Does concealment allow a rogue to make sneak attack?

Question

Can a rogue use cover or concealment in order to Hide, and thereafter make sneak attacks against enemies he is hidden from?

For example:

• A rogue sneak attacks an ogre in melee, then runs behind a wall and hides. Having successfully hidden, the rogue runs out the next round and attacks the ogre again. Can he make Sneak Attack?
• The party is walking through the woods when one is hit by a rogue sniper, who remains hidden. The sniper deals sneak attack damage. The party is now aware of the sniper, but all fail their Spot checks and can't see him. Do the rogue's subsequent attacks deal sneak attack damage?

Rules-as-written, does hiding due to concealment, total concealment or cover explicitly allow you to make sneak attacks? Invisibility or a blinded opponent specifically do, but is there a rule somewhere that you lose Dexterity to AC against opponents who are merely hidden?

Answer 1

Coming Out From Behind The Wall

Maybe. Here's the thing. If the Rogue has to come into the open to do this, he's no longer hiding (you can't hide in the open). No spot check is needed to see the Rogue if he just walks out into clear sight of the Ogre, he's no longer hidden. As he's no longer hidden, he'll need some other condition to allow for a Sneak Attack (flanking for example).

This is one of the reasons why Hide In Plain Sight is so good. If you had that, the Rogue could attempt to remain hidden even out in the open and this would work. Shadowdancers for example can stay hidden if they're near a shadow. That would include the shadow of the wall or the Ogre itself, making it a LOT easier to attack while hidden.

Rules Compendium Changes

The Rules Compendium (page 92) adds some extra things to Hide, if you're using it. Those address coming out from hiding a bit differently. In this case the answer would be Yes, if you can make the new Hide check as detailed below.

Move between Cover: If you’re already hiding thanks to cover or concealment, and you have at least 5 ranks in Hide, you can make a Hide check (with a penalty) to try to move across an area that doesn’t offer cover or concealment without revealing yourself. For every 5 ranks in Hide you possess, you can move up to 5 feet between one hiding place and another. For every 5 feet of open space you must cross between hiding places, you take a –5 penalty on your Hide check. Movement speed penalizes the check as normal.

Sneak up from Hiding: You can sneak up on someone after emerging from a hiding place. For every 5 feet of open space between you and the target, you take a –5 penalty on your Hide check. If your Hide check succeeds, your target doesn’t notice you until you attack or perform some other attention-grabbing action. Such a target is treated as being flat-footed with respect to you.

Sniper

Yes. It's specifically mentioned in the Hide skill:

If you’ve already successfully hidden at least 10 feet from your target, you can make one ranged attack, then immediately hide again. You take a -20 penalty on your Hide check to conceal yourself after the shot.

Being aware of someone isn't enough to prevent Sneak Attack. If the spot checks fail against the new hide check, then the Rogue is hidden again and can continue to sneak attack.

Hiding and Sneak Attack

Yes, being hidden with Hide makes you effectively invisible, which normally allows Sneak Attack. Again from the Rules Compendium (p. 92):

If you’re successfully hidden with respect to another creature, that creature is flat-footed with respect to you. That creature treats you as if you were invisible (see page 76).

Answer 2

Spring Sneak Attack

To trigger Sneak Attack by hiding, you must be hidden from the target as you attack. This is usually extremely difficult.

First of all, you cannot Hide while being observed. One would presume that an ogre you just attacked is now observing you. You therefore can’t just run to the nearest source of Concealment or Cover and Hide again.

Hide in Plain Sight does eliminate this problem, since it allows use of Hide while being observed.

Furthermore, even if you were hidden, in most cases, you lose Concealment when you “run out the next round,” and therefore stop Hiding, and thus (barring flanking or the ogre being flat-footed or whatever), you would not get Sneak Attack.

Camouflage, and some forms of Hide in Plain Sight (usually the Supernatural versions), fix this problem as well, since you no longer need Concealment or Cover to Hide.

Sniping

Yes, you can make one ranged attack from Cover or Concealment and then immediately Hide again at a −20 penalty as a move action.

Answer 3

If Using Only the Core Rules

The Rules Compendium explores this in greater detail, including exactly what being hidden means and the advantages it grants. However, if working exclusively from the SRD, this is what happens.

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Barring special abilities, if a rogue is unobserved and possesses concealment or cover, he can make Hide skill checks. However, even if undetected, this does not make the rogue invisible or make his foes blind. While it seems like making an attack while hidden should deny foes their Dexterity bonuses (if any) to the Armor Classes), this isn't the case because

Hiding Doesn't Change the Rules for Sneak Attacks

Barring further special abilities, there are only 2 situations during which the extra damage from sneak attack is inflicted:

1. when the target would be denied its Dexterity bonus (if any) to Armor Class; and
2. when the rogue flanks the target.

