Sneak Attack...Them Darn Halflings :)

[FCWesel]

Hey all. Just wanted to run this past you, just to make sure I called it right...even after all this time, you can be too sure with a 3rd Ed Rule.

Here's the situation.

4 Heroes. 1 is a halfling rogue (5th level), the others don't matter for this.

1 2-headed giant (ettin).

Halfling is usuing lights woods as cover to Hide, while the other three deal more in a head-to-head fashion.

Halfling gets within 30' of Ettin. Ettin spots halfling, halfling takes a shot, hits and scores a bit of damage on the beast.

Next round. Halfling uses Move-Equiv Action (MEA) to HIDE. Ettin makes its SPOT roles, opposed actions.

Ettin fails the rolls (it got one for each head) so the Halfling makes an attack. AS the Ettin cannot see where the attack is coming from, it is denied its AC, allowing the Halfling to get Sneak Damage.

Is that correct to you? Should I have imposed a penalty on the halfling's Hide?

I remember seeing something about a -20 penalty, but simply didn't want to slow the pacing of the combat to look up a rule. He did that for several more rounds. Sometimes spotted by the Ettin, sometimes not.

Is "snipering" in that fashion something that denies Dex from AC?

Thanks All.

 

[Thanee]

If you want to re-hide after attacking, you have to take a -20 penalty to the hide check (it's in Song & Silence, if you wonder where to find that).

Of course, you could just move out of sight after the attack and next round use stealth to close in again and the round after that, attack again, without that penalty!

Bye
Thanee

 

[FCWesel]

Thanks Thanee, should have guessed Splat:S&S, just didn't want to bother and disrupt the flow of the battle with something as silly as rules.

I'm fairly proud of my little heroes, 4 PCs at 5th level actually managed to take out a pair of Ettins.

Sure 1 went down (but not dead), and another was 1 point from going down...twice...but hey, that's part of the fun!

 

[dcollins]

I actually think it's more basic than that.

Halfling gets within 30' of Ettin. Ettin spots halfling, halfling takes a shot, hits and scores a bit of damage on the beast.

PH p. 69, under "Hide", says: "If people are observing you, even casually, you can't hide".

So if the Ettin had spotted him, hiding is out of the question. Without having Song & Silence, I have to assume the rule there is specific to having attacked without having been spotted.

 

[Thanee]

Thanks Thanee, should have guessed Splat:S&S, just didn't want to bother and disrupt the flow of the battle with something as silly as rules.

That is exactly the right way to handle that IMHO!

A detail like this is not that important and any spontaneous decision, which is based on a little common sense is good enough for the situation. Later you can always check and do it by the rules in future encounters (unless your players are very anal about stuff like that).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Pbartender]

If you want to re-hide after attacking, you have to take a -20 penalty to the hide check (it's in Song & Silence, if you wonder where to find that).

Of course, you could just move out of sight after the attack and next round use stealth to close in again and the round after that, attack again, without that penalty!

Bye
Thanee

Thanee, the -20 rule is generally used for hiding while moving very quickly...

From the SRD:

At more than one-half and up to the full speed, the character suffers a –5 penalty. It's practically impossible (–20 penalty) to hide while running or charging.

Technically, the halfling shouldn't have been able to hide at all, since he was being directly observed by the Ettin. Unless, that is, either he or his friends made a Bluff check. Even then, he'd have to do it with a -10 penalty...

From the SRD:

If people are observing the character, even casually, the character can't hide. The character can run around a corner or something so that the character is out of sight and then hide, but the others then know at least where the character went. If the character's observers are momentarily distracted (as by a Bluff check; see below), though, the character can attempt to hide. While the others turn their attention from the character, the character can attempt a Hide check if the character can get to a hiding place of some kind. (As a general guideline, the hiding place has to be within 1 foot per rank the character has in Hide.) This check, however, is at –10 because the character has to move fast.

 

[Archer]

The ettin even has two heads. It could easily observe the halfling while functioning normally with its other head. I wouldn't let the halfing rehide within 30' of the ettin.

 

[Pbartender]

The ettin even has two heads. It could easily observe the halfling while functioning normally with its other head. I wouldn't let the halfing rehide within 30' of the ettin.

Well... Number of heads doesn't really make a difference, since there's is no facing in 3E. However, you probably would have to make two Bluffs checks to sufficiently distract the bugger before hiding.

 

[Thanee]

Well... let's take a look...

From Song & Silence:
Sniping: If you've already successfully hidden at least 10 feet from your target, you can make one ranged attack then immediately hide again as a move action. You suffer a -20 circumstance penalty on your Hide check to conceal yourself after the shot.

So, since the Halfling was spotted, he would've had to move away first and start anew, if he was not spotted (before the attack, when making the attack, he is spotted automatically AFAIK), he could use this method to hide again (or essentially stay hidden), but at a -20 penalty.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Pbartender]

Where's that quote from, Thanee?