Doing something sneaky in combat

Question

Let's say I'm a Goliath Barbarian. I want to use my Stone's Endurance racial ability as a minor action, which grants me +5 resist all damage until end of next turn. But, I don't want my opponent to know that I'm casting it (after all, he's likely to swing at someone else where the damage will be more effective until it wears off.)

Can I make a stealth check against his passive perception to conceal the fact that I'm casting this? If I can, does that require any more of my actions?

Thanks!

Answer 1

According to the DMG... Probably not.

"Gotcha!" Abilities: Pay attention to monster abilities that change the basic rules and tactics of combat and give players the cues they need to recognize them. Describe the ability as it might appear in the game world, and then describe it in game terms to make it clear.

For example, if the characters are fighting a pit fiend, whose aura of fire deals fire damage to creatures within 5 squares, you might tell the players (before their characters come in range), "The heat emanating from the devil is intense even at this distance. You know that getting within five square of it is going to burn you."

There are two reasons for this:

• The game is designed to be played with a high degree of knowledge on both sides.

• From an in-fiction standpoint, both sides are likely to be highly skilled combatants, and most abilities will have a discernible effect of some kind. You probably hold yourself a bit differently with the ability active... And your opponent will certainly know you aren't reacting as they would expect once one of them hit you.

See this question for more discussion, and some counter-points.

With that said, your DM may allow this as a house rule. It would likely not take an additional action, but would apply a penalty of some kind to the stealth check. Personally, I'd also use bluff over stealth, since it involves changing the appearance of something rather than outright hiding it.