At what distance do my PC's spot the wolves stalking them?

[Plane Sailing]

I would roll one stealth check for the wolves. I'd then look at the PCs passive perception scores and work out at whether the wolves are spotted further away than 10 squares (doesn't beat passive perception-2) at 10 squares (doesn't beat passive perception) or within one move (beats perception).

PCs would just use their passive perception in setting up this ambush - it is pretty much what passive perception is designed for.

If I made one stealth check per wolf, the chance of the wolves actually stalking anything would reduce dramatically (since even one failure blows the gaff). So I just make a check for the weakest wolf (which is the same as the strongest wolf in this case)

(in the same way for the PCs stalking something I'd often just get the poorest stealther to make the roll).

Cheers

 

[Quartz]

I'm going to take a different tack: use Aid Another. Take the best passive Perception skill the PCs have and add 2 per PC as per Aid Another and pit it against the best Stealth score of the wolves (the pack leader, probably), and optionally (depending upon how hard you want it to be - arguments can be made both ways) add 2 per wolf as per Aid Another.

Two suggestions: firstly, the wolves are likely to be spread out. Secondly, 6 vs 6 is not a fight a normal wolf would take on, so how about having the wolves spring the ambush but disengage when the prey (the PCs) doesn't run? Then they can track the PCs at a distance, waiting for one to fall behind.

Or make it a much larger wolf pack headed by a worg with the other wolves as minions.

 

[fissionessence]

As per the statement that the wolves should have a better chance to sneak up at night:

This would be represented in the PCs ability to see at night. If the players have low-light vision, then I think that means they can see just as well in moon/starlight as they could during the day, and so the wolves aren't going to fare any better. If, on the other hand, the players do not have low-light vision, then they will take a penalty to their perception checks for not being able to see very well, and thus the wolves will have a better shot. Also, if it's really dark, the PCs may just be traveling by torchlight and Wizard's light, and so they won't be able to see anything out past that light; this would give them an even bigger penalty to spot the wolves (who may not be within the lighted area). Of course, this brings up the question of how well the wolves can see, too.

~ fissionessence