Questions tagged [stealth]
For questions about the ability to remain undetected by other creatures, either by skill or special effect. (See also: the [concealment] tag.)
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How do I allow the Rogue opportunities to be stealthy with a Druid in the party?
My party is currently level 6, and consists of a Halfling Rogue, Human Druid, Halfling Barbarian, and Half-Elf Monk. They're all excellent players who play tactically and know their class well. I'm ...
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How to communicate to my GM that not being allowed to use stealth isn't fun for me?
I started with a group some times ago a new campaign. I made a thief that used a bow and was very very stealth based (level 3 thief having +21 on stealth with all effects applied). The intent was ...
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Do Nondetection and Invisibility protect you from True Seeing?
Nondetection says it hides the target from all divination spells. Invisibility hides you from normal sight. When combining both effects on one target, are they hidden from true seeing?
user27327
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How to handle DM constantly stealing everything from sleeping characters? [closed]
In past campaigns, the DM has had a habit of stealing from our characters while they sleep impulsively without any sort of story reason. And not just regular stealing either, they manage to remove all ...
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What advantages does hiding have?
It is possible to use the stealth skill to "hide" in D&D 5e. But are there any mechanical benefits to doing so?
In combat, you gain advantage on an attack if your target can't see you, and confer ...
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Since the caster of the Zone of Truth spell knows whether a creature failed the save, can they use it to detect hidden/invisible creatures?
I'm DMing for a 5e party that includes a cleric, as many parties do. This cleric has found (what appears to be) an interpretation of the wording of the "Zone of Truth" spell that makes it even more ...
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In a PvP arena, how can other characters deal with a Rogue with Expertise in Stealth?
I'm running an arena-style fight between a lot of PCs. It's now getting to the point that there are few enough PCs that they are beginning to take levels to counter one another.
One of the players ...
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How does Stealth work with Sneak Attack?
So, in Pathfinder, it seems that being able to use stealth in order to gain sneak attacks only works in the surprise round, with the rules as written.
So, imagine a scenario where we have a sniper (...
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Can the rogue repeatedly hide in combat to sneak attack the same enemy?
One of my players is a rogue and has been, on his turn, using Cunning Action to hide as a bonus action and immediately afterwards attacking. I have been ruling that this does work to grant him ...
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Can a Wizard cast Shield in reaction to a stealth attack?
Scenario: Rogue is hidden and sneaks up on a Wizard. Rogue attacks and hits the wizard with 1 above his AC. Can the wizard take his reaction to Shield from it?
Shield's casting time is 1 reaction, ...
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What do you roll to sleep in a hidden spot?
Scenario: a character is alone in the forest, and needs to sleep. Of course, they don't want to get killed in their sleep, so they try to sleep in a hidden spot, like inside the treetops, heavily ...
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I rolled a 20 on a stealth check. What now?
I rolled a 20 on a stealth check and my DM thinks I have to reroll stealth everytime I perform an action. (I.e.: opening a door, walking up stairs, grabbing something.) If this were true I would have ...
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Trap/Ambush/Stealth Mechanics VS Passive Perception Confusion
I thought I knew, at first, how passive perception versus hidden/invisible creatures and/or well laid traps worked. I have a group of level 2 adventurers that are about to come upon their first trap ...
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Can stealth be consistently successful?
I'm new to 5e, but not D&D.
I'm looking at the ability check and stealth mechanics and stealth looks really unreliable.
I'm picturing a group of 10 wood elves laying an ambush. Even at level 5, ...
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Should a sneaking group use group checks?
I always considered sneaking to be a per character check, because I have a hard time imagining a paladin in shiny, heavy and loud armor sneaking silently, just because a rogue with stealth expertise ...
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Can a chain shirt be concealed under normal clothing?
Since the mithral versions of a chain shirt and a breastplate (see Mithral Armor in the DMG) specify they can be worn under normal clothes, I had initially presumed this to be a feature unique to ...
