the thief and stalker's backstabbing ability have surely been an awesome element that some of us players like while others adore. these chars gets multipliers for their strike simply because it is done on the back of it's victims. but how about being shoot from the back? we have bows and crossbows, darts and slings, and several throwable melee weapons. although i never tried it before, i think that shooting an enemy at the back gets no bonus at all.

the question now would be:

would you like to have bonus/es for missile finding it's targets BACK (let's keep it sinple and limit it to characters with backstabbing ability)? and justify it.

i myself have had this same questuion and spent 1 hour proving myself wrong... i have found that no matter what the backstab doesnt work with missle weapon:aww::aww::aww this kinda suks but the theif is still my favorite character...

Back stabbing with the sword works because the sword goes throught someones body instanly.(also you get time to aim for the heart.)Using missile weapons takes aot of time and is hard to aim with.Thats why you cannot backstab with missile weapons.

Yet again logic saves the day.:D:D:D:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

This will solved with the 3e rules and the sneak attack, there you snek up to an enemy and attack a vulverable spot for extra damage. There you ccan use every weapon.

However, backstabbing really is nothing but the emulation of the murderous effects of cutting a throat or stabbing someone a shortsword (or whatever) in the bakc or (though now that really sucks) crushinbg someones head with a well aimed blow with a club. That doesn't really apply for a ranged weapon.

For precisely attacking someone ranged there is the archer with his ability "called shot".

ragusa,

it is nice to know that the new rules would permit extra damages for sneak attacks with any weapon. i can finally role-play like a sniper with my archer, ranger or thief.

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padine,

logic tells me that if i am a sniper from a distance trying to shoot an unsuspecting victim, i actually had more time to take an aim than trying to sneak up behind the victim for a backstab. and unlike using a melee weapon, a range attacker (with stealth) can actually shoot the victim right in front of him without the victim ever knowing it (something a backstabber cannot do). missile attacks are slow, really? you think you spot an arrow streaking straight into your back or even your heart? it only takes a blink of an eye and you'll probably catched the arrow with your body.

have you seen "enemy at the gates" (e. harris, j. fiennes, r. weisz), that's a classic ranged attack and the sniper is not behind the enemies. i think he killed four before the enemies realized what was happening. with proper technique, a sniper attacker actually had better opportunites than a backstabber. don't get me wrong, i'm not trying to say that ad&d ranged attackers should be able to duplicate the movie, but generally, i strongly believed that a ranged "sneak" attack can be as lethal as a backstab, probably even more dangerous.

Don't forget we are talking about a demigod here, not a normal person :D

Ragusa has it, 3e Rules set adds an 'X'd6 (whereas 'X' is a number 1 - 10[possibly more if you take another class with sneak attack]). And as long as you are within 30 feet of your target, anything can be used for a sneak attack, though some spells will lenghten it abit.

But this isnt 3e rules, NWN and IWDII will have that. BGII on the other hand doesnt allow you to backstab with a bow'an'arrow though it should since you are only supposed to back stab with peircing weapons.. and thats what arrows are.
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noir,
A very achomplished sniper can take out half a squad of men, and in the ensuing confusion move to another place and take out acouple more. Then again, you ha to be very good for such a thing :D

:). i like debhaal stasion's comment about "half the squad" and yes, i am aware of the possibility (that's for an elite sniper). but let's remember that in ad&d, bows and crossbows (excluding magic) are the most lethal ranged weapon. i was actually thinking more of the first "sneak" shot (for simplicity). just like a backstab, only the first one counts. you know when you backstab you see a backstab succesfull comment with it's corresponding multiplier, i like to see a "sneak-shot succesfull" with it's corresponding multiplier (which should actually be higher than the archer's "called shot").