Let's say that a rogue that is flanking a foe gets grappled by the foe. Can the rogue, while grappled, make sneak attacks on the foe, who is still flanked by a threatening ally of the rogue? If the rogue has three attacks, can it make three sneak attacks while grappled as a full round action? Thanks!
Sneak attack is not effected in any way by being grappled, you can continue to make sneak attacks if the conditions for sneak attack are met (foe is flanked, foe is flat footed, or foe doesn't get its dex bonus against you). The only restriction would be can you make your attack with a single hand, since being grappled limits you to one hand.
And the grappled condition applies a -2 to your attack rolls, but you can still definitely full attack and, since you'd be flanking, get your sneak attack damage as well. The thing to remember that changed from 3.5 to Pathfinder is that you don't occupy the same square as the person with whom you're grappling. You're still adjacent which means flanking still happens. If you didn't have flank you wouldn't be able to sneak attack since DEX isn't denied to whoever you're grappling, even though it is denied to everyone else. A nice "combo" my current group uses is a grapple-focused fighter that pins foes while the two weapon wielding rogue goes to town on the poor chump that's pinned. Very effective when we're up against singular opponents or very small groups.
Great, thanks. Yeah, I did have the one handed limitation in mind. It seems like you also don't see any obstacle to making multiple sneak attacks in that situation.
As a follow up regarding flanking, am I right that a player only gets a +2 bonus if the foe is flanked by an ally directly across? That is, no flanking bonus if there is no ally directly across from the player, even if the monster is flanked by two other allies on a different axis? I'm imagining a PC to the south, no PC to the north, but PCs to the east and west of the Monster, if that helps visualize it. In that situation, the PC to the south does not get a +2 even though the monster is almost completely surrounded? I guess the idea is that you need an ally causing the monster to entirely turn its back on the player.
... even though it is denied to everyone else.Being grappled does not deny you your dexterity bonus to AC against anyone.
You're right. I meant to say being pinned makes the opponent flat-footed.
Rohini Soni: Correct, a character isn't flanking just because his allies are flanking.
You're right. I meant to say being pinned makes the opponent flat-footed.... even though it is denied to everyone else.Being grappled does not deny you your dexterity bonus to AC against anyone.
Again, incorrect. Being pinned denies a character his Dex bonus, but that's not the same thing as being flat-footed.
Aright, you got me there. My first printing Pathfinder Core Rulebook says pinned makes them flat-footed. Obviously there's been an errata. The PFSRD shows pinned as denying dex.
Great, thanks. Yeah, I did have the one handed limitation in mind. It seems like you also don't see any obstacle to making multiple sneak attacks in that situation.
As a follow up regarding flanking, am I right that a player only gets a +2 bonus if the foe is flanked by an ally directly across? That is, no flanking bonus if there is no ally directly across from the player, even if the monster is flanked by two other allies on a different axis? I'm imagining a PC to the south, no PC to the north, but PCs to the east and west of the Monster, if that helps visualize it. In that situation, the PC to the south does not get a +2 even though the monster is almost completely surrounded? I guess the idea is that you need an ally causing the monster to entirely turn its back on the player.
Correct, you personally must be on the opposite side of an ally with the creature to get a flanking bonus (see various diagrams in the core rule book for what this entails for creatures that take up more than one 5x5 square).