Any way to snipe from closer than ten feet?

[Oddstar]

According to the basic rules, you have to be at least ten feet away to snipe. See PHB p. 76. Does anyone know of any way, be it feat, class feature, spell, item, or anything else, that would allow sniping from closer in?

[Doctor Despair]

Feinting Bluffing kinda does what you want


Creating a Diversion to Hide
You can use Bluff to help you hide. A successful Bluff check can give you the momentary diversion you need to attempt a Hide check while people are aware of you.

[Gruftzwerg]

Feinting Bluffing kinda does what you want

Doesn't work out. Bluffing only allows you to hide, but doesn't get rid of the range restriction from Sniping.

Sniping

If you’ve already successfully hidden at least 10 feet from your target, you can make one ranged attack...

And that is the question here. Is there anything to snipe from closer distances.

Nothing comes into my mind. And imho from a logical point of view it doesn't make much sense. I mean I associate sniping with distance.

[Doctor Despair]

Doesn't work out. Bluffing only allows you to hide, but doesn't get rid of the range restriction from Sniping.

Sniping allows you to make a hide check as a move action at a -20 after having made a ranged attack from 10 feet away or more.

After a successful bluff check, you can make a hide check as part of a move action with no -20 after having made any sort of attack.

You're right that it doesn't let you snipe from close-range, but it recreates the benefit of sniping (i.e., hiding after having made an attack).

[Oddstar]

Doesn't work out. Bluffing only allows you to hide, but doesn't get rid of the range restriction from Sniping.


And that is the question here. Is there anything to snipe from closer distances.

Nothing comes into my mind. And imho from a logical point of view it doesn't make much sense. I mean I associate sniping with distance.
Fair enough, but there are a lot of things in this game that don't make a whole lot of logical sense. Still, I was wondering if there was anything.

[ngilop]

Fair enough, but there are a lot of things in this game that don't make a whole lot of logical sense. Still, I was wondering if there was anything.


I guess I don't understand this whole thing.

I don't think you want to snipe, as much as make a ranged attack hiding, while in melee.

[Oddstar]

Sniping allows you to make a hide check as a move action at a -20 after having made a ranged attack from 10 feet away or more.

After a successful bluff check, you can make a hide check as part of a move action with no -20 after having made any sort of attack.

You're right that it doesn't let you snipe from close-range, but it recreates the benefit of sniping (i.e., hiding after having made an attack).
But that requires a move action. Sniping does not, so you can make a full attack.

[Oddstar]

I guess I don't understand this whole thing.

I don't think you want to snipe, as much as make a ranged attack hiding, while in melee.
Yes, precisely. In other words, I want to be able to snipe from five feet away.

[sleepyphoenixx]

I never really understood the point of sniping.
It's a single attack only and the -20 modifier is the same as the one for hiding while attacking.
I don't see why you couldn't use the latter with a full attack and it doesn't have a minimum range.

[Oddstar]

I never really understood the point of sniping.
It's a single attack only and the -20 modifier is the same as the one for hiding while attacking.
I don't see why you couldn't use the latter with a full attack and it doesn't have a minimum range.
Because it's not a single attack. The whole point is that you can rehide again "immediately." It lets you make a full attack as a ranged weapon while hiding. In other words, it is "hiding while attacking", at least with a ranged weapon. Indeed, it is the only way to hide while attacking with a ranged weapon. As far as I am aware, there is no other way to attack while continuing to hide. That's what sniping is, after all: shooting at someone from hiding. Anyway, that's the way I've always played, both as a player and as a DM.

[tyckspoon]

Because it's not a single attack. The whole point is that you can rehide again "immediately." It lets you make a full attack as a ranged weapon while hiding. In other words, it is "hiding while attacking", at least with a ranged weapon. Indeed, it is the only way to hide while attacking with a ranged weapon. As far as I am aware, there is no other way to attack while continuing to hide. That's what sniping is, after all: shooting at someone from hiding. Anyway, that's the way I've always played, both as a player and as a DM.

Normally, when you attack somebody, you break your stealth and your target is now aware of you. You are now under observation, and you cannot Hide (two requirements for successfully Hiding: You have something to Hide *in* [cover or concealment], and nobody is watching you try to Hide.) The sniping rule allows you to try to Hide anyways but at a significant penalty as you hurry to try to get back into cover before they notice where you shot them from - without that rule or some other ability that permits hiding while somebody is watching you, you would not be permitted to Hide after shooting. You would have to move or find some way to break the target's observation so they lost track of you (which is what the Bluff check to distract option represents.)


Yes, precisely. In other words, I want to be able to snipe from five feet away.


Don't know why specifically you need this to be a ranged attack, but you need a good form of Hide in Plain Sight (one of the ones that preferably removes both the requirement for cover and allows you to Hide while being observed.) This will allow you to Hide pretty much whenever and wherever you feel like, as long as you have a good enough Hide check to overcome the big penalties you get for trying to Hide while doing really obvious things like attacking people.

[Darg]

Sniping only allows one attack, unless you make hide checks per attack made.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Because it's not a single attack. The whole point is that you can rehide again "immediately." It lets you make a full attack as a ranged weapon while hiding. In other words, it is "hiding while attacking", at least with a ranged weapon. Indeed, it is the only way to hide while attacking with a ranged weapon. As far as I am aware, there is no other way to attack while continuing to hide. That's what sniping is, after all: shooting at someone from hiding. Anyway, that's the way I've always played, both as a player and as a DM.

Hiding after sniping is explicitly a move action. So you can't do it with a full attack.
Hiding while attacking is a simple -20 modifier though.