D&D 5E thief used his invisibility HIDDING

[maritimo80]

The thief used his invisibility ring in the middle of the fight and then wanted to hide as bonus action. He can hide without coverage being invisible? Normal or disadvantage?

 

[iserith]

For the purposes of hiding, an invisible creature is heavily obscured. An invisible creature can't be seen, so it can always try to hide; however, they have to take care to make no noise and leave no tracks or else they risk their location being known.

 

[Thyrwyn]

For the purposes of hiding, an invisible creature is heavily obscured. An invisible creature can't be seen, so it can always try to hide; however, they have to take care to make no noise and leave no tracks or else they risk their location being known.

....Which is what the Stealth roll is for. Normal, no disadvantage. (Typically)

 

[iserith]

....Which is what the Stealth roll is for. Normal, no disadvantage. (Typically)

Sure, though the check is only necessary if the DM determines that the outcome of the action of hiding is uncertain. In some cases, it might succeed or fail without a roll.

 

[maritimo80]

For the purposes of hiding, an invisible creature is heavily obscured. An invisible creature can't be seen, so it can always try to hide; however, they have to take care to make no noise and leave no tracks or else they risk their location being known.

2) WHY NOT ???

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

There is no "why not?" Because the answer was "yes you can."

 

[iserith]

2) WHY NOT ???

I'm not sure what you're asking.

 

[machineelf]

Yes, as far as I'm aware. Think of hiding in terms of two components: sight and sound. The invisibility ring solves the sight issue (for normal sight), but an invisible person could still be heard if he/she moves around. A good stealth check will solve the sound component, so that a person can sneak around stealthily without being heard. If a person is invisible, attacks against them will have disadvantage, even if the attacker knows the location (the exact square) to target.

 

[Pvt. Winslow]

Sure, though the check is only necessary if the DM determines that the outcome of the action of hiding is uncertain. In some cases, it might succeed or fail without a roll.

I can definitely see times where you would allow it to succeed without a roll, such as in a crowded marketplace and no one was directly watching the PC, or there's just so much distraction there's no worry about sound. However, could you give me an example of times where it would fail without a roll? I can think of maybe two off the top of my head, and I want to see if I'm in the same line of thinking as you.

1) Character is waist deep in water. Turning invisible doesn't displace the water around you, or stop ripples from emanating, so until you're out of the water, this would be an auto-fail (you still can't be seen, so if they do attack you they have Disadvantage and can't actually take attacks of opportunity against you, which is still nice).
2) Character is standing in area where it is impossible to not make noise when moving, or noise is already issuing from character, such as crackling acid on them or some clockwork device that makes noise. You would be invisible, but the noise makes it easy to pinpoint your exact square.

Are those the kind of scenarios you mean?

 

[iserith]

I can definitely see times where you would allow it to succeed without a roll, such as in a crowded marketplace and no one was directly watching the PC, or there's just so much distraction there's no worry about sound. However, could you give me an example of times where it would fail without a roll? I can thick of maybe two off the top of my head, and I want to see if I'm in the same line of thinking as you.

1) Character is waist deep in water. Turning invisible doesn't displace the water around you, or stop ripples from emanating, so until you're out of the water, this would be an auto-fail (you still can't be seen, so if they do attack you they have Disadvantage and can't actually take attacks of opportunity against you, which is still nice).
2) Character is standing in area where it is impossible to not make noise when moving, or noise is already issuing from character, such as crackling acid on them or some clockwork device that makes noise. You would be invisible, but the noise makes it easy to pinpoint your exact square.

Are those the kind of scenarios you mean?

Yeah, those sound good. The classic one is walking in a dusty area and leaving footprints behind or an area filled with unavoidable broken glass that cracks underfoot. You're still invisible with all the benefits that come with it, but creatures know more or less where you are.