Hriston
Dungeon Master of Middle-earth (He/him)
This is the text for the Hide Action In Combat:-
"When you take the Hide action, you make a Dexterity (Stealth) check in an attempt to hide, following the rule in chapter 7 for hiding. If you succeed, you gain certain benefits, as described in the “Unseen Attackers and Targets” section later in this chapter"
If you succeed, you gain the benefits. You didn't have them before, because you were not hidden before.
Before you took the Hide action and/or rolled your DEX (Stealth) check? Of course not! Neither I nor anyone else has said you did. You seem to be confusing a creature's attempt to hide with the contest that ensues when and if someone tries to find it. You also seem to be saying that a creature can't be hidden unless someone is looking for it.
If you were already hidden, you wouldn't take the Hide action to try to gain what you already have!
If you weren't already hidden, no one would bother trying to find you!
Upshot, you try to hide in combat because you are not currently hidden! On a tied Perception/Stealth contest, the situation remains unchanged. In this case it means you remain un-hidden.
You're supposed to actually look at chapter 7, where it says, "When you try to hide, make a Dexterity (Stealth) check. Until you are discovered or you stop hiding, that check's total is contested by the Wisdom (Perception) check of any creature that actively searches for signs of your presence." If a creature succeeds in its search and notices you, you don't "remain un-hidden." In fact, you remain hidden to all other creatures who have either failed in their own search or haven't bothered to search for you in the first place.
Besides, it's widely acknowledged that a creature's WIS (Perception) score sets the DC for your DEX (Stealth) check to go unnoticed by it, and not the other way around.
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