BACKstab?

[obcidian_bandit]

Oh great rules monkeys, hear our call!

We are having this conversation which brought up an issue we remember being discussed, but not clearly a ruling (it may have been lost to the old board and not re-posted).

What is a legal target for a Backstab?
Is it simply any place on the rear side of the person (including arms, legs, buttock, etc), so long as the attack is delivered from behind (as defined in the book)?
Or, is the target limited to "Hips to neck, shoulder to shoulder" (literally, on the back)?

 

[Polare]

Both Back Attack and Assassinate refer only to 'being behind' an opponent:

(Back Attack wording)
"... against any one opponent from behind for the duration of the
battle ..." and "You must be behind and able to see the victim's
shoulder blades to inflict..."

(Assasinate wording)
"... can only be inflicted from behind ..."
and
"You must be behind and able to see the victim's shoulder blades..."

While Backstab is worded like so:

"... any foe they can hit in the back while standing behind the
person. You must be behind the victim and able to see the victim's
shoulder blades..."

The *intent* for Backstab is to only require someone to be behind their opponent.

Thus, the following will be added to the current rulebook addendum:

Page 42, under the "Backstab" description, remove "they can hit in the
back while standing behind the person" from the first sentence. This
makes the description read, "This skill allows a character to do an
extra two points of damage to any foe. You must be behind the victim
and able to see the victim's shoulder blades to inflict a Backstab..."

In other words, a Backstab (like a Back Attack and an Assassinate) can be done anywhere on the target's body as long as you are behind them. If you are behind them and can see their shoulderblades, you can add Backstab damage no matter where you strike (for instance, "hamstringing" your target by striking them in the back of the calf).

-Bryan