I cannot give you an official answer but I am not sure why there is any confusion.
"Sap Adept (Combat)
You know just where to hit to knock the sense out of your foe.
Prerequisite: Sneak attack +1d6.
Benefit: Whenever you use a bludgeoning weapon to deal nonlethal sneak attack damage, you gain a bonus on your damage roll equal to twice the number of sneak attack damage dice you rolled."
If I use a bludgeoning weapon (like a sap) to deal nonlethal damage during a sneak attack I get the total number of d6's rolled for the sneak attack as a bonus to damage. For example, if I rolled 3d6, then I would get a bonus to damage equal to +3.
"Sap Master (Combat)
You knock the sense out of foes with a well-timed surprise attack.
Prerequisites: Sneak attack +3d6, Sap Adept.
Benefit: Whenever you use a bludgeoning weapon to deal nonlethal sneak attack damage to a flat-footed opponent, roll your sneak attack dice twice, totaling the results as your nonlethal sneak attack damage for that attack."
If my foe is now "flat-footed", then I would get the damage bonus from Sap Adept AND I get to double the amount of d6's I roll for sneak attack. Again, for example, if I rolled 3d6, then I would get a bonus to damage equal to +3 AND I would actually roll 6d6 for sneak attack damage.
Maybe I am missing something but is that the answer you were looking for other than not being from an offical source? The designers to not always reply to posts so the forum members should look to help each other out in this case.
Interetingly, the two posters above me disagree with each other.
BTW, I was unsure about non-lethal sneak attack damage so I looked it up: Any weapon that deals non-lethal damage (hip, sap, unarmed strike, merciful magical weapon, something I forgot) works, but doing non-lethal damage with a lethal weapon doesn't work.
Long story short: Sap Adept adds +2 per sneak attack dice, every sneak attack. Sap Master only works on a flat-footed target - basically, someone who's surprised - not on a flanked or blind target. It doubles your sneak attack dice, but uses a weird wording to make Sap Adept add +2 per die before doubling the number of dice.
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Seems we're all in disagreement, although I admit I errored in my first post. Let me amend my statement:
Rogue with 3d6 sneak attack, wielding a sap, would deal (1d6) + (6d6) + 12
With Sap Master you roll your Sneak Attack dice twice, which in this example means 6d6 total dice rolled. Sap Adept then kicks in, granting you a flat damage bonus equal to twice the number of Sneak Attack dice you rolled, which would be 6x2=12.
Wow. I might just have to make another Rogue character.
Later, either you or a teammate can pick up Shatter Defenses which can render an enemy flat-footed in the middle of combat. If you're already in position, full-attack with at least 6d6+12 sneak attack on each hit ftw!
Teammate is not an option here. Shatter Defenses feat only makes the target flat-footed against attacks of the one who used it.
Benefit: Any shaken, frightened, or panicked opponent hit by you this round is flat-footed to your attacks until the end of your next turn. This includes any additional attacks you make this round.
Sorry, it was late and my mind was clouded when I posted. No, I do not disagree. In my example of a 3d6 sneak attack, it should be +6 damage for the Sap Adept and + 12 for the Sap Master.
I tried to go back and edit but too much time had passed.
Use the Enforcer feat. Hit your opponent (preferably from invisibility), get a free Demoralize, then hopefully benefit from Shatter Defenses to keep them flat-footed to your attacks for the rest of the round. That's sneak attack on every hit, requiring no teammate cooperation (except maybe getting the invisibility).
It makes me sad that more rogues don't focus on maintaining multiple routes to sneak attack. I usually see just stealth or just flanking, etc.
Shatter Defenses doesn't really work all that well either. You will need to have a friend cause either a shaken, freightened, or panicked status on your opponent because while Dazzling Display does allow you to use intimidate to demoralize it requires a full round action to do so. Even then, if you are successful it only causes the shaken condition for 1 round + 1 additional round for every 5 you beat the DC by. The DC is 10 + target HD + wisdom modifier. Assuming you and your target have the same number of HD and you have max ranks in intimaidate you will be ahead by 3 ranks (as it is a class skill) without including the base 10. Depending on your cha modifier and their wisdom those bonus might wash out. Then you still have to roll 8 to beat the DC to make them shaken for one round. So 40% of the time you will probably fail. The chance of actually getting the DC+5 will be about 35%. WHy is this important, because it requires a full round action, which means you could then only attack them if they provoke an attack of oppurtunity from you becasue by the time you are allowed to attack again the one round of shaken has worn off so you need a minimum of two to actually cause the flat footed condition.
With the combination of enforcer, shatter defenses, weapon focus, dazzling display, sap master, and sap adept it is a feat intensive build but then it would allow you to reliable cause flat footed against an opponent to get your double sneak attack damage in lethal damage. At what level could you pull this off? Obviously it would be sooner as a human since you get the bonus feat?
Seems we're all in disagreement, although I admit I errored in my first post. Let me amend my statement:
Rogue with 3d6 sneak attack, wielding a sap, would deal (1d6) + (6d6) + 12
With Sap Master you roll your Sneak Attack dice twice, which in this example means 6d6 total dice rolled. Sap Adept then kicks in, granting you a flat damage bonus equal to twice the number of Sneak Attack dice you rolled, which would be 6x2=12.
Wow. I might just have to make another Rogue character.
This is correct.
one more honourable mention... Bludgeoner. Use B-type weapon to deal nonlethal without penalty, can be used to make NL sneak attack... So:
Earthbreaker:
2d6+6d6+12+str or, 8d6+12+(1.5 * str) sneak attack. (surprise follow-through adds rudeness to this...and orcish rogue archtype)
Sap Master is really great - BUT has the severe downside of only working against FLAT FOOTED opponents - a condition that isn't all that easy to get (not impossible but tricky). Previous posters have suggested some of the complicated tools you may want to explore using to get it.
But that said dishing out 10d6+20 sneak attack (non-lethal) damage per hit at level 9 (or 10 if you multiclassed for feats/abilities) is pretty effective at dropping most foes you hit. Especially if you are able to take multiple attacks while they are flatfooted.
I've been tripped up by this wording before -- for example, with the Arcane Trickster's Surprise Spells class ability, it can only be used on flat-footed opponents. Even if you catch your opponents without their Dex bonus in the middle of combat, it doesn't work for some reason.
However, Shatter Defenses causes an opponent to be flat-footed to your attacks . . . even though flat-footed is the condition you have before you act in initiative. So this build still works, because even though there's a weird limitation on it, Shatter Defenses allows you to qualify for that weird limitation.
I'd really like it if the devs just eliminated nearly all mention of Flat-footed from the game outside of the condition itself. Surprise Spells and Sap Master work on opponents denied their Dex bonus. Shatter Defenses causes the target to lose its Dex bonus. Wipe it out of the grease spell description.
The fact that flat-footed is almost synonymous with losing your Dex bonus makes its mechanics confusing to new players - and heck, apparently even to me.
You know who this absolutely doesn't work on though?
The third level paladin immune to fear.
Or anything immune to fear.
Talent: Surprise Follow-through :D Cleave target is flat-footed... ^_^
level 8 rogue with scout archetype. Using Bludgeoner to shoot blunt arrows could have Sap Master goodness happening every turn. Downside is 1 attack a turn and only really works from lvl8. Upside is that it could happen every turn and it is less feat intensive allowing for vital strike to add to the mix.
Talent: Surprise Follow-through :D Cleave target is flat-footed... ^_^
Unless a ninja/rogue can get a special talent that changes Surprise Follow Through from denying a target its dex to flat-footed (and we know there is a difference) that doesn't help.