Sneak attacking through Fortification

[jamesburkhouse]

Does anyone know of a way to ignore/ improve the chances of sneak attacking a target who has armor with the Heavy Fortification property? Preferably without having to first sunder or disjunct. Thanks for your time!

[wraithstrike]

There is no way to bypass it. That would defeat the purpose of having it in the game. I will reword that. There are no PF rules that allow it, but there may be 3rd party material that allows it

[jamesburkhouse]

Yea I couldn't find anything either. Thanks anyway!

[Noir le Lotus]

Not sure about this but someone else asked the same questions a few days earlier and one of the answers was the Brillant Energy property => it ignores armour so logocally it should ignore armour magical properties

[Skylancer4]

Noir le Lotus wrote:

Not sure about this but someone else asked the same questions a few days earlier and one of the answers was the Brillant Energy property => it ignores armour so logocally it should ignore armour magical properties

Read the ability again, it specifically bypasses bonuses to AC.

[Corren28]

Mmmm...I dunno about that.

Quote:

A brilliant energy weapon ignores nonliving matter. Armor and shield bonuses to AC (including any enhancement bonuses to that armor) do not count against it because the weapon passes through armor.

I would think brilliant energy would work since it states the weapon passes through the armor, and it negates the enhancement bonus as well as the AC bonus. To specifically say it bypasses bonuses to AC though isn't necessarily true. Dex, deflection, dodge, natural armor, and the like still apply to AC. Pretty sure you're not going to find any RAW though. Best you can hope for is a DM call I think.

[LazarX]

Corren28 wrote:

Mmmm...I dunno about that.

Quote:

A brilliant energy weapon ignores nonliving matter. Armor and shield bonuses to AC (including any enhancement bonuses to that armor) do not count against it because the weapon passes through armor.

I would think brilliant energy would work since it states the weapon passes through the armor, and it negates the enhancement bonus as well as the AC bonus. To specifically say it bypasses bonuses to AC though isn't necessarily true. Dex, deflection, dodge, natural armor, and the like still apply to AC. Pretty sure you're not going to find any RAW though. Best you can hope for is a DM call I think.

I probably would allow it, but then again, I highly doubt that I'll ever see such a weapon owned by a player in PFS.

[Corren28]

In PFS? Oh sweet geebus no! That's a home-game only enchantment. If I ever get my hands on one of those in PFS I am SO not giving it up. :P

[Serisan]

Can always use a good ol' Dispel Magic for 1d4 rounds of suppression.

Quote:

If the object that you target is a magic item, you make a dispel check against the item's caster level (DC = 11 + the item's caster level). If you succeed, all the item's magical properties are suppressed for 1d4 rounds, after which the item recovers its magical properties. A suppressed item becomes nonmagical for the duration of the effect. An interdimensional opening (such as a bag of holding) is temporarily closed. A magic item's physical properties are unchanged: A suppressed magic sword is still a sword (a masterwork sword, in fact). Artifacts and deities are unaffected by mortal magic such as this.

[concerro]

The armor bonus to AC, and its other magical properties are not related. By that logic if I found a way to reduce the armor's AC then I could reduce the effect of fortification.

I am not saying it is logical, but the rules ignore logic in a lot of places.

[Corren28]

On a slightly unrelated note, could you sunder a brilliant energy weapon?

[wraithstrike]

RAW I think so. I don't think it makes sense however.

[jamesburkhouse]

Thanks Serisan, can't believe I didn't think of that myself. Very helpful, thanks again to everyone for your thoughts!

[Odea]

SUNDER THE ARMOR! But only as a standard action?

[Ottovar]

sorry all, Fortification, technically, has nothing to do with armor or even matter, it is a magical force...

This suit of armor or shield produces a magical force that protects vital areas of the wearer more effectively. When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on the wearer, there is a chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is instead rolled normally.

So, RAW actually applies here.