Stealth (Apath)
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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 up to your normal speed, you take a –5 penalty. It's impossible to use Stealth while attacking, running, or charging, but see [[#Breaking_Stealth|Breaking Stealth] below.
The difficulty of Perception checks to notice you is 10 + your stealth bonus. If a creature removes or moves around the cover or concealment that lets you use Stealth, they automatically spot you.
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 or by being attacked), you can attempt to use Stealth, but this only applies as long as the distraction lasts. To get more lasting stealth, you have to gain cover or concealment.
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 becoming visible 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.
See also keen scent, scent.
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 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. 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. You can attempt to make opponents lose track of your location with any movement, but suffer normal movement penalties for doing so.
- If you have the Stealthy feat, you get a bonus on Stealth checks (see Feats).