Sneak Attack, Spells, and Bloodlines

[Thomas Long 175]

So I'm thinking about making an arcane trickster and I have a few questions that I've seen from time to time but have never really seen resolved.

1. Does Sneak attack take the damage type of the spell that its cast with? (i.e. fire etc)

2. Is sneak attack "part of" the spell its cast with? (scorching ray in this example)

3. Do Metamagic feats only affect base spell dice or sneak attack too?

4. Do bloodlines such as orc and draconic work with sneak attack dice?

5. Does the ability arcane strike work with rays?

example:

Crossblooded (orc and draconic) + Burning Spell + Empower + arcane strike + 8d6 sneak attack

What would it look like?

[Reecy]

1.At 10th level, an arcane trickster can add her sneak attack damage to any spell that deals damage, if the targets are flat-footed. This additional damage only applies to spells that deal hit point damage, and the additional damage is of the same type as the spell. If the spell allows a saving throw to negate or halve the damage, it also negates or halves the sneak attack damage.

2.Yes

3.Base Spell Damage

4.Should

5.No

[Jiggy]

Did you look up all the parts of the Core Rulebook (as well as the Official FAQ) that deal with these topics/abilities to see if maybe some of them are accounted for already?

[Thomas Long 175]

Reecy wrote:

1.At 10th level, an arcane trickster can add her sneak attack damage to any spell that deals damage, if the targets are flat-footed. This additional damage only applies to spells that deal hit point damage, and the additional damage is of the same type as the spell. If the spell allows a saving throw to negate or halve the damage, it also negates or halves the sneak attack damage.

2.Yes

3.Base Spell Damage

4.Should

5.No

I'm not talking about the surprise spell abilities. Sneak attack can affect spells independently of surprise spell so long as they have attack rolls.

Edit: and your response to 1 doesn't even answer the question there. It doesn't say if sneak attack on scorching ray is fire damage :P

Jiggy wrote:

Did you look up all the parts of the Core Rulebook (as well as the Official FAQ) that deal with these topics/abilities to see if maybe some of them are accounted for already?

I have indeed read most of the parts in question. I haven't seen relevant FAQ except for surprise spells.

I've read arguments on 2, 3, and 5 that were never really resolved in as long as I read the thread. If you've got links to any FAQ's that answer the questions that would be most helpful :)

Kinda why I want a paizo answer. The answer you get for especially 3 and 5 seems to be entirely dependent on which player you ask.

[JiCi]

Thomas Long 175 wrote:

1. Does Sneak attack take the damage type of the spell that its cast with? (i.e. fire etc)

2. Is sneak attack "part of" the spell its cast with? (scorching ray in this example)

3. Do Metamagic feats only affect base spell dice or sneak attack too?

4. Do bloodlines such as orc and draconic work with sneak attack dice?

5. Does the ability arcane strike work with rays?

1. Yes, I've read that back in 3.0/3.5, sneaking with spells deals energy damage if any. So a sneaking Scorching Ray is gonna deal fire damage, just like sneaking with a dagger is gonna deal piercing damage. Imagine sneaking with a battle poi, the damage is gonna be fire all the way to the last d6 rolled.

2. Sneak Attack is part of the attack roll, be melee, ranged, melee touch or ranged touch; you just know where to hit to hurt like mad.

3. Sneak attack is independent to metamagic feats, so they are not affected.

4. Yes, like any spell eligible to an attack roll.

5. No, because spells are not "weapons", according to the feat's description.

[David_Bross]

I was thinking similar things, but this is somewhat pertinent

from FAQ
Sneak Attack: Can I add sneak attack damage to simultaneous attacks from a spell?

No. For example, scorching ray fires simultaneous rays at one or more targets, and the extra damage is only added once to one ray, chosen by the caster when the spell is cast.
Spell-based attacks which are not simultaneous, such as multiple attacks per round by a 8th-level druid using flame blade, may apply sneak attack damage to each attack so long as each attack qualifies for sneak attack (the target is denied its Dex bonus or the caster is flanking the target).

—Pathfinder Design Team, 06/19/13