Stealth (Apath)

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The stealth rules are pretty unclear. Every time I talk with someone, it seems there is a new interpretations. Do you need cover and distraction, or just one of them? What constitutes a distraction? How often do you roll out of combat? Can you even use Stealth in combat? I decided to try and straighten out some of these question-marks.

Much of this article is merely recapitulation and interpretation; I explain the Stealth rules as I understand them. But certain parts are either new or rewritten.

State of alertness, group stealth, and taking 10 are new rules.

Invisibility has been made to confirm more closely to the normal Stealth rules. Rather than having its own rule for when a character is pinpointed or merely spotted, it uses the general state of alertness rule.

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.

Hiding

You are usually either hidden against all enemies or not hidden at all; as long as your enemies communicate, they are able to point out your location to each other if any of them know where you are. Sometimes this can be to your advantage; an enemy who reports your location to its allies might make sounds which can reveal its own location. If you are already in hiding when a possible observer enters the scene, you remain hidden until you act, the enemy moves into a position that prevents your Stealth, or an enemy takes an action to make a Perception check that beats your Stealth. If you have successfully used Stealth, you are effectively invisible. You gain a +2 bonus on the attack roll, and the opponent cannot apply its Dexterity bonus to armor class. This allows you to use the sneak attack ability. Only your first attack gains this benefit. Attackers don't know where you are, and must guess at a square to attack in. Even if they do pick the right square, they still suffer 50% miss chance due to total concealment.

Unaware Condition
To make Stealth easier to use the GM may use the unaware condition.

An intelligent creature that does not expect trouble is unaware. This applies to most noncombatants, and to combatants who are not expecting trouble or standing on guard. An unaware creature always takes 10 on perception checks. They are often distracted as well. When a creature fails an opposed Stealth check against an unaware enemy, the enemy does not spot the stealthy creature, but looses the unaware condition.

Table Compound Stealth Modifiers

This table has all Stealth and the relevant Perception modifiers in a single table. All are expressed as modifiers to Stealth, but can just as well be reversed to be modifiers to Perception. The “when entering stealth” modifiers only count actions during the current turn and only applies to Stealth checks to hide, not to checks to remain hidden. Situation modifiers are environmental conditions such as light, noisy surfaces, leaving a trail, a dense crowd, or unlikely hiding places. Extreme situation modifiers are such things as raging fires, wading in water or mud, a riot, or sneaking past a sentry.

Table: Compound Stealth Modifiers
Stealthy creature is… Stealth Modifier
In improved cover +10†
Invisible or total concealment +20†
Situation modifier +/-2
Extreme situation modifier +/-5
When entering Stealth
In combat or speaking –20
Moving at half speed or more –5
Running or charging –20
Observer is...
Some distance away +1 per 10 feet
Distracted +5
Asleep +10

† These modifiers are halved if the observer is adjacent to the obstacle or in a very quiet environment; anytime you could hear incidental noises like breathing. The details of how to hide are somewhat obscure. This is an attempt to clear up the different situations where Stealth checks to hide are needed.

Going Into Hiding

To use stealth to hide you must move (including a 5 ft. step) and cannot have any enemy in your reach. As you can only move once in your turn, you can only go into hiding once on your turn. You also need to satisfy one of these conditions against every potential observer.

  • The observer is inside the reach of an enemy (typically one of your allies).
  • The observer is being distracted by a Bluff check to create a diversion to hide.
  • You have cover (not including soft cover) or concealment against the observer.

Remain in Hiding

Once you have successfully used Stealth to hide, new Stealth checks are only needed if you take an action other than a free action. You can take free actions and 5 ft. steps without having to make a Stealth check.

Avoiding a Search

If you are hidden, a new Stealth check is needed when a possible observer spends an action to make a Perception check. If the observer succeeds on this check, you are spotted and no longer hidden.

Automatically Leaving Stealth

If you run, make an attack, or take an obvious action (such as speaking to satisfy a verbal component) you leave Stealth immediately after the action. (Exception === sniping.) You can attempt to resume hiding, but usually do so at a penalty, see Table === Compound Stealth Modifiers. If, on another creature's turn, you do not fulfill any of the conditions for going into Stealth against that creature, you are automatically spotted.

Hide Others

You can hide an object or a creature that remains absolutely still. This uses your Stealth skill modifier, plus a size modifier of +4 for every size category what you are hiding is smaller than you, or -4 per size category if larger than you. As soon as a creature hidden this way takes any action or moves even 5 ft., it must use its own Stealth skill.

Shadowing

In a setting that regularly provides concealment or cover, such as a forest or crowded street, Stealth can be used to unobtrusively follow another creature. This is handled with an opposed roll of Stealth vs. Perception. Range penalties do not apply, the distance between shadow and quarry varies from moment to moment. The marathon stealth rules can be used here.

Non-Combat Stealth

Do not use these rules in combat; they are intended for avoiding combat.

