Stealth (Apath)

	Unofficial rules compendium
	Contents 1 Check; 2 Special Situations 2.1 Breaking Stealth; 2.2 Sniping; 2.3 Secondary Senses; 2.4 Alternate Primary Senses; ; 3 Action; 4 External Links;
	Contents 1 Check; 2 Special Situations 2.1 Breaking Stealth; 2.2 Sniping; 2.3 Secondary Senses; 2.4 Alternate Primary Senses; ; 3 Action; 4 External Links;

You are skilled at avoiding detection, allowing you to slip past foes or strike from an unseen position. This skill covers hiding and moving silently.

Check

Your Stealth check is opposed by the Perception check of anyone who might notice you. Creatures that fail to beat your Stealth check are not aware of you and treat you as if you were invisible. You can move up to half your normal speed and use Stealth at no penalty. When moving at a speed greater than half but less than your normal speed, you take a –5 penalty. It's impossible to use Stealth while attacking, running, or charging, but if you started your turn hidden, you retain the benefits of being invisible until the end of your current turn.

Creatures gain a bonus or penalty on Stealth checks based on their size: Fine +16, Diminutive +12, Tiny +8, Small +4, Large –4, Huge –8, Gargantuan –12, Colossal -16.

If people are observing you using their primary sense (typically sight), you can't use Stealth, but there are ways to work around this.

Against most creatures, finding cover or concealment allows you to use Stealth. Note that darkvision and low-light vision allows creatures to see you in conditions of poor light, but it is still possible to use in shadows against such vision, as the contrast between light and dark still affect them.
If your observers are momentarily distracted (such as by a Bluff check), you can attempt to use Stealth, but this only applies as long as the distraction lasts.

Special Situations

Breaking Stealth

When you start your turn using Stealth, you can leave cover or concealment and remain unobserved as long as you succeed at a Stealth check and end your turn in cover or concealment. Your Stealth immediately ends after you make and attack roll, whether or not the attack is successful (except when sniping as noted below).

Sniping

If you've already successfully used Stealth at least 10 feet from your target, you can make one ranged attack and then immediately use Stealth again without moving in between. You take a –20 penalty on your Stealth check to maintain your obscured location.

Secondary Senses

Even if a primary sense is blinded, a creature that has a secondary sense (usually hearing) can use that to locate the presence of a hidden creature. You are allowed to use your Stealth against secondary senses in any circumstance-there is no need for cover or concealment-and successful Perception only gives your general direction - increase the DC by 20 to locate you precisely. Attackers also suffer normal concealment miss chance against you if they can only locate you with a secondary sense.

Alternate Primary Senses

There are some senses that penetrate most cover and concealment. See blindsense and blindsight, tremorsense. Even in this case you can still hide if you use a distraction, or if you manage to somehow conceal yourself against the sense in question, such as masking your scent against scent-based blindsight or not touch the ground against tremorsense.

Action

Usually none. Normally, you make a Stealth check as part of movement, so it doesn't take a separate action. However, using Stealth immediately after a ranged attack (see Sniping, above) is a move action. Special

If you are invisible, you gain a +40 bonus on Stealth checks if you are immobile, or a +20 bonus on Stealth checks if you're moving.
If you have the Stealthy feat, you get a bonus on Stealth checks (see Feats).

External Links

Stealth Discussion at ENworld