Although I definitely agree that the rogue in 3.5E has a hard time against undead and other creatures immune to sneak attack, I do feel that the Pathfinder fix of removing the immunity completely (except for formless/featureless creatures) has gone a bit too far. I would rather recommend using the house-rule I have been using for some time now (and which seems to work fine in my group): Creatures formerly immune to sneak attack instead take half damage from sneak attack (of course formless/featureless creatures are still immune, just like in Pathfinder Alpha 2).
This ensures that rogues don't become useless when dealing with undead or other such creatures, but also satisfies the simulationist notion that things without vital organs are more resistant to sneak attacks (although they still have weak-points and are thus not immune).
The suggested rule also retains the philosophy that different characters are variously useful in different situations. This differs from the 4E philosophy of making everybody equally useful all the time. The 4E philosophy would paradoxically likely result in a few characters (those having players with dominant personalities) dominating every situation (I know it would in my groups and I would venture a guess that most groups have some dominant or most experienced players) and a decrease in fun for the rest of the group over the course of the campaign.
Note: Of course, if this change would make the rogue weaker than the other classes, he would need to be compensated with other abilities to make up for that.
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Although I definitely agree that the rogue in 3.5E has a hard time against undead and other creatures immune to sneak attack, I do feel that the Pathfinder fix of removing the immunity completely (except for formless/featureless creatures) has gone a bit too far. I would rather recommend using the house-rule I have been using for some time now (and which seems to work fine in my group): Creatures formerly immune to sneak attack instead take half damage from sneak attack (of course formless/featureless creatures are still immune, just like in Pathfinder Alpha 2).
This ensures that rogues don't become useless when dealing with undead or other such creatures, but also satisfies the simulationist notion that things without vital organs are more resistant to sneak attacks (although they still have weak-points and are thus not immune).
The suggested rule also retains the philosophy that different characters are variously useful in different situations. This differs from the 4E philosophy of making everybody equally useful all the time. The 4E philosophy would paradoxically likely result in a few characters (those having players with dominant personalities) dominating every situation (I know it would in my groups and I would venture a guess that most groups have some dominant or most experienced players) and a decrease in fun for the rest of the group over the course of the campaign.
Note: Of course, if this change would make the rogue weaker than the other classes, he would need to be compensated with other abilities to make up for that.
Or, to eliminate the need to roll and halve a bunch of dice separate from the damage dice, which are not halved, I'd just say Sneak Attack damage against such creatures is 1 point per die. So +5d6 becomes a straight +5 damage. Faster and easier, and maintains the power of such creatures a little better. I too am fine with Rogues not being able to use their full bonus a fair amount of the time.
That's a solid idea Samurai - I like it.
