Stealth and silent movement

Stealth and silent movement

I noticed in the new, errata'd stealth rules that there's a -5 penalty to stealth checks for characetrs who move more than two squares in a move action. My own personal assumption is that the designers imagined a character walking three squares and thinknig to themselves "this character is going to make some noise, so there should be a penalty." A character who only walked two squares would likely be sneaking, and trynig to minimize the amount of sound he or she is making.

So, in the opinion of those of you DM'ing 4th ed, should this -5 penalty apply to characters who are moving more than two squares, but in a manner that does not produce sound? For example, characters that can levitate or teleport might be able to move more than two squares completely soundlessly. Would you apply the -5 Stealth penalty to them as well?

Yes, simply because I don't want to start arguments about what movement is and isn't soundless. We don't really know if teleporting is soundless or not anyway--it wasn't for Nightcrawler (X-Men).

It's important to remember that Stealth is visible stealth as well, not just audible. The slower you move the easier it is to both stay quiet and not be seen. A faster moving object is more likely to catch your eye than one that moves slowly, and it's easier to use cover to your advantage when being sneaky if you move more slowly.

And yes, as infocynic said, we don't know if teleporting is soundless (or lightless). It could be subtle or ostentatious - or perhaps it's ostentatious by nature, but your skill at stealth helps you subdue some of the visual and auditory clues.

Edit: I also believe this isn't new with the errata. If I remember correctly, the -5 penalty to Stealth for moving more than 2 squares has been in 4e all along.