| Vystek |
I'll just toss in my two cents, in case anyone ever sees this thread again. The rulebook has the following to say regarding charge:
"If you are able to take only a standard action on your turn, you can still charge, but you are only allowed to move up to your speed (instead of up to double your speed) and you cannot draw a weapon unless you possess the Quick Draw feat. You can't use this option unless you are restricted to taking only a standard action on your turn."
During a surprise round, participants are limited to a standard action only. I've interpreted this intersection of rules to mean that you can, in fact, charge during the surprise round, but you are limited to moving up to your speed. This would mean that even before 9th level, our skulking slayer could use Stealth to lie in wait for an opponent to get within a distance of his or her speed, and charge, closing the gap and dealing sneak attack damage with d8s.
Additionally, I did some quick lazy averages, and these larger dice would result in a 5th level skulking slayer dealing about 4.5 more points of damage on a successful hit. It's certainly not incredible, but it's definitely not nothing, especially if the rogue finds lots of opportunities to use it.