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Does tremorsense see through the Pass without Trace spell?
The description of the pass without trace spell says:
A veil of shadows and silence radiates from you, masking you and your companions from detection. For the duration, each creature you choose ...
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What happens when an invisible creature is detected?
From the PHB, Appendix A on Conditions:
INVISIBLE
An invisible creature is impossible to see without the aid of magic or a special sense. For the purpose of hiding, the creature is heavily obscured. ...
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What are the "rules of hidden club" for D&D 5th edition?
A persistent problem in D&D is the implementation and understanding of stealth mechanics.
5e provides for hiding when creatures "can't see" you.
How do the obscured rules work with hiding, ...
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How do I handle players simply un-hiding and re-hiding after a poor Stealth roll?
Recently I've faced with the following situation and was really surprised with the rules:
Let's consider the following situation:
A party is located in a quite deep forest. They know that there is an ...
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How to determine surprise when only part of a side is stealthy?
Here’s the basic rule for Surprise (Player’s Basic Rules, p. 69):
If neither side tries to be stealthy, they automatically notice each other. Otherwise, the DM compares the Dexterity (Stealth) checks ...
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Can a barbarian maintain rage by attacking a creature that is not present?
Suppose a raging barbarian cannot reach any seen opponents on the battlefield on their current turn, but is attempting to maintain rage in the interim by attacking a hostile creature, according to the ...
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How much can a surprised character do?
When a character is surprised, they can't move or take actions (including bonus actions) on their first turn, and they can't use a reaction until the end of their first turn.
Well and good.
But can ...
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When attacking with Spiritual Weapon, what must be concealed from the target for me to gain advantage?
Spiritual weapon claims that you make a melee spell attack against a target adjacent to your spiritual weapon. The rules for attacking while being unseen state that if the target cannot see you, you ...
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How does dim light affect passive perception?
A group of adventurers enters a dimly lit room. Suddenly monsters lurking in the semi-darkness attack. How do I find out whether the players are surprised?
Dim light in 5E creates a "lightly obscured"...
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What is the maximum possible Stealth bonus?
I realised we do not have a version of this rather (in)famous optimization problem: What is the maximum possible bonus to a Dexterity (Stealth) check?
Bonus is here taken to mean anything that is ...
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Can a hidden character make an attack with the Spiritual Weapon spell and still remain hidden?
If my multi-classed Rogue (4)/Warlock (5) casts Spiritual Weapon, and then Hides...
Can he continue to control the Spiritual Weapon on his subsequent turns and remain Hidden? Or does attacking the ...
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Can scale mail be modified to remove disadvantage on Stealth checks?
One of my players in D&D 5e asked the Blacksmith if he could create some kind of small cushion to muffle the armor and not get disadvantage on stealth anymore. Is this possible? If so, how much ...
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Do sorcerers' Subtle Spells require a skill check to be unseen?
I have a guest player who is secretly an evil "plant" inside the party causing trouble. He's a sorcerer who wants to use Subtle Spell metamagic to stop the party from delving into his master's old ...
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How can a goblin attack and hide in the same turn?
In the basic rules both an attack or going into hiding counts as an action, of which you can only do one per turn. But in the demonstration video of the Starter Box in the very first fight the group ...
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When Perception contests Stealth, how do you know which side gets advantage or disadvantage?
When we run skill contests, especially Stealth contested by Perception, we sometimes struggle to work out whether to apply advantage to one skill or disadvantage to the other. It matters for two ...
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Can you decide not to sneak into a room after seeing your roll?
If someone asks to stealthily open a door but rolls poorly, can they just choose not to do it, and let someone else open the door?
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Can I see a Hidden creature that is not obscured at all?
Here is the scenario: I am the GM, and one of my players is a Sharpshooter Rogue. He likes to hide as a bonus action to gain advantage on his rolls, which effectively nullifies the -5 attack bonus on ...
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Can a sleeping character Hide?
Hiding requires an opposed roll.
