D&D 5E Can Objects Be Hidden?

[Maxperson]

Wait!!
There are no rules for hiding an object??! What shall we do? How do we make a determination without a codified rule!
And what about breathing? There's no RULE for it!!
Or which foot goes first when walking!
The rules are broken.


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False Equivalence is still false. Repeating it won't change that fact.

 

[Maxperson]

But what if I hide the object up my behind? Wiping might affect the Investigation DC positively.

How large an object are we talking? What shape is it? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[Maxperson]

This had to be a player who came up with the 'objects can't be hidden' thing. Right? Only players could be so silly.

Nobody to my knowledge has ever said objects cannot be hidden. The argument is that the rules don't say how to hide them, and hiding things happens a fair amount in D&D.

 

[Maxperson]

No one's suggested using Slight of Hand. That would be my first inclination.

How do magician parlor tricks help you figure out where is the best place to hide a bag of gold?

 

[Iry]

Nobody to my knowledge has ever said objects cannot be hidden. The argument is that the rules don't say how to hide them, and hiding things happens a fair amount in D&D.

I believe that was part of your claim in the Worst Spells thread. Emphasis below is mine.

Traps can't hide. They can only be unseen.

One of the issues this edition has is that it mixes terms. There's hidden(things that are unseen), and then there's HIDDEN(using the hide ability in the rules). The hide rules are for creatures only. An object cannot hide and there are no rules for hiding objects. Finding a "hidden" object just involves a check against a DC that the DM picks, because it's not actually hiding, so there's no opposing roll.

 

[JeffB]

How large an object are we talking? What shape is it? Inquiring minds want to know!

That kind of information requires a subscription.

 

[BoldItalic]

The good news is, that the 5e rules for hiding objects already exist.

The bad news is, they are written on papyrus scrolls inside a canopic jar covered by a permanent illusion to look like a figurine of an ocelot; the jar is concealed inside the false bottom of a sarcophagus inside one of the thirteen hidden chambers in the lost pyramid of Nan; the pyramid itself is buried in sand, no trace of it remains above ground and all memory of its very existence has been wiped from mortal minds by aliens; and the aliens who knew of its secret were accidentally lost in a black hole on their way home to The Invisible Planet of Narg.

I guess this means that, unless someone stumbles over the scrolls by chance, no-one can ever hide anything ever again because we don't know what the rules actually say.

There are going to be some disappointed elves.

 

[jgsugden]

Can an object hide per the stealth rules? Of course not. Objects can't take actions (unless animated).

Can an object be placed so that it is harder to see? Of course it can. This is up to the DM to rule over, but some form of check that is opposed by the passive (or active) perception of a viewer makes sense.

 

[Maxperson]

I believe that was part of your claim in the Worst Spells thread. Emphasis below is mine.

That is correct. The stealth(dex) hide rules are for creatures, and not being a creature, traps cannot decide to make a hide check.

 

[discosoc]

I recently got into a debate about whether or not objects could be hidden. I thought it would be interesting to turn this into a poll and discussion about the topic.

And yet you create a hidden poll to do so...

How does someone intentionally hide an object? That was also the subject of debate.

You place it somewhere and the DM determines the DC to find it. If it's a scenario where you want some kind of active challenge or the details are arbitrary -- perhaps a character wants to try and smuggle a weapon into the city by hiding it in a cart -- I'd suggest using investigation to determine how good of a job the character did in hiding it. The idea there is that being able to hide something largely involves avoiding places where people look or pay attention to, which is basically an investigative skill of sorts. Sometimes this means an object is hidden in plain sight.