I would argue that if the guy your buddy was trying to stab suddenly moved in such a way that your buddy's dagger stabbed you, you'd be pretty surprised and caught off guard.
From a strict RAW, the "you can" would be at the discretion of the attacker. Without Tipsy Sway, the sneak attacker wouldn't be hitting anything, so the attack wouldn't qualify for Sneak Attack.
But RAF/RoC, I would definitely allow this to happen as the Monk grabs the wrist of the attacker and plunges it into the gut of the enemy beside him, as both the attacker and attackee have shocked looks of disbelief on their faces.
I didn't mean Sneak Attack to be necessarily a surprise hit, but instead finding a small break in their armor or defenses for a dextrous weapon to pierce. You know, the classic idea of stabbing where the armor plates meet and have a small gap; that idea extrapolated into a generalized Sneak Attack. Tipsy Sway's theme, to me, is rolling around someone's attack so they accidentally connect with someone else. That precision in the fluff of Sneak Attack isn't there when you're being redirected to hit someone else.
But again this is all just my opinion on a fluff ruling though lol, so take it with a grain of salt. I just wanted to explain my reasoning a bit more.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
I didn't mean Sneak Attack to be necessarily a surprise hit, but instead finding a small break in their armor or defenses for a dextrous weapon to pierce. You know, the classic idea of stabbing where the armor plates meet and have a small gap; that idea extrapolated into a generalized Sneak Attack. Tipsy Sway's theme, to me, is rolling around someone's attack so they accidentally connect with someone else. That precision in the fluff of Sneak Attack isn't there when you're being redirected to hit someone else.
But again this is all just my opinion on a fluff ruling though lol, so take it with a grain of salt. I just wanted to explain my reasoning a bit more.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
All very good responses. Thank you for the thought provoking discussion!
Awww yeah!!!