Can a sleeping character hide at all? If they do so, do they roll Hide when they go to sleep (for hiding their sleeping spot, etc.), or do they make an opposed roll ...
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How do I design an assassination mission, that is a challenge for the rogue, but not impossible for the other party members and requires teamwork? [closed]
My level 11 rogue/assassin player talked to me after our most recent session, because he feels that he cannot play the character as he planned him to be.
He wants to use his rogue abilities and sneak ...
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Does a single PC who is stealthy get to surprise monsters when the rest of the group is not?
The rules for a surprise round, seem to be focused on the people being surprised. (They lose a turn) rather than being focused on the people doing the surprising (They get an extra turn)
The rules ...
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Interaction between perception and stealth in obscured conditions
The rules for stealth in 5e are notoriously vague. I've been DMing 5e for about a year now, and there's something that's always bugged me about stealth in 5e. We've had several discussions about these ...
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Is Gaseous Form + Invisibility + Nondetection such a powerful combo for scouting and infiltration? How can I make it more challenging for my players?
Some context: I'm a newbie DM running a campaign which requires the party to do a lot of scouting and infiltration missions. Especially in buildings. It's a city campaign happening in Waterdeep so I ...
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Is stealth roll required each round in order to stay hidden?
I've been wondering this and been searching this site and I think I didn't find any answers. I am asking if each turn if one attempts to stay hidden, must he use action every round (out of combat or ...
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When hiding, how close can you get to enemies before they can potentially detect you?
The following situation: 2 Members of the party try to sneak up on distracted enemies. The other two, not stealth proficient players want to stay 20 feet behind, not roll stealth and join after the ...
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Can invisibility be countered by "ramming" the whole room with lots of conjured animals?
We're running Dragon Heist and having a quite dramatic encounter where a very important & powerful villain is trying to escape the sewers with 1 hp left.
The villain became invisible as the most ...
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Does Mage Hand give away the caster's position?
I was thinking about casting mage hand while hidden to do things like, for example, pulling a lever behind a guard's back. But if I'm not an Arcane Trickster, the hand is visible and the question is, ...
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Can you cast a stealth spell on a vehicle?
Our party is traveling through the desert in a boat-like vehicle and we want to hide its tracks. We're not sure how to do that. Right now we're looking at spells that might help such as pass without ...
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Does being invisible grant advantage on stealth checks by RAW?
A few DMs I play with all seem to believe that being invisible (such as via the invisibility or greater invisibility spells) grants advantage on stealth checks. However, I could not find any support ...
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How can I showcase characters that aren't stealthy in a stealth-based mission?
I will soon be running the one-shots from Keys from the Golden Vault in order as a "campaign".
These missions are all set up like heists and, while they obviously favor stealth, I don't want ...
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How to Fairly and Consistently Handle Silent Sentry Removal / Assassinations / etc.?
The Situations
Fiction is full of moments when instead of facing an enemy head-on in an open Conflict, an attacker prefers a sneaky approach that, if fully successful, bypasses combat. Whether it's ...
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Does a Druid's stealth skill benefit stealthy animal forms they take?
If a Druid has proficiency in stealth, does that bonus carry onto any stealth based wild shapes the druid takes?
Example: if a druid has stealth proficiency and turns into a panther (which has +6 ...
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Can dim light be used to activate the wood elf's Mask of the Wild trait?
Because of a dispute with our DM, I'd like to confirm the following.
The wood elf's Mask of the Wild trait says:
You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain,...
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With the Skulker feat, can you hide in the cover of darkness even against creatures with darkvision?
Basically, am I able to sneak up to a target that has darkvision as if I were invisible? I believe I can for the following reasons (but would like confirmation).
The description of the Skulker feat (...
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What rolls would the party make to avoid being noticed/recognized?
My party currently is actively hiding from the law. To put it into context, they've murdered 4 civilians and about two dozen guards in their recent exploits. Reasonably, the various villages, towns ...
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