Group Stealth

When a group of creatures tries to move stealthily the following procedure can be used. Each character makes a Stealth check. Use the best result; the character who rolled the best result is on point and the first to enter new areas. Each character beyond the character with the best roll penalizes the main character's Stealth check by -4. If a character's Stealth check was 10 or more the penalty for that character is reduced to -2. This is a variant of the aid other action. Characters can hang back to lessen the impact they have on the main character's Stealth check. Being 50 ft. away or behind a corner allows a character to not roll Stealth and always provide only a -2 penalty. If the distance is 100 ft. or more or the character is behind a closed door, the character doesn't count at all.

Marathon Stealth

Using Stealth over long distances can quickly grow repetitive. To simplify the process, assume that both sides are taking 10 until the point of greatest risk; that is when the chance of being spotted is greatest, or at 30 ft. range if approaching an observer that closely. Apply a –4 penalty on the first Stealth check to represent the cumulative risk of multiple observations. The GM should always require Stealth checks at obstacles, such as when climbing a fence or wading a moat. Note that it is possible to avoid having to use marathon stealth by taking only 5 ft. steps and remaining in cover; as noted above this requires no Stealth checks.

Conditions For Going Into Stealth

To hide using stealth, you need to satisfy two conditions, you need to be under cover or concealment, and all observers need to be distracted.

Distraction

An observer is distracted if one of the following applies:

  • The creature has a visible enemy (typically one of your allies) closer than you are.
  • The creatures is being distracted by a Bluff check.
  • You have total cover or total concealment against the creature.

Note that a distraction is only required to hide when you are currently being seen. If an opponent can't see you or you are already hidden, you don't need a distraction.

Cover or Concealment

In order to hide, you need to have cover or concealment against all hostile observers.

Moving From Cover to Cover

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. Remember to apply movement modifiers to the rounds Stealth check.

Being Discovered

You roll Stealth checks to hide on your own turn, but sometimes you can be discovered by enemies during their turns. Creatures can spend a move action to make a Perception check opposed to your Stealth to spot you. All Perception modifiers apply, but situation modifiers to Stealth are ignored.

When an enemy moves in a way that negates your cover and/or concealment, and when an enemy moves adjacent to you or into your space, that enemy is allowed an opposed Perception check to spot you as a free action.

If you are attacked while in Stealth, you must make an opposed Stealth check as a free action to remain hidden; apply any hit point damage you took from the attack as a penalty on your Stealth check.

States of Alertness

The reason a character usually needs cover or concealment to use Stealth is tied to the fact that characters can’t use Stealth while being observed.

Precise and Imprecise Senses: Since Perception covers all senses, it is important to distinguish which of those senses count as observing a creature that is using Stealth. Some senses are more precise than others. Imprecise senses allow a creature to pinpoint the location of another creature, but they don’t allow for the use of targeted effects, and attacks against those creatures are subject to miss chances from concealment. A few examples of imprecise senses are hearing, scent, blindsense, and tremorsense. A sense is precise if it allows the creature to use targeted effects on creatures and objects it senses, and to attack enemies without suffering a miss chance from concealment. This includes vision, touch, blindsight, and lifesense. Precise senses allow the creature to pinpoint an enemy’s location. Senses other than the listed ones count as precise or imprecise at the GM’s discretion. A creature might have a limited form of a sense that makes it too weak to count as precise, such as a beast with primitive eyes that has difficulty seeing a creature that isn’t moving.

Cover and Concealment for Stealth: When a creature uses a precise sense to observe an enemy, that enemy is unable to use Stealth against the observer unless it creates a distraction first, or has a special ability allowing it to do so. A sneaking character needs to avoid all of an opponent’s precise senses in order to use Stealth, and for most creatures, that means vision. A blur spell, shadowy area, or a curtain work nicely. The hide in plain sight class ability allows a creature to use Stealth while being observed and thus avoids this whole situation. As the Core Rulebook mentions, a sneaking character can come out of cover or concealment during her turn, as long as she doesn’t end her turn where other characters are directly observing her.

States of Awareness: In general, there are five states of awareness that a creature can have with regard to another creature using Stealth.

Relaxed: Not only does the creature not perceive the sneaker, but he does not suspect the presence of an enemy. A relaxed creature takes 10 on all perception checks, which helps a sufficiently skilled. A relaxed observer is also often distracted.

A relaxed creature temporarily becomes unaware after a single failed Stealth check. A creature that was that sees a plausible explanation for what created the disturbance that made them unaware but alert (often the result of a successful Bluff check) returns to being relaxed, otherwise it remains unaware for 10 minutes. It is easier to maintain alertness when moving; but this reduces your speed to half. Moving at normal speed and being alert is as tiring as moving at a hustle.

