Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Adjudicating "bursting in"
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 6864818" data-attributes="member: 7006"><p>One thing I've starting doing (and will be using continuously now for CoS) is having PCs use 'Passive Stealth'.</p><p></p><p>Rather than having each PC make a DEX (Stealth) check just prior to them busting through a door (which then begs my question on if they actually TRIED to be stealthy, or didn't declare they were trying to Hide etc.)... I instead have all PCs record their 'Passive Stealth', which is <strong>10 + DEX mod + Prof bonus (if they have Stealth) - 5 (for Disadvantage due to armor if applicable.)</strong> I treat this as their perpetual "We're walking carefully throughout the dungeon trying not to make any noise" check. I then compare this to the Passive Perceptions of any monster they come across who aren't actually alert or on guard. Any monster whose PP is higher than the loudest PC is not surprised, those who are lower are. By the same token, if the monsters are not doing anything purposefully loud (which would automatically be determined by me as being noticed by the party), then they also will have Passive Stealth checks that the party will check their Passive Perception against. So when the door is flung open, any PC or monster whose PP is higher than the lowest PS of someone else in the opposing group, that creature is not surprised and gets to act during the first round of combat.</p><p></p><p>Does that hose the really stealthy PCs? Yes and no. Technically, it doesn't matter how stealthy the best PCs are, because all that matters is that the group of goblins heard ONE of the PCs coming, and thus knew to jump up and grab weapons. For the stealthy PCs... it's only if they break out ahead of the rest of the party to scout do they get to make active DEX (Stealth) checks and roll the d20 to determine their really high DC for the goblin's passive perceptions (and thus quite likely get to take the entire group of monsters by surprise.) The only downside of course being that if they take that shot, they're out ahead of their party and have to deal with a round or two of the fight just being with them. So maybe it's worth it to do so for that free round of attacks with surprise... maybe it's not (if they don't think they can withstand all the return attacks.)</p><p></p><p>By the same token... the same way stealthy PCs can scout ahead and thus make active Stealth checks... any creature who is "on guard" or alert and searching for danger gets to make active Perception checks to hear the party coming (1d20 + INT + Prof bonus). So they have a 50% chance of getting a higher check over their standard PP. But this only applies to those creatures on guard and not to the rest of the monsters-- unless of course the PCs diddle-daddle and give the guard monster time to alert his friends that someone is coming.</p><p></p><p>Thus far Passive Stealth has been working well, as it gives me a constant baseline for how loud the party is as they walk normally throughout the dungeon. Makes checking them nice and easy.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DEFCON 1, post: 6864818, member: 7006"] One thing I've starting doing (and will be using continuously now for CoS) is having PCs use 'Passive Stealth'. Rather than having each PC make a DEX (Stealth) check just prior to them busting through a door (which then begs my question on if they actually TRIED to be stealthy, or didn't declare they were trying to Hide etc.)... I instead have all PCs record their 'Passive Stealth', which is [b]10 + DEX mod + Prof bonus (if they have Stealth) - 5 (for Disadvantage due to armor if applicable.)[/b] I treat this as their perpetual "We're walking carefully throughout the dungeon trying not to make any noise" check. I then compare this to the Passive Perceptions of any monster they come across who aren't actually alert or on guard. Any monster whose PP is higher than the loudest PC is not surprised, those who are lower are. By the same token, if the monsters are not doing anything purposefully loud (which would automatically be determined by me as being noticed by the party), then they also will have Passive Stealth checks that the party will check their Passive Perception against. So when the door is flung open, any PC or monster whose PP is higher than the lowest PS of someone else in the opposing group, that creature is not surprised and gets to act during the first round of combat. Does that hose the really stealthy PCs? Yes and no. Technically, it doesn't matter how stealthy the best PCs are, because all that matters is that the group of goblins heard ONE of the PCs coming, and thus knew to jump up and grab weapons. For the stealthy PCs... it's only if they break out ahead of the rest of the party to scout do they get to make active DEX (Stealth) checks and roll the d20 to determine their really high DC for the goblin's passive perceptions (and thus quite likely get to take the entire group of monsters by surprise.) The only downside of course being that if they take that shot, they're out ahead of their party and have to deal with a round or two of the fight just being with them. So maybe it's worth it to do so for that free round of attacks with surprise... maybe it's not (if they don't think they can withstand all the return attacks.) By the same token... the same way stealthy PCs can scout ahead and thus make active Stealth checks... any creature who is "on guard" or alert and searching for danger gets to make active Perception checks to hear the party coming (1d20 + INT + Prof bonus). So they have a 50% chance of getting a higher check over their standard PP. But this only applies to those creatures on guard and not to the rest of the monsters-- unless of course the PCs diddle-daddle and give the guard monster time to alert his friends that someone is coming. Thus far Passive Stealth has been working well, as it gives me a constant baseline for how loud the party is as they walk normally throughout the dungeon. Makes checking them nice and easy. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Adjudicating "bursting in"
Top