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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hriston" data-source="post: 6960564" data-attributes="member: 6787503">That's right. I don't read Mask of the Wild as some limited form of invisibility. It gives the wood elf an additional circumstance in which to hide the same way in which all other characters can hide in a heavily obscured area, i.e. subject to the restriction that she can't hide under circumstances in which her location is known (seen clearly, making noise, etc.).Yes, I would draw the same distinction as Russell. While I agree with most of what [MENTION=6788736]Flamestrike[/MENTION] has said in this thread about hiding, I would differ with him or her about the ability of a creature to hide/stay hidden from someone who has been told by someone else where the creature is hiding. I don't believe that having that sort of second-hand information counts as truly knowing the creature's location. It's that the veracity of that information is only probable that makes identifying the creature's location into guesswork, and I would leave it up to the player to decide whether to trust that information or not. On the other hand, with regard to the situation in which a creature steps behind a pillar or into a box under direct observation such that the observer's sense of object permanence tells the observer that the creature can only be in that exact location, I would regard that as first-hand knowledge of location. The rather improbable possibility that things like teleportation or secret doors are involved need only be taken into consideration if those things are actually present and at work in the situation.Mask of the Wild doesn't say anything about magic or invisibility. It only presents a situation in which a wood elf can try to hide in which others cannot. Other creatures require a heavily obscured area to hide in. The wood elf can hide (normally) in lightly obscuring natural conditions. Under that interpretation, there is no contradiction between the feature and the hiding rules in general, and no need to invoke magic as an explanation. The title of the feature, however, does offer an explanation for the wood elf's knack for hiding under such conditions. Like a mask, the wood elf is able to "wear" or "put on" elements of the natural world to conceal her position. However, just as a mask is unable to hide the identity of the wearer that is observed donning it (because you already know who she is), "nature itself" cannot hide the location of a wood elf that is first seen unhidden within it.The name of Naturally Stealthy also offers a clue that there is nothing supernatural about the lightfoot's ability. I don't see any reason why the wood elf's ability should be any different.No, this isn't how I envision it working at all. I find the idea absurd that any wood elf that wanders into an area of moderate foliage, for example, or who happens to be caught in a snow storm, suddenly becomes invisible to all onlookers, whether she wills it or not. I almost equally dislike the idea that every wood elf comes fully equipped with a cloak of elven-kind. No, the way I envision it working is that a wood elf that is lightly obscured by natural elements can be seen clearly by any potential observer, just like any other character. The feature doesn't change this. Also just like any other character, a wood elf can't hide from an observer that sees her clearly. The feature doesn't change that either. What the feature changes is the range of circumstances in which the wood elf can be unseen once hidden. Just as most characters, in my view, would need to be unobserved while getting into position behind a large tree or boulder in order to hide there, a wood elf also needs to be unobserved while donning the "mask of the wild" in order to hide behind it.</blockquote>

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