How do sneak attacks work?

[Netzach Sloth]

I keep getting sneak attacked in the face by bandits right in front of me; how do I stop this from happening.

[Netzach Sloth]

Seriously, I stab the guy in the face, then he stabs me back in the face with a sneak attack? He's not sneaking, I see him right in front of me. Is it because I'm playing a magus? Does Spell Combat give them the ability to sneak attack me in the face?

[Karjus]

Due to the fact there is no positional damage (ala PoE), all it takes to flank someone is multiple opponents attacking 1 person. So, all it needs is 2 people attacking one person to open yourself up to bonus damage.

[Sigmarsson]

I think rogues get a sneak attack if there are two people attacking the same character, also known in this game as flanking.

[Roadie]

In the TRPG rules you can sneak attack if you flank a creature (that is, you and an ally are attacking from opposite sides). It seems like the game might be treating "flanked" as a global condition rather than a per-attacker thing, though. It's supposed to be "you are flanking", not "the creature is flanked".

[Mr.Suitss]

Sneak atk works well flanking. So if two people are next to you it counts as a flank so sneak atk goes off.

[Jami]

Think of it less as a backstab like in the old IE games and more like taking advantage of an opponent who is distracted by someone else.

[praguepride]

You can sneak attack by flanking and flanking just means 2+ allies engaging a target in melee. Positioning like in the tabletop game was too diffiicult to do realtime so they altered flanking that way. This does mean that Rogues get a HUGE power boost in combat and my dual-wielding rogue can regularly put out 30+ pts of damage a round at only lvl 4.

[Nuee]

My rogue/mage hitting with a bow get periodic sneak attacks because she is attacking the same target as the rest.

[Mr.Suitss]

Also works on anged sneak. Stand back and get free sneak atks every atk.

[Lord Koth]

This does all mean the two Teamwork feats regarding flanking are actually a fairly decent idea to get on your melee people if you've got the feat space (or Inquisitors just making extremely easy use of them).

[AzureTheGamerKobold]

Originally posted by Netzach Sloth:

I keep getting sneak attacked in the face by bandits right in front of me; how do I stop this from happening.

you are flanked, if you are flanked then you can be sneak attacked so if is a nearby bandit you are now flanked.

[Morgian]

Sneak attack is vastly more powerful than in pen & paper, as no proper flanking position is required. I gave Valerie rogue levels and that is as if adding the sneak attack damage right onto the base weapon damage, because there is always one of the other melees next to her.

[Clockwork_Golem]

Also do not forget Initiative - that is, if you/he go first the char score a sneak attack (opponent is considered flat-footed if you attack it before it 'move'). In game mechanic that doesn't seem to take in account actual moving across the board but only who attack first.