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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Crimson Binome" data-source="post: 7340215" data-attributes="member: 6775031">The general rules for hiding are that you can only hide when nobody can see you. This rule applies in all circumstances. Out of combat, you can sneak past people while they're looking in a different direction (as determined by the DM). During combat, everyone is assumed to be looking in all directions at all times, which is why hiding is impossible unless you have cover or concealment. Overland travel is a sub-set of the out-of-combat rules, in that we don't assume everyone is always looking around in every direction, except it's usually over a larger time scale. If you just need to sneak past a guard while you move past a door, then you can go behind their back when they turn around. If you need to sneak past a large group of goblins in the wilderness, you would need them all to be turned away at the same time, or else one of them will be looking in your direction and thus hiding is impossible; and because you're outside in an open environment, sight lines are much longer, and it might take you several minutes to sneak past. Thus, the chance of sneaking past a large group in an open environment would be approximately zero, since one of them will be looking in your direction during the several minutes it takes you to move past.As you say, I'm taking the stealth of the party into account in determining whether the encounter will take place at all, rather than determining that an encounter will take place and then using the stealth factor to determine if the party is noticed.In an open environment, stealthy movement is effectively impossible (see above point). If the party is moving stealthily, then it's through a forest or something; in which case, they're significantly less likely to draw the attention of whatever baddies are in the region, and many of those encounters would simply not occur. I guess it's also possible that they would stealth upon a monster just chilling there in the forest, but that tends to not happen, for several reasons. DM discretion.</blockquote>

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