D&D 5E Stealth Checks - How do you handle them?

[Satyrn]

I've never seen a climb check fail result in still climbing but with a complication. I don't even know what that would look like.

I gave an example I've used before. Someone was scrambling down a cliff, trying to reach the fight below as quickly as possible. When they failed their Climb check (this was 3e), I ruled they reached a stretch without suitable handhelds, thus stopping their progress for that round.

. . . although I think that actually did indirectly result in the climb ending, since the lunatic player decided to just jump down the remaining distance. But he could've continued climbing if he wanted to.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

I've never seen a climb check fail result in still climbing but with a complication. I don't even know what that would look like.

Player: "Ick, 3 on the die for a total of 9, probably not good."
DM: "You misjudge a handhold, pulling a small barrage of rock and dirt down onto yourself were you'd hoped to find upward ascent. Take 3 bludgeoning damage, and continue climbing without slowed pace unless that has managed to knock you unconscious."

With the added potential of failing by a particularly wide margin having more detrimental results (whether more damage, reduced climbing rate, or worse).

 

[Saeviomagy]

Player: "Ick, 3 on the die for a total of 9, probably not good."
DM: "You misjudge a handhold, pulling a small barrage of rock and dirt down onto yourself were you'd hoped to find upward ascent. Take 3 bludgeoning damage, and continue climbing without slowed pace unless that has managed to knock you unconscious."

With the added potential of failing by a particularly wide margin having more detrimental results (whether more damage, reduced climbing rate, or worse).

This is basically the exact same thing that I've been arguing for.

If you make out-of-combat rolls immediately fail an entire venture (ie - you fall to a point where you cannot continue your course of action, failed stealth checks immediately rouse the camp, failed deception rolls immediately make NPCs hostile) then you really need to only require one of them to succeed at an 'encounter', otherwise non combat encounters become impossibly hard to succeed at.

After all, you don't immediately become unconscious if you fail to hit a monster.

 

[Harzel]

I don't allow to roll stealth until there's someone that could potentially see you. On a failed roll, the players notice immediately anyway, because the one that notices them will react to them. No need to hide rolls that way.

What if the observer is hidden and/or doesn't react in a way that the stealthed creature would notice?

 

[ClearlyTough69]

What if the observer is hidden and/or doesn't react in a way that the stealthed creature would notice?

Then I use one of the rolls that I asked the players to roll at the beginning of the session. So they don't know that there is a creature whose Perception is contesting their Stealth, and they don't know what their Stealth roll is either. I'll keep a note of it and tell them their result later if they manage to sneak past the other creature, and discover it for themselves.

 

[Rya.Reisender]

What if the observer is hidden and/or doesn't react in a way that the stealthed creature would notice?

The moment stealth applies, both can potentially notice each other.

Let's say the adventurer's are on a position that they can't be noticed at all, but they notice an intruder because they set up an alarm. Then they are aware of a threat but the threat isn't aware of them. No rolls done. Now the adventurers say they want to check out who set up the alarm stealthily. This requires them to go into a position where there's a line of sight between them and the intruder. Now they have to roll stealth to see if the intruder notices them.

 

[Ristamar]

What if the observer is hidden and/or doesn't react in a way that the stealthed creature would notice?

I'd secretly roll a Stealth check for the observer versus the highest passive perception of the sneaking party. If this is during extended travel, only the characters on lookout would apply.

 

[Kabouter Games]

How does everyone handle stealth checks? Do you let the players know right away that they failed or keep it to yourself until they get found out. Always feels a little weird to say, "You feel like you're not quite moving so quietly as you hoped." Thoughts?

The players never make those rolls at my table. Neither do they roll to find traps, pick pockets, stuff like that. They always think they've succeeded at those pursuits, and don't find out otherwise until something happens.

I've done that since approximately 1988, and see no reason to change it. It adds to the drama where a player rolling, well, doesn't. If the player rolls high, there's no tension. If the player rolls low, the only tension is in how creative I get when describing exactly how they went wrong.

Sod that. I want them on tenterhooks the from the point they say, "I sneak across the courtyard" to when I reveal the resolution. Plus it gives me an excellent opportunity to add to the drama by doing things like roll the die behind my screen, sigh dramatically, and raise my eyebrows. I get to screw with their heads. That never sucks.

Cheers,

Bob

www.r-p-davis.com

 

[Hriston]

How does everyone handle stealth checks? Do you let the players know right away that they failed or keep it to yourself until they get found out. Always feels a little weird to say, "You feel like you're not quite moving so quietly as you hoped." Thoughts?

The presence of appropriate circumstances for hiding is a factor of the situation in which characters find themselves. As DM, I let the players know when hiding is possible and when it isn't. Such circumstances are observable by their characters. If conditions are met, they can hide, making the attempt that will be resolved by contest if the outcome is uncertain. What this means is that the contest answers the question, if it arises, of whether they are found or stay hidden. Once the contest has been resolved by comparing scores, they may have been noticed but may not necessarily know it.