I've been looking around, and from what I understand, the Stealth rules seems to be kind of a sore point in D&D/Pathfinder systems.
What I'm getting at will require two separate questions (other one posted here) I haven't been able to find an answer to:
I'm mostly a Dex characters player, and thus have experimented a few builds (mainly Rogues, Strange, I know), one of which was a Sniper inspired from this thread. Its major draws are that Stealth protects you effectively from most attacks (most Dex builds I've made being squishy but having insane Reflex saves to escape AoE) and allows a Rogue to Sneak Attack and deal massive amounts of damage.
I couldn't locate the rule about the enchanted weapon used there, so I settled for a crouched crossbow and a bunch of feats to alleviate the -20 to Stealth check after firing. Main drawback is, it's really hard to hide again once you've been spotted, and things tend to get ugly when a close range character manages to reach your vicinity (Hello, big mean DR regenerating barbarian wielding a huge axe).
The fact that you need to be lying down to reduce the Stealth penalty means you need to get up before beginning to run, causing mobility problem. And the build requires a crossbow or a firearm - the former being incredibly inferior to longbow and the latter rarely allowed.
I was looking into interactions between Shadowdancers and Rogue Snipers for obvious reasons: the Shadowdancer have the Hide in Plain Sight feat, which allows to make a Stealth check once you've been spotted (and strangely does not indicate any kind of malus to your check regarding the fact you're in sight) and the Shadow Jump, for quick relocation/escape.
A teleporting sneaky sniper seems an interesting prospect, but I have two questions (other one here):
If I am to relocate/use a supernatural ability allowing teleportation while stealthing, do I need to make another Stealth checks?
The common agreement seems to be "new Stealth check on conditions change", which would probably apply here - even though using a supernatural ability does not usually require verbal/somatic components, and a relocation is not a movement.
I'm looking for RAW answers, though I suppose some DMs would be more or less lenient regarding this particular use.
PS: I'd like to add this bit of information (courtesy from this thread) which is a excerpt from this Jason Buhlman's post precising when and why Perception checks should occur during Stealth.
Couple of notes I want to add here...
- For simplicities sake, it should be assumed that those making Perception checks get to do so at the most favorable point during the movement of a character using Stealth, to avoid making checks every time the condition changes. Technically, I think you would get a check whenever the conditions change, but that might make things overly complicated during play.
Can this be considered as an answer, since relocation is indeed a change of conditions, even if it's not a movement?