Although a creature loses its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class when it gains the condition blinded (among other effects) and a creature denies his opponents their Dexterity bonuses to Armor Classes versus his attacks when the creature's invisible (among other effects), neither of these conditions are created by being undetected via making successful Hide skill checks.

Questions & Answers

• Question: A rogue sneak attacks an ogre in melee, then runs behind a wall and hides. Having successfully hidden, the rogue runs out the next round and attacks the ogre again. Can he make Sneak Attack?

  Answer: When the rogue returns next round the rogue will be eligible to inflict his sneak attack damage if either the ogre is denied its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class or the rogue is in such a position that he's flanking the ogre when he makes the attack.

  If the rogue is the lone combatant on that side of the conflict, it's possible—but unlikely—that the DM may rule that by him being totally absent from combat for 1 round, the combat ends and initiative is rerolled. A high enough initiative check combined with foes who, for example, lack uncanny dodge can also mean the rogue's foes are flat-footed upon the rogue's reappearance.

  Note that because sneak attack isn't a kind of attack but extra damage, it's usually better to refer to it as damage (e.g. "A rogue that deals sneak attack damage with a melee attack to an ogre then runs behind a wall and hides. When he runs out next round and attacks the ogre again, does he deal sneak attack damage again?").

• Q: The party is walking through the woods when one is hit by a rogue sniper, who remains hidden. The sniper deals sneak attack damage. The party is now aware of the sniper, but all fail their Spot checks and can't see him. Do the rogue's subsequent attacks deal sneak attack damage?

  A: The hidden rogue inflicted sneak attack damage at first not because he was hidden but, instead, because there was a surprise round during which the party was unaware of the rogue. The rogue acted in the surprise round, and the party didn't; thus the party was denied their Dexterity bonuses to their Armor Classes, and that enabled the rogue to inflict his sneak attack damage. Once the party takes their turns during the normal round, they're no longer flat-footed and that condition will no longer deny them their Dexterity bonuses to their Armor Classes.

  Therefore the rogue's subsequent attacks won't inflict sneak attack damage unless either the rogue acts in the first round of combat before the party (and because of this the party is flat-footed thence denied their Dexterity bonuses to their Armor classes), the party or the rogue takes actions that do deny the rogue's target the target's Dexterity bonus to Armor Class, or the rogue flanks his target.

  If the DM rules--after a sufficient amount of time has passed--that combat ends, the rogue sniper can attack again, possibly getting another surprise round in which he'll inflict his sneak attack damage versus vulnerable foes who are unaware of his presence.

• Q: Does hiding explicitly allow you to make sneak attacks?

  A: No.

• Q: Is there a rule somewhere that targets lose their Dexterity bonuses to Armor Classes versus hidden attackers?

  A: Yes, but in the Rules Compendium, not in the core rules using only the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual. However, the DM may nonetheless rule that a creature struck by a hidden attacker "can’t react to a blow, [so it] can’t use [its] Dexterity bonus to AC" (PH 136).

"Being Hidden Doesn't Meet the Conditions for Sneak Attack? What Good Is Hiding Then?"

Hiding is good for avoiding detection. More specifically, hiding is good for ending combat so that, later, the hider can create a surprise round.

1. If not in combat, unobserved, and possessing cover or concealment, a rogue waits for a potential observer to get into a position where the potential observer can notice the rogue. Then make an opposed skill check (the rogue's Hide skill versus the observer's Spot skill check).

   • If the rogue wins, the rogue's hidden. The observer is unaware of his presence.
     • If the rogue wins and attacks the observer, there's a surprise round in which only those who aware of the rogue (like the rogue himself) are allowed to act.
   • If the observer wins, the rogue's position's revealed.
     • If the observer wins and says he's going to attack the rogue, initiative is rolled, and there's no surprise round--unless other observers are unaware of the rogue.

2. If in combat, unobserved, and possessing cover or concealment, a rogue waits for a potential observer to get into a position where the potential observer can notice the rogue. Then make an opposed skill check (the rogue's Hide skill versus the observer's Spot skill check).

   • If the rogue wins, the rogue's hidden. The observer is unaware of his presence.
     • If the rogue wins and attacks the observer, there's no surprise round as combat's already in progress.
   • If the observer wins, the rogue's position's revealed.
     • If the observer wins and says he's going to attack the rogue, he makes his attack, but the rogue gains the benefits of whatever concealment or cover the rogue possesses.

A hiding creature waits until the DM says combat ends then attacks from his hiding place, possibly creating a surprise round. Then he hides again and repeats the process.

The short of it is that hiding is a lousy way to inflict sneak attack damage. Can I interest you in a ring of blinking?

Answer 4

1. If the stipulations of Sneak Attack are present: The Ogre is flanked, if he is flat-footed (losing his DEX mod), etc., then you would not have to run away each time.

2. Rogues using a projectile weapon (bow or crossbow) can only use Sneak Attack if the attack is made within 30 feet. That would limit your sniper's abilities, but if spot check failed, every attack would have sneak attack, yes.