I was wondering how Stunning Defence works against rogues. Rogues being of a certain level of course. The Stunning Defence feat state that you consider your opponents to be flat-footed, but a rogue is also considered never to be flat-footed.
I think it is somewhat unclear which rule over-rides the other. Any comments? Thoughts?
Hopefully things will be more clarified in a very near future...
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Real near future...... ;-)
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I think it would be safe to say that, as with all other conditions that would normally render a character flat-footed, the rogue would be immune to being "caught off-guard" by this effect as well. I am of the opinion that, unless the ability states "this works even against targets who are not normally able to be caught flat-footed" or something of the sort, then the Uncanny Dodge ability still functions.
This is likely too late for the OP, however this subject requires clarification.
Uncanny Dodge does not prevent the Flat-Footed status.
Uncanny Dodge: She retains her Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if she is caught flat-footed
The above wording implies that the Rogue is still in fact becoming flatfooted, just that they don't lose their Dexterity bonus.
An example of where it matters: you can't make Attacks of Opportunity while flatfooted. A Rogue or Barbarian still requires the Combat Reflexes feat to perform attacks of opportunity while flatfooted, even though they retain their Dexterity bonus to AC while flatfooted.
The Stunning Defense feat simply adds the "flatfooted" condition to the target. So the Rogue would still be considered Flatfooted, just not lose their Dex to AC (meaning still no Sneak Attack if the attacker has any).
This also means that Deadly Stroke will still function against them, since all it requires is the Flatfooted or Stunned condition, not Dex to AC (which is what Sneak Attack requires).
For reference:
Sneak Attack: The rogue’s attack deals extra damage any time her target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the rogue flanks her target.
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Flat-footed: A flat-footed character loses his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) and cannot make attacks of opportunity.
Deadly Stroke benefits: As a standard action, make a single attack with the weapon for which you have Greater Weapon Focus against a stunned or flat-footed opponent.
It isn't really "too late" to answer it for the OP, he was just being impatient.
Anyway, the situation which prompted the pondering was a hypothetical case of a rogue using Dazzling Display and Stunning Defence against another rogue and thus whether sneak attack would apply. Eventually we came to a conclusion akin to what Kaisoku wrote.