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<blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 8108139" data-attributes="member: 12731">You only roll a single Stealth check when you start an encounter by Avoid Notice.Unless the GM has other ideas, of course (the rule says &quot;usually&quot;).You use this single number both to put you somewhere in the Initiative order, and to compare to the passive Perception of each foe for purposes of them noticing you or not. You can totally lose initiative and still succeed at stealth (maybe you rolled well, but the monster rolled better). Conversely you can go first, but not successfully hide (maybe you rolled low but the monster rolled worse).In most cases, there are no bonuses to be gained by either going first or attacking from stealth. Only characters and monsters with specific abilities gain anything. There are zero general rules of the &quot;you gain advantage when attacking from stealth&quot; sort, or &quot;you're flat-footed until you have taken your first action&quot;. If you can't point to an ability specifically granting you some sort of bonus, there isn't one to be had.I'm getting the definite impression the idea is that you go into encounter mode when every creature is on the battle board, and combat can ensue right away.And yes, this is in sharp contrast to other D&amp;D games where it feels natural to do things turn-by-turn as soon as that feels right. Here the transition from Exploration to Encounters feel wonky if you're dropped into turn-by-turn mode before the fight has started; i.e. rolling Initiative with no fight.Of course you can run the game otherwise, but official adventures clearly weigh towards the &quot;and the monsters are right in your face - roll initiative!&quot; where the idea that you would want to avoid just that and keep the beasties at a distance as long as possible seems to just not occurred to anyone involved.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CapnZapp, post: 8108139, member: 12731"] You only roll a single Stealth check when you start an encounter by Avoid Notice. [SIZE=3]Unless the GM has other ideas, of course (the rule says "usually").[/SIZE] You use this single number both to put you somewhere in the Initiative order, and to compare to the passive Perception of each foe for purposes of them noticing you or not. You can totally lose initiative and still succeed at stealth (maybe you rolled well, but the monster rolled better). Conversely you can go first, but not successfully hide (maybe you rolled low but the monster rolled worse). In most cases, there are no bonuses to be gained by either going first or attacking from stealth. Only characters and monsters with specific abilities gain anything. There are zero general rules of the "you gain advantage when attacking from stealth" sort, or "you're flat-footed until you have taken your first action". If you can't point to an ability specifically granting you some sort of bonus, there isn't one to be had. I'm getting the definite impression the idea is that you go into encounter mode when every creature is on the battle board, and combat can ensue right away. And yes, this is in sharp contrast to other D&D games where it feels natural to do things turn-by-turn as soon as that feels right. Here the transition from Exploration to Encounters feel wonky if you're dropped into turn-by-turn mode before the fight has started; i.e. rolling Initiative with no fight. Of course you can run the game otherwise, but official adventures clearly weigh towards the "and the monsters are right in your face - roll initiative!" where the idea that you would want to avoid just that and keep the beasties at a distance as long as possible seems to just not occurred to anyone involved. [/QUOTE]

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