When a gang of mobs is stalking my players, I usually roll one stealth check for all of them (if they’re all the same type.). But I just realized that when my part sneaks up on mobs, they each roll. This gives an advantage to the mobs. How do you handle this?
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By RAW, you should make a group check for the sneaking creatures - each individual member of the group makes the check, and if half or more succeed, the group succeeds, if more than half fail, the group fails. If the whole group has identical stat blocks, it’s not unreasonable to handle it with one check for all of them, but you’re correct that this method does favor groups of monsters over groups of PCs. Personally, I’m not a fan of the RAW for group checks. If a group of characters is searching for something, you don’t need half of the group to find it - as soon as one person finds it, it’s found. Likewise, if you’re trying to sneak through a dungeon as a group, it doesn’t take half the group being spotted for the group’s position to be given away - that one Paladin clanking around in their armor will ruin it for everyone else if they’re not careful. That’s why you send scouts. Besides that, I don’t like doing with 4-6 rolls what could be done with one, same reason you would want to consolidate the monsters’ group check into one roll. So here’s how I do it:
Group Checks.
When several PCs are trying to accomplish something as a group, the GM can call for a group check. First, the GM determines whether the group will succeed if any member succeeds (such as with searching) or if the group will fail if any member fails (such as with stealth). In the first scenario, the group rolls a single check using the highest ability check modifier and proficiency bonus available to any single character. If any member of the group would have advantage on the check, the check is made with advantage. If any member of the group is benefiting from any bonuses that would apply to the check, the best single one of those bonuses is also applied to the check. In the second scenario, the group rolls a single check using the lowest ability check modifier and proficiency bonus available to any single character. If any member of the group would have disadvantage on the check, the check is made with disadvantage. If any member of the group is suffering from any penalties that would affect the check, the single worst one of those penalties is also applied to the check.
EDIT: Credit where it’s due, this group check rule is not my invention, but that of the Angry GM. Reference to the article here:
http://theangrygm.com/exploration-rules/
