D&D (2024) New stealth rules.

[UngainlyTitan]

Honestly, I think whoever wrote this rule was just picturing a completely static scenario. The person is hiding, of course they're not going to move. And they didn't consider the idea of someone else moving to negate their cover. Since they didn't consider movement a factor, they didn't account for it in the rule.

Looks like a classic case of group think. It works for them because of some shared assumptions but they have not shared those assumption with us.

 

[MarkB]

If you walk in front of someone, they have found you (they didn’t even have to search.) It’s like being really bad at hide and seek.

Which is definitely a good skill to have.

 

[mellored]

Right, but you also have to not make a sound louder than a whisper. That's part of the conditions for remaining Invisible after taking the Hide action. So all this leaping around in front of people and armies marching past guard posts and whatever has to be conducted in, essentially, complete silence.

Jumping quietly might be a bit harder. But waving makes no noise at all.

But go ahead and use a sound level app to see how much nose a whisper is, and how much you make walking.

I bet even with 8 Dex you could pull it off 1/4 of the time.

 

[mellored]

If you walk in front of someone, they have found you (they didn’t even have to search.) It’s like being really bad at hide and seek.

If you smell or make noise they might find you. But they can't see the wind past in front of them.

And again. It should be a rule, and you certainly can play that way, but by the rules nothing about leaving cover get you spotted.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Unless you're buying a book full of rules you don't like.

Then one probably shouldn't buy or use the book. And there's nothing wrong with that.

But if someone likes a lot of a book except for a couple rules... you and I have both agreed it is infinitely better to just house rule those ones we don't. Because there's no reason not to.

And if a person is strictly a player and thus beholden to the DM's decisions on rules (and can't make any suggestions on amendments to said rules)... then there's no reason to complain about what gets written because that player was going to have no choice in what they played anyway. If the DM decided not to move to the revised 5E24 rules, then they were stuck playing the old one. If the DM has a bunch of house rules they are going to add to their game, then they are stuck playing them. If the DM makes a game world where only certainly options are available, then they are stuck choosing from only those options.

There's ALWAYS something to complain about when it comes to the game a person is stuck playing because no two people will ever believe in the exact same game 100% (without compromise or acceptance of a less preferred thing). So why waste your time, energy, and emotions getting all bent out of shape over it? Horrible way to live your life... always mad at this supposed hobby of yours.

 

[Remathilis]

It doesn't.
The spell just gives the invisible condition. Same as the hide action.

Except the hide action list a few more ways to end the condition. Walking in front of someone is not one of them (though it should be).

So in effect, the invisibility spell is just "better hide" which is fair for a second level spell.

 

[TiQuinn]

If you smell or make noise they might find you. But they can't see the wind past in front of them.

Edge case at best and that’s where a DM can adjudicate.

 

[mamba]

Just click on the quote you included on your post.

ah, you mean the rest of your sentence, I meant the full sneak attack text…

The Hide action rule is written with the assumption that the hiding character will remain hidden, thus requiring a search check, not that they will say, “Yay, now by the rules my successful Hide action means I have magical invisibility!” and walk out in full view of the guards.

doesn’t change a thing. RAW it allows it and for 10 years they told us we should just read it RAW, us making assumptions just means we do not use it correctly by introducing our own spin

 

[Thommy H-H]

Jumping quietly might be a bit harder. But waving makes no noise at all.

But go ahead and use a sound level app to see how much nose a whisper is, and how much you make walking.

I bet even with 8 Dex you could pull it off 1/4 of the time.

Yes, but you'd need to specify. This is my point. If the Rogue who just took the Hide action and is now Invisible says, "Lol, I'm invisible! I'm going to run up to the guard and stab him in the face!" My response as DM is "That makes a noise louder than a whisper. You need to be moving silently, taking time to wait for him to have his back turned, stuff like that." And even then, all it does is grant Advantage on the attack - they might as well throw a dagger. By the same token, if the Rogue's not even attacking, then it's not a combat and I'll resolve it as a normal Dexterity (Stealth) vs. passive Perception check and narrate it as, "You sneak by the guard."

I think people here are underestimating the value of someone using a whole action, making a non-trivial ability check, or burning a level 2 spell slot, and then saying, "Okay, I'm taking care to move as silently as I can." That's worth what you actually get from the Invisible condition. It's the same as a player thinking to use some random bit of backstory in a negotiation and being granted advantage for it. It's just giving the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Charlaquin]

Mechanically, A is simply unable to see B. Narratively, the players and DM need to figure something out that doesn't sound absurd or break immersion. Perhaps B is in the rafters, hiding inside shadows, or is able to temporarily distract A.

I agree that mechanically it sounds really frustrating to think that people are literally turning invisible, but think of it more like Batman or Spider-Man sneaking up on someone, even from the front. They will figure out some way to get past A because of their incredible skill at Stealth. Mechanically, it is so much simpler to say that Batman was Invisible rather than having a whole separate condition.


I would just shrug and say that a person who cast See Invisibility or True Seeing happens to be using Divination magic to notice non-visual queues which happens to include stealthy people. Anyone can detect a sneaking person by succeeding on a Search action, but it happens automatically for creatures with special senses.

I personally would add a house rule where creatures are constantly doing a no-action-required Search using their Passive Perception score simply to allow for creatures like dogs with enhanced Perception to smell to automatically detect invisible creatures. I would hope that something like that would be included in the Dungeon Master's Guide later. If a PC with a high Passive Perception encounters an Invisible creature, I would hope the DM would either just tell them directly or at least tell them to make a no-action-required Perception check.

If you have to invent all these unwritten procedures to make sense of the stealth rules, the stealth rules are written poorly.