D&D 5E Rogue's Cunning Action to Hide: In Combat??

[Plaguescarred]

A gelatinous cube is transparent, though, so it doesn't block line of sight.

You say that for the purpose of hiding? If so indeed a halfling couldn't hide as a cube doesn't obscure it at all!

 

[Mistwell]

Oh. Sorry, since you pointed to it as evidence that AT far outstrips other classes, I thought you were standing by the general results, not defending the correctness of the arithmetic.

It's a consistent baseline to use but not the only possible baseline to use. As long as you use that same baseline for all calculations you're going to at least roughly get a fair comparison.

 

[Lyxen]

You mean if an halfling could hide using a tiny creature's obscurement? It can't has it is not least one size larger than small. Neither can it hide behind another halfling.

No, my answer was with regards to the Gelatinous Cube, a halfling needs a creature one size larger than him, but he could hide behind another halfling after being targeted by a reduce spell.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

What Jeremy Crawford says cannot be any more clear than that

"A creature provides half cover, regardless of that creature's size."

New party tactic: bring bag of rats and spill them in between party and baddies at onset of combat. Half cover all around!
Or, a new way to hate summons: Druid conjures 8 tiny creatures. They are commanded to stay in front of a PC until PC attacks, in which case they move slightly aside (then maybe even back in front of PC) so baddie doesn’t get same half cover bennie from them.
Or new use for tiny familiars: to boost AC.

These exploits are pure cheese, right? Certainly not RAI.

 

[Rabulias]

I just don't see why people would have enough time to react to those attacks, but not the attacks of someone that leans out from cover, aims, times it so they aren't hitting their ally when they know where the attack is likely to come from. Totally unexpected? Okay, it kind of makes sense. The second or third time? You have as much warning as the fact that ogre #3 that's directly behind you is going to throw a punch while ogre #2 to your side and ogre #1 in your face is doing the same.

This is why the rogue makes a Dexterity (Stealth) roll and the target(s) use passive Perception or make an active Wisdom (Perception) roll to spot the rogue. Maybe the rogue is not as quiet as they hoped as they prepared to peek out and shoot. Maybe the top of their bow stuck out too far and the target caught a glimpse of it. Maybe the rogue's shadow on the opposite wall betrayed their motion to attack from the high right side. Or maybe the target is more distracted at that moment and misses seeing any clues to the rogue's intent. It's not an automatic thing - there is a skill check or contest involved, and the rogue might blow it.

@Lyxen As a counterpoint, what about the Help action in combat? Do you allow an ally using the Help action in combat to grant advantage? Even if they do it round after round to the same opponent?

 

[Nefermandias]

Bravo, you just have proven that, actually, cover does not exist, since all you need is to shoot at the right place and the right time. So simple. I'd really like to see you shoot like that...

What @Horwath said isn't something absurd. Previous editions had specific rules for terrain that only provides one way cover. Arrow slits are the prime example of that type of terrain feature. Both in 3e and 4e, the arrow slit rules stated that a target standing at 5ft of the opening would benefit from 3/4 cover (superior cover in 4e) from any attacks originated from the opposite side.
That's the whole point of arrow slits...

 

[Lyxen]

New party tactic: bring bag of rats and spill them in between party and baddies at onset of combat. Half cover all around!
Or, a new way to hate summons: Druid conjures 8 tiny creatures. They are commanded to stay in front of a PC until PC attacks, in which case they move slightly aside (then maybe even back in front of PC) so baddie doesn’t get same half cover bennie from them.
Or new use for tiny familiars: to boost AC.

These exploits are pure cheese, right? Certainly not RAI.

Well, you can expect to get a lot of rats with pure cheese anyway...

 

[Lyxen]

What @Horwath said isn't something absurd. Previous editions had specific rules for terrain that only provides one way cover. Arrow slits are the prime example of that type of terrain feature. Both in 3e and 4e, the arrow slit rules stated that a target standing at 5ft of the opening would benefit from 3/4 cover (superior cover in 4e) from any attacks originated from the opposite side.
That's the whole point of arrow slits...

I actually agreed for arrow slits, and actually it's the same in 5e, because it's purely based on the percentage of the body covered. So if you are standing close to an arrow slit, most of your body is still hidden, while you can target most creatures far away without penalty.

But we were talking about creatures standing between a halfling and his target, in which case, in general (and I agree there could be some edge cases depending on the size of the creatures, the numbers and their positioning), cover goes both ways.

 

[Plaguescarred]

Cover usually work both ways. An arrow slit is certainly an exception by design, it's not a 2-way straight cut through a wall, it specifically designed to shoot outward and protect inward. I would not use such cover as proof that a cover doesn't work both ways as it's more the exception that proves the rule.

 

[Lyxen]

Cover usually work both ways. An arrow slit is certainly an exception by design, it's not a 2-way straight cut through a wall, it specifically designed to shoot outward and protect inward. I would not use such cover as proof that a cover doesn't work both ways as it's more the exception that proves the rule.

Then you can discuss with @Horwarth who thought the exact opposite in #357.

Just pointing out that even a low wall is not symmetrical for cover if one creature is close to it and the other not, for example.

As for me, I wouldn't try to guess the probability of either, I just know that both exist, and I'll rule each situation on its own merit.