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This has been hinted around at in some other threads, but what's the definitive answer?

Player's Handbook- page 88:

Vow of Enmity. As a bonus action, you can utter a vow of enmity against a creature you can see within 10 feet of you, usin your Channel Divinity. You gain advantage on attack rolls against the creature for 1 minute or until it drops to 0 hit points or falls unconscious.

Player's Handbook- page 96:

Sneak Attack. Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a foe's distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon."

So (keeping it simple), if a level 3 Vengeance Paladin/Level 1 Rogue who is using a Scimitar (Finesse Weapon) has VoE on his target, can he add sneak attack to his damage roll once per round without resorting to trying to hide or use stealth?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ For question in the last sentence: it should be Turn, not round. You may also want to include that there aren't any effects giving the character disadvantage. \$\endgroup\$
    – Drunk Cynic
    May 3, 2016 at 4:15
  • \$\begingroup\$ My question did not include the word "guarantee" nor was it implied. I disagree with that edit to my question. \$\endgroup\$
    – Z.Moe
    May 3, 2016 at 15:27
  • \$\begingroup\$ You can edit your question to remove the "guarantee" wording or rollback the edit. \$\endgroup\$
    – Christopher
    May 4, 2016 at 13:13
  • \$\begingroup\$ It doesn't look like the word impacted the answers, so it's all good (I was worried we would get a list of every variable that removes Advantage, which would not really be the question), as it is it seems fine. \$\endgroup\$
    – Z.Moe
    May 4, 2016 at 14:22

2 Answers 2

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Do you have advantage on the attack roll? Vow of Enmity gives you advantage on attacks for a minute. This assumes there are no effects giving the character disadvantage, balancing everything out to nil.

Is the Weapon Finesse? Scimitars are finesse.

You do an extra d6 of damage.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ or more like, eventually 8d6 or something. sneak attack damage is brutal at higher levels \$\endgroup\$
    – Nemenia
    May 3, 2016 at 5:27
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Nemenia Such a statement would require knowing how many levels of Rogue the Paladin/Rogue is going to take. It's 3/1 now, per the question. \$\endgroup\$
    – Drunk Cynic
    May 3, 2016 at 5:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ @PremierBromanov yes, but the question is paired down for the sake of simplicity. Advantage via VoE + Finesse Weapon = Sneak Attack is GO. In our example the sample character has ONLY one attack per round, he is using a finesse weapon, and the example has NO counter disadvantage presented. So in the scenario presented the answer is YES, he can use sneak attack. \$\endgroup\$
    – Z.Moe
    May 3, 2016 at 15:34
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Z.Moe I thought that was fairly obvious, just pointing out that it's not permanent for future users. \$\endgroup\$
    – Premier Bromanov
    May 3, 2016 at 16:02
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If you have advantage you get sneak attack damage.

If you also have disadvantage as well then you no longer have advantage and you don't.

However, this is the hard way to get sneak attack.

The easy way is to have any ally stand next to your target: the fighter, the mage's familiar, the ranger's animal companion etc. A rogue should get sneak attack almost every round without needing advantage; particularly if they use ranged weapons since they can opportunistically target those enemies who are in melee.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I know you were just filling in the gaps (thank you), and all those details are accurate. I'm trying to stick to the Scimitar + Shield discussion, because this is less about the best way to use Sneak Attack and more about the pally w/VoE adding Sneak Attack to a Scimitar strike (assuming all variables coincide) because thematically it makes a lot of sense (VoE + Hunter's Mark + Sneak Attack means "I will fight YOU by ANY MEANS NECESSARY") \$\endgroup\$
    – Z.Moe
    May 3, 2016 at 19:20

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