Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Scent and Darkvision vs Shadowdancer
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Sejs" data-source="post: 1553545" data-attributes="member: 4910"><p>DMG, p195 <em><strong>Hide in Plain Sight (Su):</strong> a shadowdancer can use the Hide skill even while being observed. As long as she is withing 10 feet of some sort of shadow, a shadowdancer can hide herself from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind. She cannot, however, hide in her own shadow.</em></p><p></p><p>PHB, p48. <em><strong>Camoflage (Ex):</strong> A ranger of 13th level or higher can use the Hide skill in any sort of natural terrain even if the terrain doesn't grant cover or concealment.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><strong>Hide in Plain Sight (Ex):</strong> While in any sort of natural terrain, a ranger of 17th level or higher can use the Hide skill even while being observed.</em></p><p></p><p></p><p>To use the hide skill you must normally have cover or concealment of some kind, and cannot be directly observed. SD HiPS: As long as you are within 10' of some sort of shadow, you can hide without cover or concealment, even while being directly observed. Period. End of statement. It doesn't say "you can hide without cover or concealment, even while being directly observed as long as the person observing you doens't have darkvision." Just without cover or concealment, and/or while being observed. Period. The combination of a ranger's Camoflage and Hide in Plain Sight abilities recreate this as well, but trading the requirement for 'within 10' of some sort of shadow' for 'must be in natural terrain'. (plus it's an Ex, which is rather cool).</p><p></p><p>The light rules and darkvision rules have no bearing on these abilities. None. Zero. The only things that HiPS does it remove restrictions in which the hide skill can be used. Now for the blow-by-blow:</p><p></p><p> Nope, no need to. Darkvision lets you see thru darkness, and thereby observe the SD/Ranger. But because if HiPS they can hide while being observed, so it doesn't matter.</p><p></p><p> Nope. Apples and Oranges. The <em>Invisibility</em> spell grants you a bonus to your hide skill (+20 if you're moving, +40 if you're not). Hide in Plain Sight does not. Any schlub can be unseen if made magically invisible. With HiPS you have to be a skilled hider on your own merrit or people will still see you. A 17th level ranger with 0 ranks in Hide can attempt to HiPS because of his abilities, but the chances are almost certain that anyone looking for him will spot him without difficulty.</p><p></p><p> The dwarf in your example would see a blank hallway. No 'mysterious' impenetrable dark spots, nothing. Just the hallway, minus the hiding person. Don't forget that a HiPSing person still makes noise if they move (a seperate Move Silently check), still give off scent, still vibrate the ground, you name it. The dwarf can guess where he thinks the person hiding may be, the exact same way he can with any other opponent he can't see.</p><p></p><p> That's a grey spot. HiPS <em>is</em> a Su ability for SD, but the See Invis spell description says "this spell does not reveal creatures who are simply hiding, concealed, or otherwise hard to see." I'd say rule this one as you see fit. </p><p></p><p> It doesn't require a new state; it is the use of the hide skill (remove the appelation 'mundane', it's pointless) that has had some of the normal restrictions on what conditions must exist for its use removed via certain class abilities. Hide in Plain Sight is still the use of the Hide skill.</p><p></p><p> *shrug* Rule 0: the DM is always right, even when he's wrong. It's your game, man. If you want everyone with darkvision to negate a shadowdancer's primary schtick, or a ranger's 13th and 17th level abilities, you're free to do so. Don't expext many shadowdancers or high level rangers in your games, though.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sejs, post: 1553545, member: 4910"] DMG, p195 [i][b]Hide in Plain Sight (Su):[/b] a shadowdancer can use the Hide skill even while being observed. As long as she is withing 10 feet of some sort of shadow, a shadowdancer can hide herself from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind. She cannot, however, hide in her own shadow.[/i] PHB, p48. [i][b]Camoflage (Ex):[/b] A ranger of 13th level or higher can use the Hide skill in any sort of natural terrain even if the terrain doesn't grant cover or concealment. [b]Hide in Plain Sight (Ex):[/b] While in any sort of natural terrain, a ranger of 17th level or higher can use the Hide skill even while being observed.[/i] To use the hide skill you must normally have cover or concealment of some kind, and cannot be directly observed. SD HiPS: As long as you are within 10' of some sort of shadow, you can hide without cover or concealment, even while being directly observed. Period. End of statement. It doesn't say "you can hide without cover or concealment, even while being directly observed as long as the person observing you doens't have darkvision." Just without cover or concealment, and/or while being observed. Period. The combination of a ranger's Camoflage and Hide in Plain Sight abilities recreate this as well, but trading the requirement for 'within 10' of some sort of shadow' for 'must be in natural terrain'. (plus it's an Ex, which is rather cool). The light rules and darkvision rules have no bearing on these abilities. None. Zero. The only things that HiPS does it remove restrictions in which the hide skill can be used. Now for the blow-by-blow: Nope, no need to. Darkvision lets you see thru darkness, and thereby observe the SD/Ranger. But because if HiPS they can hide while being observed, so it doesn't matter. Nope. Apples and Oranges. The [i]Invisibility[/i] spell grants you a bonus to your hide skill (+20 if you're moving, +40 if you're not). Hide in Plain Sight does not. Any schlub can be unseen if made magically invisible. With HiPS you have to be a skilled hider on your own merrit or people will still see you. A 17th level ranger with 0 ranks in Hide can attempt to HiPS because of his abilities, but the chances are almost certain that anyone looking for him will spot him without difficulty. The dwarf in your example would see a blank hallway. No 'mysterious' impenetrable dark spots, nothing. Just the hallway, minus the hiding person. Don't forget that a HiPSing person still makes noise if they move (a seperate Move Silently check), still give off scent, still vibrate the ground, you name it. The dwarf can guess where he thinks the person hiding may be, the exact same way he can with any other opponent he can't see. That's a grey spot. HiPS [i]is[/i] a Su ability for SD, but the See Invis spell description says "this spell does not reveal creatures who are simply hiding, concealed, or otherwise hard to see." I'd say rule this one as you see fit. It doesn't require a new state; it is the use of the hide skill (remove the appelation 'mundane', it's pointless) that has had some of the normal restrictions on what conditions must exist for its use removed via certain class abilities. Hide in Plain Sight is still the use of the Hide skill. *shrug* Rule 0: the DM is always right, even when he's wrong. It's your game, man. If you want everyone with darkvision to negate a shadowdancer's primary schtick, or a ranger's 13th and 17th level abilities, you're free to do so. Don't expext many shadowdancers or high level rangers in your games, though. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Scent and Darkvision vs Shadowdancer
Top