Does a rogue need to Hide after every attack of a full attack action in melee?

Question

After reviewing various topics (see below for reference) I was unable to find an answer.

A rogue shadowdancer approaches their target using Hips to hide, is now in front of the target. Attacks melee the target with a full attack action (7 attacks). Does the rogue need to roll a hide check vs perception after every attack they do on the target?

Also, does the perception roll of the target and "foes of the rogue around" have the -10 malus?

reference to other topics: is there a way to make a sneak attack reliable and here When precisely is stealth lost and here can a rogue dd 3.5 make a sneak attack on both the first and second hand

Answer 1

Yes, the rogue loses their hidden status after each attack (as explained in the linked question about when stealth is lost), and so (if being hidden is what qualifies them for sneak attack)¹ they need to regain that status to qualify for more sneak attack.

The bigger problem is whether or not you can. The Hide rules associate hiding with movement; they mention hiding again after ranged attacks with the sniping rule, but nothing for other attacks—and sniping requires a move action, killing your full-attack (probably, unless you have hustle or something). Personally, I think this is because the core Hide rules don’t assume hide in plain sight, and so it’s impossible to hide after an attack, but then the rules for hide in plain sight don’t describe it either.

Ultimately, getting sneak attack on all your attacks—which you more-or-less must in order to contribute significantly to combat—usually means flanking, or applying some kind of debuff or battlefield control (marbles, a wand of grease, whatever) to deny your target their Dexterity to AC in a more permanent fashion.

1. _{Note this assumes Rules Compendium’s changes to stealth apply; see this Q&A for the controversy on that.}