I can't find this anywhere and maybe it should be obvious and self explanatory, but I thought I'd ask it here anyway.
So, is Sneak Attack damage independent of weapon damage and Strength bonus, or is normal weapon damage determined first and then Sneak Attack damage added to it. This matters if the attacker has a negative Strength modifier.
Lets say my 3rd level halfling rogue has a 4 Strength due to poison and therefore a -3 Strength modifier. I am stuck fighting with my dagger. When I deal normal damage I deal 1d3-3 damage so I'm dealing 1 nonlethal damage based on the minimum damage rule.
Minimum Damage: If penalties reduce the damage result to less than 1, a hit still deals 1 point of nonlethal damage.
When I'm in a sneak attack situation I get my +2d6 sneak attack damage, but I'm not sure how it is applied. Do I deal 1 nonlethal damage and 2d6 regular damage? Do I roll all damage dice and then subtract my Strength penalty from the total? Am I limited to 1 nonlethal damage if I roll ones on all three dice? Because:
...cannot use a weapon that deals lethal damage to deal nonlethal damage in a sneak attack, not even with the usual –4 penalty.
Is there a line of rules that clearly addresses this or is it just thought to be obvious?
Thanks.
Sneak attack helps an attack overcome DR, so before applying damage to the enemy at all, add everything, then apply.
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The 2d6 is added to the weapon damage. It is not applied seperately.
So if your 1d3 is a 1 and your 2d6 is a 12 the math would be 1-3 + 12 for a total of 10.
Mirror image and concealment stack so you have to get pass the miss chance before an image is affected. You can however close your eyes to only have to deal with the miss chance, and not the images.
As for miss chance stacking you only get the better number so if you have a 20% miss chance and a 50% miss chance then you get a 50% miss chance.
The 2d6 is added to the weapon damage. It is not applied seperately. So if your 1d3 is a 1 and your 2d6 is a 12 the math would be 1-3 + 12 for a total of 10.
That seemed the most logical explanation, but I was hoping for a line of rules that specifically addressed the order of operations for weapon damage, Str modifiers, and sneak attack, and how they interact with the minimum damage rule and how the rule against sneak attacks not being able to deal nonlethal damage except with a sap effects the minimum damage rule when they all apply. I know that sometimes rules don't exist for every tiny interaction. Thanks.
There is no order of operations.
Sometimes an attack has a rider affect. In those cases you have to do damage for the rider affect to work, but sneak attack is not a rider affect.
You don't apply DR twice (once for weapon damage and once for sneak attack), so it's all one damage "pool".