The Rogue class has the "sneak attack": This is for when you have 'advantage' OR when you're teaming up with somebody.
What about sneaking up and attacking somebody??
Nevermind... I found it: From the Player's Handbook... "When a creature can't see you, you have advantage on attack rolls against it."
So you sneak up and surprise somebody from behind, they "can't see you." So... therefore "advantage." Voila.
Even though I figured it out, I'm gonna post it because there were no search results when I looked for "backstab" or "back stab" or even "backstabbing"... so now there is!
You can also do fun things like have a wizards familiar use the Help action to distract the target before you perforate them. Anything that confers advantage works, even things like the spell Enhance Ability with the dex option. Also triggers if a ally is in five feet of your target, so have the fighter get up in its face and intimidate or something in the surprise round.
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Anything that confers advantage works, even things like the spell Enhance Ability with the dex option.
It's worth noting that an attack roll is NOT the same as a statistic check, as you're implying that Enhance Ability can be used to gain advantage on attack rolls - as far as I am aware, that's not how it works. :)
I thought a attack with a finesse weapon was a dex check?
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Anything that confers advantage works, even things like the spell Enhance Ability with the dex option.
It's worth noting that an attack roll is NOT the same as a statistic check, as you're implying that Enhance Ability can be used to gain advantage on attack rolls - as far as I am aware, that's not how it works. :)
An attack with a finesse weapon allows you to add your dex bonus to your hit & damage (instead of strength), but doesn't make the attack a "dexterity check"
Take a look at the Barbarian. They have an ability at first level called Rage. Part of that ability reads:
You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
This does NOT give them advantage on their standard melee attack rolls, even though those rolls use the STR stat for hit & damage bonuses. They have a separate ability at 2nd level called Reckless Attack which gives them the ability to gain advantage on attack rolls.
GM of The Bonus Role - We are playing a 5E game set in my homebrew world of Audra check us out Sunday's at 10 AM CST and follow us at the following social media links. https://www.twitch.tv/thebonusrole @BonusRole
I only just noticed that no one actually answered were "backstab" went, though the modern closest-equivalent has been talked about.
As far as I know, the phrase "sneak attack" first showed up in the AD&D 2nd Edition Player's Option: Skills & Powers book. In that iteration, it was an optional Ranger class feature which allowed the range to backstab as a thief of the same level if they were in a 'natural setting' and succeed at hiding in shadows and moving silently.
Then when the game moved forward into 3rd edition, the "Thief" class got renamed to "Rogue", and their bread-and-butter maneuver was renamed to "sneak attack". The conditions for allowing a sneak attack were also made more lenient, as it was no longer required that your target not be aware of you at all, so the maneuver was no longer just a heavy-hitting combat opener if you had some teamwork (and weren't facing enemies that were immune to it for one reason or another).
From that point, newer editions of the game have made the conditions required for a "sneak attack" generally easier to achieve and generally reduced the circumstances that made the maneuver not work.
5th edition has a good spiritual successor for the original way in which backstab worked, though; if an assassin type rogue can meet the requirements of the original backstab (unnoticed, though being actually behind the target isn't necessary, and the target unaware of impending attack) they'll likely have advantage on their attack roll, score a critical hit if they hit at all, and if they are high enough level cause a saving throw against taking double damage.
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One of you youngen's help me out here.
The Rogue class has the "sneak attack": This is for when you have 'advantage' OR when you're teaming up with somebody.
What about sneaking up and attacking somebody??
Nevermind... I found it: From the Player's Handbook... "When a creature can't see you, you have advantage on attack rolls against it."
So you sneak up and surprise somebody from behind, they "can't see you." So... therefore "advantage." Voila.
Even though I figured it out, I'm gonna post it because there were no search results when I looked for "backstab" or "back stab" or even "backstabbing"... so now there is!
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D&D Beyond FoundersThank you!
The internet is full of people asking questions, then updating with, "NVM found answer, thanks" and no details on what that answer is to help others.
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:-D
You can also do fun things like have a wizards familiar use the Help action to distract the target before you perforate them. Anything that confers advantage works, even things like the spell Enhance Ability with the dex option. Also triggers if a ally is in five feet of your target, so have the fighter get up in its face and intimidate or something in the surprise round.
GM of The Bonus Role - We are playing a 5E game set in my homebrew world of Audra check us out Sunday's at 10 AM CST and follow us at the following social media links.
https://www.twitch.tv/thebonusrole
@BonusRole
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The target has advantage on Dexterity checks.
I thought a attack with a finesse weapon was a dex check?
GM of The Bonus Role - We are playing a 5E game set in my homebrew world of Audra check us out Sunday's at 10 AM CST and follow us at the following social media links.
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D&D Beyond FoundersAn attack roll is not a statistic check.
An attack with a finesse weapon allows you to add your dex bonus to your hit & damage (instead of strength), but doesn't make the attack a "dexterity check"
Take a look at the Barbarian. They have an ability at first level called Rage. Part of that ability reads:
This does NOT give them advantage on their standard melee attack rolls, even though those rolls use the STR stat for hit & damage bonuses. They have a separate ability at 2nd level called Reckless Attack which gives them the ability to gain advantage on attack rolls.
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
Makes sense to me, noted and thank you.
GM of The Bonus Role - We are playing a 5E game set in my homebrew world of Audra check us out Sunday's at 10 AM CST and follow us at the following social media links.
https://www.twitch.tv/thebonusrole
@BonusRole
I only just noticed that no one actually answered were "backstab" went, though the modern closest-equivalent has been talked about.
As far as I know, the phrase "sneak attack" first showed up in the AD&D 2nd Edition Player's Option: Skills & Powers book. In that iteration, it was an optional Ranger class feature which allowed the range to backstab as a thief of the same level if they were in a 'natural setting' and succeed at hiding in shadows and moving silently.
Then when the game moved forward into 3rd edition, the "Thief" class got renamed to "Rogue", and their bread-and-butter maneuver was renamed to "sneak attack". The conditions for allowing a sneak attack were also made more lenient, as it was no longer required that your target not be aware of you at all, so the maneuver was no longer just a heavy-hitting combat opener if you had some teamwork (and weren't facing enemies that were immune to it for one reason or another).
From that point, newer editions of the game have made the conditions required for a "sneak attack" generally easier to achieve and generally reduced the circumstances that made the maneuver not work.
5th edition has a good spiritual successor for the original way in which backstab worked, though; if an assassin type rogue can meet the requirements of the original backstab (unnoticed, though being actually behind the target isn't necessary, and the target unaware of impending attack) they'll likely have advantage on their attack roll, score a critical hit if they hit at all, and if they are high enough level cause a saving throw against taking double damage.