D&D 5E Do you know a creatures location if they are in heavy concealment but not actively hiding and other location questions

[DEFCON 1]

You are assumed to constantly be shouting your exact position to everyone nearby, unless you take an Action to stop yourself.

At least, that's what the rules seem to be saying. The DM is encouraged to figure out something that makes more sense.

Or, to be a bit more charitable...

Adventurers (even 1st level) are better than the average person at various "adventuring things", which include having a sense of the flows of combat and the people involved. And thus are better at noticing things that other people miss, like footfalls, air movement, heavy breathing, the stench of sweat and the like. So an adventurer's "combat sense" picks up on someone standing invisibly in a room or standing guard around a corner, but not actually trying to avoid being noticed. Jason Vorhees knows where the kids are... under the bed, in the closet, having sex in the woods, because he is an experienced "adventurer"... but those same kids couldn't notice him standing around the corner from them if their lives depended on it (and as a matter of fact, they do.)

 

[Ovinomancer]

D&D rules don't mimic reality very well. Have someone hit you a few times with an axe while you're in a parking lot and see if the damage taken will be all gone by the next morning Or go in that parking lot and take a 150 lbs load and see if you'll move as fast ?

Logical error -- a flaw in one part should nor mean that other parts are also flawed. You can't insist that a inconsistent ruling is the correct only on the basis of some other ruling being inconsistent in a different way.

 

[Plaguescarred]

For exemple imagine you're not seen because you're heavily obscured, invisible or enemies are blinded, now;

- you have advantage to attacks

- Attackers have disadvantage against you

- Creatures cannot target you with OAs, spells and abilities that target creatures they can see

- You can try to hide.


If you take an action to make a Stealth check and hide, you still have all the same benefit as above, and on top of that now enemies are unaware you're location.

Removing the need to make a Stealth check and instead grant the benefit as being hidden remove the pertinence of the hide action in general.

 

[Ovinomancer]

A goblin runs away from you, down a corridor, and around a corner into an area you haven't explored yet. It does not take the hide action. Do you know where the goblin is?

 

[Shiroiken]

A goblin runs away from you, down a corridor, and around a corner into an area you haven't explored yet. It does not take the hide action. Do you know where the goblin is?

Yea... he's around the corner

 

[Ovinomancer]

Yea... he's around the corner

Are you sure?

 

[DEFCON 1]

A goblin runs away from you, down a corridor, and around a corner into an area you haven't explored yet. It does not take the hide action. Do you know where the goblin is?

Sure. You hear him around the corner. But because he's out of line of sight you can't target him with any direct attacks even though you know he's around the corner.

And as soon as you walk down that corridor, and turn that corner... you'll see the goblin right there ahead of you because he didn't try and hide.

 

[Plaguescarred]

Logical error -- a flaw in one part should nor mean that other parts are also flawed. You can't insist that a inconsistent ruling is the correct only on the basis of some other ruling being inconsistent in a different way.

I didn't insist on the rule correctness because of the other inconsistencies i pointed out i wanted to show that making ruling on versimilitude is a futile exercise as the game is not all realistic.

 

[Ovinomancer]

Sure. You hear him around the corner. But because he's out of line of sight you can't target him with any direct attacks even though you know he's around the corner.

And as soon as you walk down that corridor, and turn that corner... you'll see the goblin right there ahead of you because he didn't try and hide.

So, then, to be clear, you're saying that you know what space the goblin is in at all times, wven around a corner in an area you haven't yet seen?

Followup. The explored area around the corner also has 2 trolls in it who aren't hiding. Do you also know what space they're in, or that they are there?

2nd followup. There's another few unexplored corridors past the trolls with a few more corners leading to a large chamber. There is an ogre in the chamber, who is not hiding. Do you know own what space the ogre is in? Are you aware of the ogre?

I'm just trying to figure out where the turtles stop.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I didn't insist on the rule correctness because of the other inconsistencies i pointed out i wanted to show that making ruling on versimilitude is a futile exercise as the game is not all realistic.

Again, logical error. Just because one part is inconsistent doesn't mean that another part can't be consistent.