Are there any rules for using Stealth after attacking?

Question

The 3E Stealth rules for hiding read as follows:

HIDING

If you have cover or concealment, make a Stealth check, opposed by an observer’s Perception check, to hide and go unnoticed.

If others are aware of your presence, you can’t use Stealth to remain undetected. You can run around a corner so you are out of sight and then use Stealth, but others know which way you went. You can’t hide at all if you have absolutely no cover or concealment, since that means you are standing out in plain sight. Of course, if someone isn’t looking directly at you (you’re sneaking up from behind, for example), then you have concealment relative to that person.

A successful Deception or Intimidation check can give you the momentary distraction needed to make a Stealth check while people are aware of you. When others turn their attention from you, make a Stealth check if you can reach cover or concealment of some kind. (As a general guideline, any such cover has to be within 1 foot for every rank you have in Stealth.) This check, however, is at a –5 penalty because you have to move quickly.

The 2E rules got a bit more detailed:

• Hiding: If others have spotted you, you can’t use Stealth to remain unseen. You can run around a corner so you are out of sight and then use Stealth to hide, but others then know which way you went. You can’t hide at all if you have absolutely no cover or concealment, since that means you’re standing out in plain sight. Of course, if someone isn’t looking directly at you (you’re sneaking up from behind, for example), then you have concealment relative to that person. Characters with the Hide in Plain Sight feat (see page 61) can make Stealth checks without the need for cover or concealment.
• Creating a Diversion to Hide: A successful Bluff or Intimidate check can give you the momentary diversion needed to make a Stealth check while people are aware of you. When others turn their attention from you, you can make a Stealth check if you can reach cover or concealment of some kind. (As a general guideline, any cover has to be within 1 foot for every rank you have in Stealth.) This check, however, is at a –5 penalty because you have to move quickly.
• Sniping: If you’re successfully hidden at least one Notice range increment away from a subject (usually 10 feet), then you can make a ranged attack and immediately hide again, but you suffer a –20 penalty to your Stealth check.

Leaving aside that Steve Kenson has stated in the past that 3E was meant to have more simplified rules than 2E, leaving the GM more free to improvise bonuses and penalties on the fly, is there any official rules guidance I can point to when my high Stealth players do the "Strike out of hiding, meld back into the shadows and become untargetable because they can't be seen" tactic?

Answer 1

No, there are no specific rules for this. It does say, of course, that you can't hide when directly observed (which I would rule you would be following an attack that doesn't render all remaining enemies unconscious). The Hide In Plain Sight Advantage is specifically called out as a way around this.

Stealth requires a move action. This means that your player who attacks and hides (in plain sight) can't otherwise move. They're limited to shifting into concealment within 1ft/stealth rank. This makes them fairly easy to hit with an area attack (which ignores concealment) or flush out with a mook or environmental change (hiding behind a stack of crates only works until someone moves past the crates, or flashlights/spotlights can be used to eliminate darkness that conceals someone). In these cases, it's still a win for the hero - they traded a move action for one or more move/standard actions from the enemy.

It's worth noting that any enemy 'hero' (as in, similar-PL non-minion) might have the Perception to defeat a player's Stealth. If the player has invested enough points into Stealth (or a Concealment power that is Limited or Check-Required or similar) that the enemy can't defeat their Hide check...let them be concealed. They spent the points for the effect, and those points didn't go towards defenses, attacks, advantages, or other uses.

There is, of course, no reason you can't introduce the occasional villain who is a hard counter if this becomes a common strategy. A villain who tracks by scent (accurate, acute, extended, tracking olfactory senses on a dog/wolf-themed villain, for example) that can sniff the hero out even when he hides would be perfectly acceptable - it's the sort of thing heroes in comics frequently have to overcome.