Why Mosquito's Bite?

[Zaq]

I like skill tricks a lot. I like that they're available early on if you like that sort of thing, I like having different ways to spend build "currency," and I just think they're fun low-level effects in general.

Now, not all of them are super strong, and that's okay. Plenty of feats are crap, after all, and skill tricks are explicitly supposed to be, well, tricks, not game-defining abilities. That's fine! Even if I don't think that all of them are actually worth the investment, I can at least understand why all but one of them exist. I can understand why someone would think it's cool to have that ability even if the cost isn't worth the benefit in my book.

But I straight up have never, EVER understood what the intended purpose of Mosquito's Bite is. Ever. Like, let's pretend you got it for free and you didn't have to pay for it. Why would you bother?

Benefit: If you use a light weapon to hit a flat-footed opponent, you can choose to have the opponent not realize that it has been hit until the start of your next turn. Instead, that opponent reacts as if you had attacked and missed.

Using this skill trick doesn’t require an action on your part.

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.

When is this worth your time?! When is it ever advantageous to have your opponent realize that you attacked them but think that you missed? If they didn't think you attacked them, okay, that would actually be potentially quite nice, maybe kinda a little bit. But they still know that you're swinging. They just temporarily think that you missed.

The last clause, about all the other effects of your attack still happening, means you can't even do shenanigans like "delaying a 1-round save debuff until next round so it applies to a save you force on that round." (I mean, the rules would surely lead to no shortage of arguments in the absence of a clarifying clause like that, so it's good from a rule-writing perspective, but still bad from a what-value-is-this-game-element-adding perspective.)

Is there any benefit to an opponent thinking that you missed when you really didn't? Like, maybe if you've got a GM who's really receptive to in-combat banter and that GM lets you combine it with some kind of Bluff check to have the target think that you're not a threat despite the fact that you're demonstrably attacking them? That's not at all what the text of the ability says, though.

Maybe it's because I can't think of any abilities that trigger off of the target's perception of being hit or not. (Because after all, that usually isn't a distinction we need to make.) So it's hard to think of anything that's in the PC's control that can key off of "target thinks I missed them."

Every time I flip through the skill tricks I stop on this one for a little while. I just can't grok why you'd bother. It's not that I don't think the benefit is worth the cost--it's that I straight up do not see the benefit at all.

I... suppose that battle tricksters would be able to use it to get a +1 competence bonus on a single attack roll via their tricky fighting feature? Since Mosquito's Bite doesn't require an action and all. Though you already have to have them flat-footed (meaning you've probably got a decent advantage AND it's challenging--not impossible, but challenging--to activate it after round 1) and also battle trickster has a hard time qualifying for it, since they don't get SoH in-class. Kind of same with magical trickster and their tricky magic ability. At least uncanny trickster (yes, it has class features other than just "add two levels to a class"!) can fairly easily qualify for it (since they get SoH), so they can trigger tricky defense with it? I'm reaching, though. I don't like any of those explanations and I genuinely don't think they're the primary purpose.

What are your thoughts? Have you ever seen this used? Put it in a clever combo? At least gotten as much benefit out of it as WotC intended, even if we didn't go above and beyond into making it some insanely tricksy build?

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Well, I guess if you're doing a Spring Attack or Flyby Attack from hiding and they don't see you, and you make it back to cover before they know you're there, you could attack and not have them realize where it came from?

...That's all I've got.

[TheStranger]

I’ve had some GMs use a general rule that opponents attack the most threatening PC. So maybe the intended use is some kind of abstract “I’m not a threat, attack that guy” effect. Which is obviously a metagame concept that doesn’t apply at every table, not an actual mechanical benefit.

[NontheistCleric]

Well, I guess if you're doing a Spring Attack or Flyby Attack from hiding and they don't see you, and you make it back to cover before they know you're there, you could attack and not have them realize where it came from?

...That's all I've got.

You'd probably have to be invisible for this, since otherwise they'd likely see you coming out of cover and moving towards them and quickly put things together.

[Zaq]

You'd probably have to be invisible for this, since otherwise they'd likely see you coming out of cover and moving towards them and quickly put things together.

And they still know you attacked. Attacking still breaks stealth even if you're using a form of invisibility that isn't the actual invisibility spell.

[NontheistCleric]

And they still know you attacked. Attacking still breaks stealth even if you're using a form of invisibility that isn't the actual invisibility spell.

Well, but remember that they react 'as if you had attacked and missed'. So, theoretically, if you managed to keep silent as well as unseen, that would buy you a whole six extra seconds of getaway time, without them knowing who you are!

It's not great, but it could be meaningful in some circumstances. Maybe if you were to do this in a large crowd? That makes sense. Of course, you'd have to be skilled enough to disguise your invisible weavings through the people.

[Xervous]

With the exact wording I’m not seeing too much beyond what has been outlined above, and the target not realizing they are already dead (for cinematic purposes).

[Xervous]

With the exact wording I’m not seeing too much beyond what has been outlined above, and the target not realizing they are already (almost) dead (for cinematic purposes).

[Inevitability]

With the exact wording I’m not seeing too much beyond what has been outlined above, and the target not realizing they are already dead (for cinematic purposes).

Technically it doesn't even do that, because anyone reduced to zero-or-less HP is still rendered unconscious.

[NontheistCleric]

That's probably why they changed it.

[Doctor Despair]

You could maybe use it with sniping and a thrown light weapon. Hit someone, hide, then move silently away, and let the damage register once you've made some distance?

[Zarvistic]

Maybe they'd be less inclined to heal or run away from you, making it easier to attack again next round?

