Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Stealth in combat
PHB pp. 117, 188, 281
I had gotten the impression from first reading of the stealth skill that you'd be able to use it in combat to get sneak attacks, but later readings made me change my mind. I've reread the stealth skill and the sneak attack rules for a third and final time. Here's my findings in simple English.
I. Rogues add sneak attack damage on attacks against enemies over whom they have combat advantage.
1: You have combat advantage over any enemy unaware of you. For an enemy to be unaware of you, you must:
a: be hard to see, due to concealment, cover, or broken line-of-sight. Remember that shooting around a corner counts as cover. AND
b: be 'stealthy', by beating the creature in stealth vs. perception. If the observer beats the hider's check by 10 or more it knows exact location till the end of the hider's next turn. You may only initiate this opposed roll when:
i: you have concealment, cover, or broken LOS
2: the 'flat footed' state is gone, but rogues gain comb adv against enemies who have not acted yet this combat
3: creatures gain comb adv against targets they flank
4: stealth aside, if you have Total Concealment (p. 281, heavy fog/smoke nonadjacent; total darkness or invisibility anywhere) you gain combat advantage
5: you gain comb adv if the opponent is: balancing, blinded, climbing, dazed, helpless, prone(melee only), restrained, running, squeezing, or unconscious. (p280 for this list)
Attacking makes all enemies aware of you (after the attack hits and deals sneak bonus, of course.) If at any point you emerge from cover, concealment, or LOS, all enemies are made aware of you. You can try to restealth by gaining cover, concealment, or BLOS and making another opposed check. Does this mean a rogue can stay around a corner, constantly restealthing and shooting, dealing sneak attack damage? Looks like it. Sound crazy? Well, that's what strikers are for, I guess. But also, from p 281: you can make an active perception check against the last stealth check of a hiding character as a minor action. If you win, you know their location.
I had gotten the impression from first reading of the stealth skill that you'd be able to use it in combat to get sneak attacks, but later readings made me change my mind. I've reread the stealth skill and the sneak attack rules for a third and final time. Here's my findings in simple English.
I. Rogues add sneak attack damage on attacks against enemies over whom they have combat advantage.
1: You have combat advantage over any enemy unaware of you. For an enemy to be unaware of you, you must:
a: be hard to see, due to concealment, cover, or broken line-of-sight. Remember that shooting around a corner counts as cover. AND
b: be 'stealthy', by beating the creature in stealth vs. perception. If the observer beats the hider's check by 10 or more it knows exact location till the end of the hider's next turn. You may only initiate this opposed roll when:
i: you have concealment, cover, or broken LOS
2: the 'flat footed' state is gone, but rogues gain comb adv against enemies who have not acted yet this combat
3: creatures gain comb adv against targets they flank
4: stealth aside, if you have Total Concealment (p. 281, heavy fog/smoke nonadjacent; total darkness or invisibility anywhere) you gain combat advantage
5: you gain comb adv if the opponent is: balancing, blinded, climbing, dazed, helpless, prone(melee only), restrained, running, squeezing, or unconscious. (p280 for this list)
Attacking makes all enemies aware of you (after the attack hits and deals sneak bonus, of course.) If at any point you emerge from cover, concealment, or LOS, all enemies are made aware of you. You can try to restealth by gaining cover, concealment, or BLOS and making another opposed check. Does this mean a rogue can stay around a corner, constantly restealthing and shooting, dealing sneak attack damage? Looks like it. Sound crazy? Well, that's what strikers are for, I guess. But also, from p 281: you can make an active perception check against the last stealth check of a hiding character as a minor action. If you win, you know their location.
# posted by Scott @ 1:40 PM 
