From Thrandorian to the DMG regarding A.T.D.M.'s Guild question #1:  I received only one response to this question. I play 1st edition which does not include Rogues so I felt like staying out of this one. I hope the answer provided is helpful:

More93630: The sneak attack is one that our play group has gone over and over and over in repeated detail, ad nausium... but one of the useful things that came out of it was this... The rogue can sneak attack in one of TWO conditions.

These conditions are listed as either or, not both. If something causes an individual to "loose their Dexterity Mod" (ie flat footed, or if the rogue in question is "flanking" an opponent then they may be sneak attacked. Later on the rogue gains the ability that will prevent them from being flanked... but until then they CAN be sneak attacked.

Gaining this ability will make it harder to sneak the thief, but if they can be flanked, then they can still be sneaked... at least that was the conclusion our play group came up with... Hope it helps.

Responses to Question #2

Dan McNamara: Ok let me get this right , flying invisble caster... unless u got blind fight it doesnt help much to try to attck him for that you are not porficeint with attacking things you cant see, if you did have blind fighting, it would depend on his range and if when flying he would make the woooshhing noise, and his spells when making then noise would help alot. but if he is silent you would not be able to cast MM without having a HIGH chance on not hitting him. I hope this helped...

Dennis Jensen : Let's look at the spells themselves where it says: Magic Missile "The missile strikes unerringly even if the target is is in melee or has anything less than total cover or concealment." Invisibility "The spell ends if the subject attacks any creature." This means (to me) that the target is invisible until he makes his attack (thus attack is completed). Also you can not target an invisible creature with Magic Missile since they have complete concealment. So there is no way to disrupt the the Ogre Magi under the stated circumstances with a magic missile.

Mike: This might be my second edition knowledge coming through but doesn't magic missle explicitly say you have to see the target? Regardless, the whole idea of being invisible is to gain a one time advantage, so I would make it so that the spell goes off and then he becomes visible, with no chance to disrupt. Also, readying an action just lets you take your action after a certain string of consequences occur, in this case, I would let you tie the ogre mages initiative, which still doesnt prevent his casting successfully.

Mat Picone : You haven't said what the Ogre Mage is casting while flying invisibly.

Adaen: Yes, that is very important. If it is not an attack, the Ogre Mage would not become visible.

Karlan Talkington : Also this is more on the clarification of improved invisibility... I was talking this over with a friend and no where in the 3rd ed spell "Improved Invisibility" does it say the target becomes visible. It only says it works as Invisibility but the spell does not end if the target attacks. Since the only reason you become visible with Invisibility is because the spell ends, why would you become visible with Improved Invisibility? I would say the person holding the action would have be close enough to get a spot or listen check (DC 20 to spot the general area of an invisible target and a miss chance of 50%) to use his held/readied action. So it doesn't matter if the spell cast is harmful or not. :)

Starlight Storyteller : Depending on what he is casting, he may not appear at all as he casts. (You only appear if you attack. "Cone of Cold", he'll appear. "Detect good," he won't. I don't know what spells an ogre mage has off the top of my head, but only an attack one would cause him to become visible before or after casting.) There are provisions in the rules for noticing an invisible caster at certain distances with Spot. (I think 50 feet is covered in the epic book, but closer ranges, like 5, are in the PHB.)

However, even if you made that spot check, it would only allow you to know where he was in order to attack him (with a 50% miss chance for a successful hit), not target a Magic Missile at him since you can't target a magic missile at a target you can't see, and even "noticing" the character is there invisible is still not the same as "seeing" them. If I were the DM in that situation, I would say the Ogre Mage comes out of invisibility when he attacks and that he has not attacked until his spell is finished, so a readied action would go off after he had already finished his spell. (So, not quick enough to disrupt it but having a readied action still helps as you get to take the shot with a MM at him before he has a chance to vanish again, assuing he had any other actions such as haste, etc.)

I might make an exception to this if the character casting the disrupting spell had Quicken Spell. I would, however, let a person take a shot with a bow...or even another spell that didn't require seeing the target, such as...oh...fireball. Providing they made their spot check (some DMs might allow listen for this at a similar difficulty) to notice where the casting was coming from even through the invis well enough to target (Targetting a fireball in "that general area" being a much lower difficulty for the spot/listen than targetting a bow into the actual ogre.) The only reason I wouldn't allow MM is that it requires sight to target. Hope that helps. It's by no means the only way to go with that call. Depends on whether you want invis or readied action to be the more potent of those two options. And depends on how you want your players to turn around and use that ruling later.

Karlan Talkington: I guess it would help to know what you are talking about... Forgot Ogre Mages have "invisibility 1/day" not Improved... DOH! I would say if the spell was an attack the invisibility would end after the spell went off... because the chanting and such is not an attack.. finishing the spell is. SO again the readied action would need a succesful spot/listen but it would ahve to be a bow, as MM requires line of sight.

