Hide in Plain Sight and Sneak Attacks

[xkroku]

Hi everyone

So, I've been casually desinging an 6th level Dark Whisper Gnome sneaky-killer character (Swashbuckler 3/Rogue 2/Avenger 1)

And I'm not sure about obe thing...

He has +40 Hide modifier and Hide in Plain Sight from Dark template, so it wouldnt be a problem whatsoever to hide after an attack (only -20 penalty).

In a dark place, say, a cavern, could he hide, sneak (+34 mod) to BBEG, sneak attack, hide again, repeat the process?

In the Dark Creature Template description it is said that he does not need any concealment to hide

[Fouredged Sword]

You still need to not be observed. There is no small amount of debate about what precisely this means, but many read it as requiring you to break line of sight to hide.

While most characters need to stay in cover to sneak up on their enemies, you do not need to do so. You can carefully move though a empty room and remain hidden. That DOESN'T mean you can just fade away while someone watches you. If they can't see you, you can stay hidden. Once they can see you then you must break their observation before you can hide again.

The sniping rules are an exception to this and allow you to hide again despite the fact that they observe you fire your weapon. You can do this over and over again so long as you maintain successful sneak checks. Once you fail one it breaks the chain of sniping and you need to break line of sight to hide again. You are only making one attack per round and your opponent IS going to ether go looking for you or run away from your attacks. Daylight the spell will reveal you.

To avoid needing to break line of sight you need to gain "Hide in Plain Sight". It is worth the three wasted feats to get that first level of shadowdancer for this reason. Then you don't need to deal with the sniping rules. You can just hide as a move action period.

EDIT

Scratch that, you have the dark template. You can hide while observed and can bypass the sniping rules and simply hide again while observed without the -20 penalty. Do it too frequently and your DM will give every bad guy a scroll of daylight, so be warned.

[Mordaedil]

Scratch that, you have the dark template. You can hide while observed and can bypass the sniping rules and simply hide again while observed without the -20 penalty. Do it too frequently and your DM will give every bad guy a scroll of daylight, so be warned.
Wow, nice. Do it, and then start pickpocketing scrolls of daylight from every bad guy.

[Ualaa]

It's a strong ability, but if it breaks the story the DM is telling, it's probably not going to last.

They'll either house rule how it works, or if they're not willing to modify rules then give it to a lot of enemies, who will abuse it on the party. Or maybe ask you to do another build, and remove you from their game, if your answer is no.

[Zombimode]

In a dark place, say, a cavern, could he hide, sneak (+34 mod) to BBEG, sneak attack, hide again, repeat the process?

Probably. But... why do you feel this is a problem (in case you do; your question Kind of implies that you do)?

This is not a Video Game where, if the NPC "looses Focus/sight" of the character goes like "Hmm, must have been the wind".

Moving away to someplace with sufficient Illumination, readying an attack, using area effects, employing any measure to detect hidden foes (like a dog or someting else with Scent)... the options are numerous.

[Twurps]

Moving away to someplace with sufficient Illumination, readying an attack, using area effects, employing any measure to detect hidden foes (like a dog or someting else with Scent)... the options are numerous.

slightly off topic: this is why the 'Darkstalker' feat (LoM) is a must on a decent sneaky build, though out of the above, it only counters the dog.

On topic: yes you can hide again after your attack. Keep in mind though that it requires a move action, so you're left with a standard action for your attacks.
(normal hiding is part of move action, sniping is hiding AS a move action. So it really doesn't matter which version you choose. With 'Hide in Plain sight' I would prefer hiding as part of a move action, as that makes your location unknown to your opponent and also takes care of the -20 penalty.)

Being limited to a standard action it's not really broken. I haven't had a DM ban it thus far. YMMV though.

[Venger]

Wow, nice. Do it, and then start pickpocketing scrolls of daylight from every bad guy.
that's what master pickpocket is for. steal everything as free actions.


It's a strong ability, but if it breaks the story the DM is telling, it's probably not going to last.

They'll either house rule how it works, or if they're not willing to modify rules then give it to a lot of enemies, who will abuse it on the party. Or maybe ask you to do another build, and remove you from their game, if your answer is no.

he'd be a pretty bad dm if he acted that way. who needs to go out of their way to pick on a daring outlaw? besides, this strategy is hardly infallible, and even if the boss character can't pinpoint him with abilities like mindsight, he can still just carpet bomb the area he suspects the character is in with cloudkill or glitterdust or similar.

[Eladrinblade]

1st level druid spells have great synergy with rogues, I've found.

Faerie fire ruins blur/invisibility/etc, produce flame is a multiple-use melee or ranged touch, hide from animals lets you ignore guard dogs, if you're a strength rogue with twf a shillelagh is hard to beat, magic stones let you deal good damage against undead