[TheStranger]

Another possible use would be the target not knowing they’re badly injured so that they don’t heal/protect themselves. I’m envisioning something like this:

Surprise round: Rogue uses Mosquito’s bite, deals massive sneak attack damage.

Round 1: Target, thinking himself uninjured, charges into melee instead of being cautious, and is easily dispatched.

Thinking about this, it may be more useful *against* the PCs, as a GM trick to bait the party into tactically unwise actions.

Edit: ninja’d

[Zaq]

You could maybe use it with sniping and a thrown light weapon. Hit someone, hide, then move silently away, and let the damage register once you've made some distance?

You break stealth by attacking, not by hitting.

[Doctor Despair]

You break stealth by attacking, not by hitting.

There are literally rules for sniping

Sniping
If you’ve already successfully hidden at least 10 feet from your target, you can make one ranged attack, then immediately hide again. You take a -20 penalty on your Hide check to conceal yourself after the shot.

[ShurikVch]

You could maybe use it with sniping and a thrown light weapon. Hit someone, hide, then move silently away, and let the damage register once you've made some distance?

And if attack using Mosquito's Bite was, actually, lethal -
opponent wouldn't realize they're, really, dead -
until the start of the next turn, and continue to act as usual
(while being dead!)

[Xervous]

Spell storing weapon of beastland ferocity and delay death?

Then demand ransom, as you’ve taken their life hostage to be blown away with a simple dispel magic.

[RaiKirah]

It would ensure that any bleed damage proc's for another round as they wouldn't know to heal themselves (or use the Heal skill) to staunch the bleeding. Not great, but it's there.

[NontheistCleric]

You break stealth by attacking, not by hitting.

Well, not exactly. As per the SRD:

It’s practically impossible (-20 penalty) to hide while attacking, running or charging.

So an invisible person (assuming the kind of invisibility that doesn't break on an attack) with a high modifier would be fine.

[liquidformat]

I have had a DM who ignored the second sentence 'Instead, that opponent reacts as if you had attacked and missed.' for the reason you are pointing out which changed this from a garbage ability into quite a godly skill trick for sneak attackers and the likes.

[WhamBamSam]

It messes with abilities that trigger off of being hit, although all I've got off the top of my head is that you can provoke an AoO from both an opponent using Feigned Opening, and any of his friends who are threatening you, instead of one or the other, and that you can trick them out of using the granted power of the Retribution domain when they would otherwise be able to take advantage of it.

[Blackhawk748]

I can see it working in a duel where you want to kill the other person but you aren't technically supposed to. You Mosquito's bite the first attack and then hit them normally next round, probably killing them.

Done, looks like an accident.

[DeAnno]

I can see it working in a duel where you want to kill the other person but you aren't technically supposed to. You Mosquito's bite the first attack and then hit them normally next round, probably killing them.

Done, looks like an accident.

Everyone else watching notices it though, don't they? It only fools the opponent. Ironically this means if the opponent has any allies they can just talk as a free action to nullify the skill trick, on top of everything else.

[RaiKirah]

Oooh! Another use! Betting someone you can stab them without them noticing! Or betting someone you can stab someone else without them noticing!

[theAui]

The frenzied berserker's ability would trigger a round later which is always nice for you.

[RaiKirah]

The frenzied berserker's ability would trigger a round later which is always nice for you.

Similarly you should be able to avoid triggering Karmic Strike.

[Yael]

And if attack using Mosquito's Bite was, actually, lethal -
opponent wouldn't realize they're, really, dead -
until the start of the next turn, and continue to act as usual
(while being dead!)

Omae wa mo shindeiru.

They have enough seconds in a round to say "NANI?!"

Next round, they die. Maybe combo it with a monk's Decisive Strike so you actually hit him with a barrage of punches to his channeling points (or go with a maneuver that deals massive damage for maximum anime).

[ExLibrisMortis]

In theory, Mosquito's Bite should prevent a PC from using Karmic Strike against an NPC, because they wouldn't know to tell the DM "I'll AoO that guy who hit me". Right? I mean, if you're DMing, and you have a PC with Karmic Strike attacked by an NPC with Mosquito's Bite, you wouldn't tell that PC "the attack misses, but you can still AoO", would you? That'd give it away. You say "it's a miss" and move on.

The other way around, it's not unreasonable to say that NPCs shouldn't have access to all the hidden information that the DM keeps track of, and thus won't know the difference between objective reality and their perception of reality, just like a PC. So you could use Mosquito's Bite to negate Karmic Strike-using NPCs, too.

More generally, a DM capable of keeping track of different NPC's perspectives (not easy, especially if your encounter has "gnoll barbarian 17, 18, and 19") would adjust NPC tactics a little based on the NPC's estimate of PC prowess. Several monster tactics sections mention something like "if reduced to one-quarter health or less, [the monster] uses its greater teleport to get to safety". Theoretically, if you could Mosquito's Bite such a monster several times in one round, you wouldn't have to hunt it down/prevent its escape. Not likely to happen, not easy to set up, but okay.

Overall, not a useless trick, but incredibly niche, for sure.

[Golbarg]

I've taken Mosquito's bite once, with a ninja in an urban campaign. Pretty useful tool for public assassination (or general mischief). Plus, those spring attacks/acrobatic tumbles had a bit more oomf to them.
All in all, I'd say it has some niche uses on some characters, but it is mostly a RP/fluff tool. And as a roguish type, it is not a bad two skill points to spend, even if it is a bit suboptimal.

[icefractal]

I'd seen this mentioned, but not read it carefully before. Therefore I was under the impression that the target wouldn't notice if they were sniped with it unt a round later, which would make it great for the right type of character. I assume people recommending it are under a similar misapprehension.