding at least another +60. Craven bonus damage isn't from dice, so it gets multiplied on critical hits. The Keen rapier (melee weapon of choice for a Rogue) threatens on 15-20, so that multiplication is going to happen fairly often. And even the skill-focused Rogue can repeat that damage round after round. How many instances of Harm has the Cleric prepared?

[Jack_Simth]

How many instances of Harm has the Cleric prepared?
At 20th? Probably more than they'll need in the 'standard adventuring day'. They're more likely to be laying about with with Implosion, Destruction, the various Word spells (Holy Word, Word of Chaos, Blashphemy, Dictum), various status effect spells, or just a big load of buffs and doing melee at full BAB plus, however.

[Curmudgeon]

At 20th? Probably more than they'll need in the 'standard adventuring day'. They're more likely to be laying about with with Implosion, Destruction, the various Word spells (Holy Word, Word of Chaos, Blashphemy, Dictum), various status effect spells, or just a big load of buffs and doing melee at full BAB plus, however.
And the skill-focused Rogue is probably going to concentrate on filching every spell component pouch, holy symbol, wand, and scrollcase the enemy spellcasters have, rather than melee attacks. Sleight of Hand as a free action can remove every small object from an enemy in a single round (if the DM doesn't place a limit on free actions lower than the count of small objects, at least).

Your point about D&D being about ways to succeed other than by dealing damage is a good one; I was just responding to Necroticplague's specific comparison.

[Necroticplague]

I guess we're only considering 3 hits from the average full attack, meaning either an enemy with a very high AC or a Rogue built mostly for abilities other than combat. But every Rogue should have Craven, which means you're going to be adding at least another +60. Craven bonus damage isn't from dice, so it gets multiplied on critical hits. The Keen rapier (melee weapon of choice for a Rogue) threatens on 15-20, so that multiplication is going to happen fairly often. And even the skill-focused Rogue can repeat that damage round after round. How many instances of Harm has the Cleric prepared?

I know that SA damage can easily be pumped up higher. However, the post I was responding to was only talking about the base damage from the base SA, and how that seemed high.

[Jack_Simth]

And the skill-focused Rogue is probably going to concentrate on filching every spell component pouch, holy symbol, wand, and scrollcase the enemy spellcasters have, rather than melee attacks. Sleight of Hand as a free action can remove every small object from an enemy in a single round (if the DM doesn't place a limit on free actions lower than the count of small objects, at least).

Your point about D&D being about ways to succeed other than by dealing damage is a good one; I was just responding to Necroticplague's specific comparison.

But yes, Harm is a 6th level spell for Clerics. If they're not doing anything better with those 6+ spell slots, your cleric-20 could have 16 of them before bonus or domain spell slots. At a 'standard adventuring day' of four encounters, that's four Harm spells per encounter. DMM(Quicken), or a few metamagic rods of Quicken Spell, and that's 2/round for 2 rounds per combat - and if your combats are lasting longer than that at high levels, you're in an unusual game.