Unaware: A sneaking creature can succeed at Stealth well enough that the other creature isn’t even aware that the creature is present. This state allows the sneaking creature to use abilities such as the vigilante’s startling appearance. The Stealth skill description in the Core Rulebook says that perceiving creatures that fail to beat a sneaking character’s Stealth check result are not aware of the sneaking character, but that is different from being totally unaware. This is also true of a creature that has previously been made aware of the creature’s presence or location (see below) but is currently unable to observe the sneaking creature. In those cases, the sneaking creature can’t use abilities such as startling presence.
Aware of Presence: The next state is when the perceiving creature is aware of the sneaking creature’s presence, though not of anything beyond that. This is the state that happens when an invisible creature attacks some one and then successfully uses Stealth so the perceiving creature doesn’t know where the attacker moved, or when a sniper succeeds at her Stealth check to snipe. A perceiving creature that becomes aware of a hidden creature’s presence will still be aware of its presence at least until the danger of the situation continues, if not longer (though memory-altering magic can change this).
Aware of Location: The next state is awareness of location. This happens when a perceiving character uses an imprecise sense, such as hearing or tremorsense, to discover what square a hidden or invisible creature inhabits.
Observing: The final state is when the perceiving character is able to directly observe the sneaking character with a precise sense, such as vision. This is generally the result when the perceiving character rolls higher on its opposed Perception check than the sneaking character’s Stealth result while also having line of sight to the sneaking character and the ability to see through any sort of invisibility or other tricks the sneaking character might be using.

Camouflage and Hiding Objects

A creature can use Stealth to try and hide an object or even another creature. This is a full-round action for each 5 ft. square to be camouflaged, and uses the size modifiers of the creature or object to be hidden. All normal conditions for Stealth must be fulfilled. Use the stealth bonus of the creature that did the hiding rather than that of the hidden creature, making checks as required when observers could see through the camouflage. If the object or creature moves or is moved, this use of Stealth ends. Camouflage netting is useful in this situation.

Group Stealth

When a group tries to move stealthily the following procedure can be used. Do not use this rule in combat or against aware opponents; it is intended for groups trying to avoid combat.

Each character makes a Stealth check. Use the best result. Each character beyond the character with the best roll penalizes the main character's Stealth check by -4. If a character's Stealth check was 10 or more the penalty for that character is reduced to -2. This is a variant of the Aid Other action.

Characters can hang back to lessen the impact they have on the main character's Stealth check. Being 50 ft. behind a door or corner allows a character to not roll Stealth and always provide a -2 penalty. If the distance is 100 ft. or more, the character doesn't count at all.

Shadowing

In a setting that regularly provides concealment or cover, such as a forest or crowded street, Stealth can be used to unobtrusively follow another creature. This is handled with an opposed roll of Stealth vs. Perception, and targets generally begin unaware.

The shadow needs to stay close to not lose sight of his quarry, but also remain behind cover at all times. Range penalties do not apply, instead the distance between shadow and quarry varies from moment to moment. At any given time, the distance is 2d6 x 10 ft., or 1d6 x 10 ft. in very tight terrain or dense crowds.

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 as a move action without becoming visible in between. You take a –20 penalty on your Stealth check to maintain your obscured location. If you pass this check, you were never visible, and targets have no idea where you are.

Note that if sniping fails, you can take a 5 ft. step and fulfill the conditions on entering Stealth at the beginning of a round. This grants the attack advantages of Stealth and avoids all circumstance penalties due to your actions in the previous round. You will end your turn visible.

Special Cases

Camouflage and Hide in Plain Sight

Rangers and some other characters gain improved stealth abilities. The rangers camouflage class feature and similar abilities means you always have concealment for the purpose of Stealth. Hide in plain sight means you can always have cover and all observers are considered distracted. These benefits only apply to the use of Stealth; they offer no combat advantages.

Invisibility

Invisibility denies all observers a line-of-sight and thus normally imposes a -20 penalty on Perception checks as above. Invisibility provides both distraction and concealment. If an observer can perceive the invisible character with another sense, such as blindsight, invisibility, or clear tracks in sand or snow, the invisibility is downgraded to normal concealment or entirely negated, as the GM decides.

Senses Other Than Sight

Most creatures rely on sight for penetrating stealth, but there are some special cases.

Darkvision and low-light vision allows creatures to ignore concealment in conditions of poor light, but it is still possible to use contrasting shadows against such vision. Thus, it can actually become easier to hide against creatures with darkvision by introducing a light source, and thus shadows.

Alternate Primary Senses: There are some senses that penetrate most cover and concealment. See blindsense, blindsight, and tremorsense. Even in this case you can still hide 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.

Secondary Senses: Secondary senses can penetrate Stealth but are more vulnerable to distractions. This is where the variable modifier for total concealment comes from; with less distraction there is more opportunity for secondary senses to work. A character that has one or more secondary senses put out of action suffer a -4 penalty on Perception checks, compare the deafened condition.

Action

Usually none. Normally, you make a Stealth check as part of movement, so it doesn't take a separate action. You can use stealth as part of a 5 ft. step. You can only make one attempt at Stealth per round.

Taking 10 or 20

Once you are successfully hidden and are aware of all potential observers, you can take 10 on Stealth checks. Since unaware observers generally take 10 on their Perception checks and are often distracted as well, it is possible to remain in Stealth indefinitely unless something untoward happens, such as new creatures entering the scene. You cannot take 20 on Stealth checks.

Size and Stealth

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. This changes the basic skill check modifier for Stealth; it is not a situational modifier.

External Links

Discussion Sources

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