Okay, I don't have access to the SRD right now, but I have a question regarding the Shadowdancer's exceptional hiding ability (including hide in plain sight) and the sniping action as part of the hide skill.
What actions are allowed in a round and what modifiers are applied to a character who is successfully hidden, and then on their initiative, shoots at a target, and wants to hide again?
I seem to recall that you can hide as part of a move action. Would this indicate that the shadowdancer can shoot, roll a hide check (at a -20) and use a move action (1/2 move) to change locations?
Here are some details:
From the Hide skill (3.5 PHB):
Sniping - If you've already successfully hidden at least 10 feet from your target, you can make one ranged attack, then immediately hidea again. You take a -20 penalty on your Hide check to conceal yourself after the shot.
Action: Usually none. Normally, you make a Hide check as part of movement, so it doesn't take a separate action. However, hiding immediately after a ranged attack (see Sniping, above) is a move action.
Here is the Hide in Plain Sight ability (3.5 DMG):
A shadowdancer can use the Hide skill even while being observed. As long as she is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, a shadowdancer can hide herself from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind. She canot, however, hide in her own shadow.
Just to clear some things up, the following rules hold true in a round of combat:
-Once in combat, a player can take a Full Action, or a Standard action and a Move action.
-A Full Action would be making multiple attacks (if your character is allowed), charge, coup de grace
-A standard action could be a single attack (at highest base attack bonus), drinking a potion, using a magic item, or moving full movement rate.
-A move action means a character can move up to her full movement rate (or 1/2 movement rate if hiding/moving silently/walking through caltrops, etc)
-A 5-foot step can be taken if no other movement was taken during the round (ie, the character attacked and then sheathed her weapon)
A few examples, for all of which, we'll assume that the shadowdancer was successfully hiding at the beginning of her turn
EX 1) For her standard action, she chooses to sneak attack her target (since she's within 30ft) with her bow. For her move action she can make a hide check at -20 (as per the sniping rules above) and then make a single 5-foot step to end her turn.
EX 2) For her standard action, she sneak attacks her target with a melee weapon. For her move action, she makes a hide check (with no penalty) AND can move 1/2 her movement rate since you can hide as part of a move action.
EX 3) For her standard action, she sneak attacks her target with her bow. For her move action, she makes a hide check (-20) and then can move (1/2 move), since hiding can be considered part of a move action.
EX 4) For her standard action, she sneak attacks her target with her bow. For her move action, she makes a hide check (no penalty) and then can move (1/2 move), since hiding can be considered part of a move action.
Am I interpreting these rules incorrectly? It seems kinda fishy that it would be easier for the shadowdancer to melee attack and hide again, then it would be to ranged attack and hide. I have ruled that example 1 is the correct way to handle this situation, but I don't necessarily agree with the rulebooks here. I also think that example 2 is slightly flawed because the hide skill states that:
"...If people are observing you, even casually, you can't hide. You can run around a corner or behind cover so that you're out of sight and then hide, but the others then know at least where you went. If your observers are momentarily distracted (such as by a Bluff check...), though, you can attempt to hide. While the others turn their attemtion from you, you can attempt a Hide check if you can get to a hiding place of some kind. (As a general guideline,
the hiding place has to be within 1 foot per rank you have in Hide.) This check, however, is made at a -10 penalty because you have to move fast..."
Yet, at the same time, the Hide In Plain Sight ability tends to negate that passage. So, if she can attack a foe with a melee weapon, she is arguably within 10 feet of their shadow and can hide herself without penalty, even while being observed.
This is such an important part of the Shadowdancer's ability and it seems kind of useless, especially for a sniping character, if she has a -20 to her check and cannot move (since sniping is considered a move action). What is your opinion/interpretation?
Thanks for taking the time to read through this lengthy post.
