Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ehrin 01-04-06, 10:10 PM	Someone in an earlier thread mentioned "now that they changed the sudden strike to be like sneak attack" for the ninja, it was better. Is there an official errata that changed that, so that the ninja's sudden strike works on flanked foes too? If so, where might i find it?
Linklegacy77 01-04-06, 10:20 PM	I don't believe so, otherwise they would have just named the ability sneak attack.
Arkonth 01-04-06, 10:41 PM	There is no such errata.
Tempest Stormwind 01-04-06, 11:34 PM	It's probably someone mentioning a houserule. The only time when the two are identical is for qualifying for feats or prestige classes. Sudden Strike counts as Sneak Attack for that purpose. Really, the only difference between them, then, is that Sudden Strike (on the two classes that I know have it, the CV ninja and the HoB Dread Commando) is Sneak Attack that doesn't work while flanking.
ehrin 01-04-06, 11:39 PM	Found it.. it was lord schpungus I like the ninja, too, and they changed it so sudden strike works when you 'deny Dex mod', not just flat-footed. hopefully, he can clue me in on where this change was made.
Lord Schpungus 01-05-06, 12:00 AM	Hey, whaddaya know... just stumbled in here. In Dragon #318, where the Ninja was originally printed, the only way you could get Sudden Strike damage was if the target was flat-footed. In Complete Adventurer, it was changed to so you could get Sudden Strike when the target was denied his Dex bonus to AC. There are more ways to have your Dex denied than just being flat-footed, so it is a power up. But it's still more limited than sneak attack, because you can get normal Sneak Attack when the target is flanked (which does not, in fact, deny Dex), in addition to denying Dex. It's more useful than it was in Dragon 318, but there are still fewer opportunities to use it than normal Sneak Attack. Well, I double-checked my evidence, and I remembered incorrectly. The CV Ninja's Sudden Strike is the same as it was in Dragon #318. Sorry. It hasn't changed; it's still less useful than normal Sneak, though. See folks? This is what happens when you assume you know something, and then you find out that you don't.
-Defiler of Souls- 01-05-06, 12:53 AM	they still can't use sudden strike while flanking, flanking doesn't deny dex bonus to ac, it is just an additional way of triggering sneak attack.
Wayfarer 01-05-06, 02:37 AM	Sneak Attack works when the target is denied dex or flanked. Sudden Strike works only when the target is denied dex. I think it would be kind of interesting to see a similar ability that worked only when the target is flanked.
Lord Schpungus 01-05-06, 07:58 AM	call it Distracted Strike, maybe? It wouldn't be very useful without a reliable flanking cohort.