D&D (2024) Stealth Errata

[Mistwell]

I mean, he certainly can by RAW, as far as I can tell. I don’t think most DMs are going to rule in accordance with that, but I’m now very confident that it’s what the text of the rules says is supposed to happen.

It was nice when WOTC had someone who would answer these kinds of questions direction on Twitter or elsewhere.

 

[James Gasik]

It was nice when WOTC had someone who would answer these kinds of questions direction on Twitter or elsewhere.

Yeah but if you remember CustServ, two different people could ask the same question and get two different answers.

 

[jgsugden]

Wow. Are all of you missing the reference to the secret errata encoded into Mike's message? I mean ... HE TELLS YOU THERE IS STEALTH ERRATA IN THE POST HEADLINE!

I can't believe they're doing that to gnolls.

 

[Reynard]

I look forward to this post going hundreds of replies as people argue about arguing about stealth.

 

[SteveC]

I'll be honest, I initially thought this was going to be about WotC doing an update and not telling anyone about it. Not actual updates to the stealth mechanics.

 

[pukunui]

It was nice when WOTC had someone who would answer these kinds of questions direction on Twitter or elsewhere.

Yeah but remember that Jeremy’s Twitter replies didn’t always make things any clearer. That’s one of the reasons he stopped, IIRC.

 

[Mistwell]

Yeah but if you remember CustServ, two different people could ask the same question and get two different answers.

Yes but I'm OK with uncertainty on that front as long as Crawford (and before him Mearls) would reply we'd usually go with that.

 

[pukunui]

I appreciate that they’ve made the Stealth rules clearer. However, I would still prefer they add a Hidden condition and get rid of hiding making you invisible.

That said, I’ve been wanting them to make Slowed a condition since 2014 (if for no other reason than to avoid having to repeat its effects in full every time), and they haven’t done that yet either, so I’m not holding out much hope for Hidden.

 

[Staffan]

Yeah, and doing that, it looks like the ways you stop being hidden are attacking, casting a spell, making a sound louder than a whisper, and a creature “finding you,” which is undefined, except that the creature can find you by succeeding at a Wisdom (Perception) check with a DC equal to the total on your Dexterity (Stealth) check. So, yeah, I do think these rules are clearer now, and that clarity backs up my interpretation of the previous rules that once hidden, you remain hidden even if you stop being covered or concealed, as long as you don’t attack, cast a spell, or make too much noise, until an enemy makes and passes a Perception check.

I think "finding you" would include situations where you are hidden but it's bloody obvious where the hidden person is. I don't know if 5.5 dealt with this, but in 5.0 a rogue* could be hidden behind a boulder or something, pop up and shoot someone, and then hide again. At that point it's obvious that the rogue is behind the boulder, but you can't see them so they get the benefit of hiding. But there's nothing (other than distance) that prevents the target from just moving to a location where the boulder no longer provides heavy obscurement and thereby breaking the rogue's stealth.

*)Not necessarily a rogue other than the need to attack and hide on the same turn, which is enabled by Cunning Action, but I think there are monsters with similar abilities.

 

[cbwjm]

BTW - I wonder how many people are going to read the thread title and wonder if Mike is talking about "secretive" errata that WotC is trying to sneak into the game... rather than what it actually is... errata about Stealth.