Targetting what you can't see

[mneme]

I'll note, btw:

Making the stealth check is free if you move. Check.

If you -don't- move, then you don't get the stealth check. Well, yeah -- the opponent -still knows where you are-.

Basically -not- making a stealth check every time you move against everything you have Total Concealment or Total Cover from is an optimization for not having to make rolls that don't matter (eg, I haven't trained stealth; I'm not going to bother). But as silly as it is that you have an option to not make the roll under certain circumstances, as long as you do make the roll whenever you can, it makes sense.

 

[Saeviomagy]

So, shall we amend flipguarder's statement?

An enemy 100 feet away is completely targettable by a deaf blind wizard with a -50 to all perception checks IF he makes no effort at all to be undetected by him OR the wizard is so perceptive and the foe so unstealthy that the wizard still succeeds at his perception check.

 

[Starfox]

IIR, the Blind condition actually does include a Perception penalty, thus making it even easier to gain the Hidden status. Invisibility does not have this benefit.

I have more trouble with the fact that a blind creature suffers no movement penalties. The only way I can understand this is that the Blind condition does not actually mean that you are blind, only very visually impaired. To actually be blind, you need to be Blinded and Slowed.

Now, some digression:

There is a nice combo with the Warlock power Eybite in the blind/concealment/full concealment/hide rules. You can hide against someone who you have blinded with Eybite, and as long as you moved enough to get your Warlock concealment, it does not matter that the blindness only lasts until the *beginning* of your next turn - you still retain hidden status because of your concealment.

Finally, note that you need not actually move in order to get the Hidden status - you need to spend a move action. You can do this standing in place. In fact, you get a penalty if you move more than 2 squares. This might not make sense at first, but if you think of it as a sniper who only gives his target a vague indication of his actual direction but no precise lock, it works out well. If your follow-up Hide roll succeeds, you were in fact never completely visible, but enemies have an inkling of your location.