Adaen: I would concur. This is another reason why I don't like that MagicMissle always hits. They had to limit its power somehow, so they made it do slightly less damage than a variant (which I think Monty Cook has on his site) that needed a "ranged touch attack" roll and mandated line of site. Just MO of course.

Mat Picone : In the videogame versions published by Black Isle (Baldur's Gate, et al) an enemy spellcaster becomes visible as they begin to chant/gesture in attack.

Adaen: Yes they do....I believe this was a program decision. I don't think the rules in 3E (or any of the other editions for that matter) have someone become visible until the attack occurs. Any one else want to weigh in here? I guess how I would handle the issue would be to run it like your DM did (with the super hard spot checks).....but I've been known to disregard what I consider to be "rules that do not model things the way I want them to". Your mileage will vary.

Karlan Talkington: Baldur's Gate also was not written with 3e rules. That aside rules in a game system do not always translate well into video games so they fudge them a little. So just because its in Baldur's Gate or any other vid game doesn't give much credit as to how the pen and paper rules will act.

Gedvonder (for "Red"): >>>"You haven't said what the Ogre Mage is casting while flying invisibly.">>> He's casting Cone of Cold. Honestly, though does it matter?

Adeaen: Actually, yes. If he isn't overtly *attacking* with a spell, he doesn't become visible. If he was casting healing on himself or teleport (to escape), he wouldn't become visible (at least in the official rules).

Jamie Scott : RE: Baldurs Gate :True, but I think in this case it does reflect accurately the definition of an attack, which in my opinion would be when the action is begun, not when the damage actually occurs. I'm trying to make a parallel to the (real world) legal definition of assault- which I'm fairly sure is committed before a blow lands (or even if the blow misses). Karlan Talkington wrote:Baldur's Gate also was not written with 3e rules. That aside rules in a game system do not always translate well into video games so they fudge them a little. So just because its in Baldur's Gate or any other vid game doesn't give much credit as to how the pen and paper rules will act.

Karlan Talkington : Ok if we want to look at it from a real world aspect... Let say someone throws a punch at you but misses. He never hit you so its NOT assault.. its attempted assault. Your person must be touched in order for assault charges to be brought up.. thus, its not an actual attack unless damage is done. So an Ogre Mage can chant and wave his arms about all he wants... until he actually hits you with something its not an attack.

Adaen: A blow does not even need to be attempted for a real world assualt to occur. I believe threatening to hit someone can land you in jail on assault charges. However, I feel you should run you game the way *you*, the DM think it ought to work....just be consistent. Keep in mind, however, that if balance is important to you (which it isn't to me for every game), you may be disturbing it a little. Just my opinion, of course.

Starlight Storyteller : Actually, in some states "assault" can be applied to threatening someone. A blow doesn't have to land...or even be going to land...if it sounds like a legitimate threat. ;) The "battery" part of "assault and battery" involves a beating just about everywhere, I think... I'd still say in D&D, though, that to "attack" someone so that invisibility is negated, you have to follow through with an attack. Otherwise, someone drawing back a bow to "cover" someone from invisibility would pop into view because they are preparing and attack and have actually taken the first step of that attack (by cocking the bow). And I'd say it doesn't work that way.

Gedvonder: I think that when you start comparing D&D situations to the real world law, you begin to travel down a slippery slope. I posted this same question to three Yahoo! groups, ENWORLD, Wizards of the Coast Message Boards, and to rec.frp.d&d on USENET. The after looking at all of these different opinions and options, and looks at the rule book, invisible creatures/people do not appear until after the spell completes. Furthermore if the attack that they make fails, (ie a miss) they still become visible. This is the most balanced method, as invisibility is only a 2nd level spell, and is also the majority opinion on all of the forums.

Mat Picone : >>>" So an Ogre Mage can chant and wave his arms about all he wants... Until he actually hits you with something its not an attack.">>>

Utterly ridiculous. Any attack begins with decisive intent.

Harlequin 1998: What causes the invisibility to go in the first place? The rules say it goes when you attack, but doesn't say why. Perhaps if we could answer that question, we can solve the problem.

Mat Picone : Take your pick. Any of these and a thousand other answers will do... Theory

1) The magical shielding that is insulating you from the visible spectrum needs to dissipate to allow your magic out Theory

2) The Flow of magic through you into "invisibility" is temporarily disrupted while your focus is turned to the new spell Theory

3) hile you are invisible, the new spell is not, so its glow, flash, or trail reveals your location Theory

4) The essence of magical invisibility is uniquely at odds with the stuff of other spells, like an acid to a base Theory

5) Magic condenses like raindrops from humid air, ghosting the image of the spellcaster as its power is focused Theory 6) etc. etc. etc.