| Tinalles |
The skill description for Sleight of Hand says "You cannot use this skill to take an object from another creature during combat if the creature is aware of your presence." Okay, fine.
But how does that interact with invisibility?
Suppose I'm a sneaky type who can go invisible and I want to cause some mayhem in combat by making an opponent's trousers fall down, thereby robbing him of his dignity (and also giving him the entangled condition, assuming he fails a reflex save to catch his pants as they fall).
I suppose the first question is -- if the guy sees me before I go invisible, is he "aware" of me? Can I even try a sleight of hand check? Note I'm not trying to take the belt away from him, just undo it.
Assuming that the answer to that is "yes, you can try" I can think of a couple scenarios for how that might play out, and I'm not sure how they go together with Invisibility.
Scenario 1
I'm a rogue with the trick Major Magic (Vanish). In order to remove the guy's belt, I have to close with the enemy unfasten it. Would attempting this cancel the invisibility?
Scenario 2
I'm an arcane trickster, and the Ranged Legerdemain class ability lets me use Sleight of Hand remotely within 30 feet. Would doing it this way cancel the invisibility?
Going the other way around, how about planting items on an enemy while invisible? Maybe I'm a sneaky sorcerer with the Shadow Bloodline; I'm invisble, I've just cast Silence on a pebble, and I want to walk over and drop it into the pocket of an enemy spellcaster. I'm thinking this one would pretty clearly let me keep the invisibility, since I'm not affecting them directly.
| AvalonXQ |
Your pantsing scenario is pretty clearly an example of the Dirty Trick combat maneuver. Like other combat maneuvers, this is an attack and will break invisibility, but you do get the benefits of invisibility for purposes of the Dirty Trick itself.
Your second scenario does seem to be a proper use for slight of hand. I'd allow it, but it's something that's going to be a matter of GM interpretation.