Hide in plain sight + mosquito bite + Sneak Attack?

[bobthedragon]

If a rogue is hiding with hide in plain sight, and does an attack using mosquito bite, 1) does she get SA damage? 2) Is she still hidden until the beginning of your next round when opponent realizes they have been hit? 3) If you kill someone with mosquito bite, do they collapse dead, or do they stay alive until the beginning of your next round?

[Twilightwyrm]

That depends a bit on whether the creature in question sees/feels the swipe. The Skill Trick only says the target doesn't notice the damage until the next round, it does not say that they don't know they got attacked. Really, this will depend heavily on DM adjudication.
Incidentally, the same goes for the dying the next round. Technically, as soon as you deal enough damage, they die/go unconscious regardless of whether they notice or not. For cinematics sake I may make them take a second to realize, put their hand to their side and pull it away bloody, before slumping over dead, or the like. But it will depend on your DM.

[sideswipe]

That depends a bit on whether the creature in question sees/feels the swipe. The Skill Trick only says the target doesn't notice the damage until the next round, it does not say that they don't know they got attacked. Really, this will depend heavily on DM adjudication.
Incidentally, the same goes for the dying the next round. Technically, as soon as you deal enough damage, they die/go unconscious regardless of whether they notice or not. For cinematics sake I may make them take a second to realize, put their hand to their side and pull it away bloody, before slumping over dead, or the like. But it will depend on your DM.

i recently did this with an npc rogue using a poison ring on another npc with the party, he patted him on the shoulder unexpectedly, the npc turned around and started to walk towards the party and after a few steps slumped over dead. he was technically dead as soon as he was touched.

[Nettlekid]

The Mosquito Bite skill trick states that the target acts like you attacked and missed, not noticing that you actually hit. So to them, they see you leap out of hiding and catching them off guard, but then you missed your attack. They will then notice the damage next round. However, you did still DO the damage with the attack on that turn, and if it kills them then they won't keep standing around until next round, they're dead where they are.

[Oddman80]

Per the spell "Invisibility"

...If the [invisible] subject attacks directly, however, it immediately becomes visible along with all its gear.

And per the Mosquito Bite skill trick's text:

If you use a light weapon to hit a flat-footed opponent, you can choose to have the opponent not realize that it has been hit until the start of your next turn. Instead, that opponent reacts as if you had attacked and missed....This trick doesn't allow the opponent to ignore any of the other effects of your attack, such as ability damage from poison on your blade or falling unconscious when reduced to fewer than 0 hit points.

So, invisibility's rules text says that by just attacking directly, you become visible. So hit or miss, you become visible. This is reinforced by the Mosquito Bite text, that says the target still reacts as if you had attacked (and missed). But hitting wasn't a requirement for the invisibility to be lifted.

You would have better luck with a combination of the Dark Creature Template from the Cromyr campaign book (which allows Hide in Plain Sight without any cover restrictions, so long as you aren't in full daylight) and optimizing your hide check with "shot on the run" or "spring attack". This combo would allow you to move at half speed (no penalty to hide) while striking a foe (ranged/melee) that is flat footed to you, and continue to another location and make a new hide check (at no penalty, as you end your turn in an unexpected location). UMD & a wand of Darkness (or No Light) would be quite useful

[Oddman80]

Wow.... I am an idiot. I could have sworn I had read you were asking about invisibility... I need to go to sleep. Just ignore my above post (except for the fact that the Dark Creature template from Crimyr has the best HiPS ability in 3.5.

[bobthedragon]

currently using HiPs from shadowdancer. just have to be within 10 feet of a shadow that is not my own. pretty easy requirement to meet =)

What if you do the mosquito bite with a light crossbow? Just specifies that it has to be light weapon, not a melee. Would this just use the normal sniping rules?

[Andezzar]

The Mosquito Bite skill trick states that the target acts like you attacked and missed, not noticing that you actually hit. So to them, they see you leap out of hiding and catching them off guard, but then you missed your attack. They will then notice the damage next round. However, you did still DO the damage with the attack on that turn, and if it kills them then they won't keep standing around until next round, they're dead where they are.

There is also this option:

It’s practically impossible (-20 penalty) to hide while attacking, running or charging.

So if the hide check is high enough, you can remain invisible while attacking.

@Oddman80: The invisibility spell works quite differently from being invisible in general. It is not a property of the condition to vanish with an attack. That happens only if the creature is subject of the spell.

[Psyren]

This is actually simple. The opponent "reacts as though you attacked and missed." The question then becomes - how would they react if someone they couldn't see attacked them and missed?

Answer - they wouldn't, because they didn't know anything happened. Provided your hide check still beats their Spot even with the -20 penalty for attacking, they would have no idea.

[Troacctid]

This is actually simple. The opponent "reacts as though you attacked and missed." The question then becomes - how would they react if someone they couldn't see attacked them and missed?

Answer - they wouldn't, because they didn't know anything happened. Provided your hide check still beats their Spot even with the -20 penalty for attacking, they would have no idea.

That actually makes sense. I like that answer.

[Thurbane]

It’s practically impossible (-20 penalty) to hide while attacking, running or charging.

The SRD obviously has not met a Dark Creature Skulk...

[Max Caysey]

I have got to use this ASAP!

[The Viscount]

The SRD obviously has not met a Dark Creature Skulk...

That's...pure evil!

[Talionis]

This is actually simple. The opponent "reacts as though you attacked and missed." The question then becomes - how would they react if someone they couldn't see attacked them and missed?

Answer - they wouldn't, because they didn't know anything happened. Provided your hide check still beats their Spot even with the -20 penalty for attacking, they would have no idea.

We play it like this in our playgroup. I had a Spellthief that liked to steal spells undetected, and enjoyed using Mosquito Bite to have an enemies' spell before combat started.

Now not to overstate the obvious, but as a skill trick you can't keep doing Mosquito Bite over and over in the same encounter (under normal circumstances, ex Uncanny Trickster can do it twice, etc). So the fact that they don't detect the first hit while you are hidden won't necessarily kill them. While you might still be hidden you can't use Mosquito Bite turn after turn till they are dead.