index.md (9709B)
1 --- 2 title: "Hiding in D&D (2024)" 3 date: 2025-04-02T21:23:44-07:00 4 draft: false 5 categories: 6 - TTRPGs 7 --- 8 9 {{< aside >}} 10 11 This post is a major departure from what I usually write. I’m feeling inspired 12 to branch out by the [April Cools’ Club](https://www.aprilcools.club) (which I 13 learned about one day late), but I also want to be less precious about what I 14 post here in general. I played D&D online with friends during the Covid 15 lockdowns, and since moving I’ve picked up playing---and more recently 16 DMing---at a game shop in my neighborhood. 17 18 {{< /aside >}} 19 20 The new version of the Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook changes the way 21 that hiding is handled, and some dungeon masters (DMs) and players I’ve talked 22 with expressed confusion at the rewritten rules. Here I discuss the rules as 23 written (RAW), the way I think they were intended to be played, and suggest 24 some variations to the rules that other DMs may want to try at their tables. 25 I’ll quote and link to the [D&D Free Rules 26 (2024)](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules), but nothing in the 27 published books contradicts what I have here. 28 29 First, let’s see what the rules actually say about hiding: 30 31 > With the [Hide 32 > action](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules/rules-glossary#HideAction), 33 > you try to conceal yourself. To do so, you must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity 34 > (Stealth) check while you’re Heavily Obscured or behind Three-Quarters Cover 35 > or Total Cover, and you must be out of any enemy’s line of sight; if you can 36 > see a creature, you can discern whether it can see you. 37 > 38 > On a successful check, you have the [Invisible 39 > condition](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules/rules-glossary#InvisibleCondition). 40 > Make note of your check’s total, which is the DC for a creature to find you 41 > with a Wisdom (Perception) check. 42 > 43 > The condition ends on you immediately after any of the following occurs: you 44 > make a sound louder than a whisper, an enemy finds you, you make an attack 45 > roll, or you cast a spell with a Verbal component. 46 47 This tells us: 48 49 - Hiding is an action[^bonus] 50 - A character must have cover and be out of sight to hide[^cover] 51 - Success is determined by rolling against a fixed DC 52 - Successfully hiding grants the Invisible _condition_, but doesn’t literally 53 make a character invisible 54 - The Invisible condition ends, immediately, if any of the following occurs: 55 - A character makes a sound “louder than a whisper” (which includes casting a 56 spell with a Verbal component) 57 - An enemy finds the character by making a Wisom (Perception) check against 58 the initial Dexterity (Stealth) check[^dc]; notably, only _one_ enemy needs 59 to find the character for the condition to stop affecting _all_ enemies 60 - The character makes an attack roll 61 62 *Are you saying that you can hide, walk out into the open, and still be as good 63 as invisible? Even with no cover? That makes no sense!* 64 65 Well, whether or not it makese sense in our “fantasy world of monsters and 66 magic” is subjective, but under RAW, the answer---I argue---is yes! 67 68 The rules list things that would cause a player to lose the Invisible 69 condition, and leaving cover is not listed there[^list]. I think this is 70 intentional; I _believe_ that the intent is to allow characters to hide and subsequently benefit from their hidden state, for instance, by gaining 71 [Advantage](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules/rules-glossary#Advantage) 72 on an attack---even when that means leaving cover. 73 74 Judging by the number of discussions I’ve gotten into about this rule, this is 75 not clear, and I agree that there are points of ambiguity. For instance, does a 76 monster need to use the [Search 77 action](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules/rules-glossary#SearchAction) 78 on its turn to find a hidden player, or can they make the Perception check 79 whenever they choose to? Can an enterprising thief “hide” first thing in the 80 morning, and invisibly walk into a treasure vault later in the day? 81 82 Since the rule is currently unclear[^unclear], I think some degree of 83 home-ruling will be required to play the game. Here are options I’ve considered 84 myself or heard in conversation: 85 86 ## Invisibility ends when a character leaves cover 87 88 I think this is the worst choice, but it’s the one I hear the most. 89 90 If this was the intent of the rule, it would have been easy to include this 91 condition in the wording for the Hide action. Again, I believe the rule was 92 written the way it was so that (e.g.) a rogue could duck behind cover, hide, 93 and then jump out and stab a monster. This is the sort of thing that people who 94 like playing rogues like doing in the game, and I hope not too many DMs take 95 players’ fun away by nerfing the Hide action. 96 97 ## Finding is a “free action” 98 99 The text for the Hide action specifies the DC for finding a hidden character, 100 but not that it requires one of the limited actions that can be performed during 101 a turn. Finding can be a “free action” that enemies take at the beginning of 102 their turn to spot a hidden player character. 103 104 This feels like a departure from the rules, and it might slow down combat. That 105 being said, there are already places in D&D where there’s a grey area around 106 whether _doing something_ requires an action or not. For example (with emphasis 107 added): 108 109 > ...The DM **might** require you to take the Utilize action to open a stuck 110 > door or turn a crank to lower a drawbridge. 111 112 This doesn’t seem as bad as nerfing the Hide action by requiring constant cover, 113 but I don’t think I’ll run games this way; nobody likes it when the DM rolls the 114 dice too much. 115 116 ## Contest out-of-cover invisibility using passive perception 117 118 Players’ characters and their enemies have Passive Perception scores, which 119 “[reflect] a creature’s general awareness of its surroundings”. When a hidden 120 player leaves cover, it seems reasonable that their more perceptive enemies 121 would be most likely to spot them automatically---this could be handled testing 122 the Dexterity (Stealth) roll against opponents’ Passive Perception scores. 123 124 I like this better than the two previous options. It still feels like an 125 explicit departure from RAW, which require enemies to roll checks to find 126 players’ characters. 127 128 ## Invisibility has a time limit 129 130 DMs could also give the invisibility conferred by a successful Hide action a 131 time limit, ending (for example) at the end of the hidden character’s next turn 132 (assuming that it wasn’t already ended by one of the conditions explicitly 133 listed). This approach would let characters attack from hiding, but not stand 134 out in the open for multiple rounds. 135 136 This feels like a reasonable compromise---it lets players do what they actually 137 want, and prevents shenanigans that certainly stretch the intent behind the 138 rules. 139 140 For example, in a game following a literal interpretation of the rule and 141 eschewing the workarounds I dismissed above, a player could argue that their 142 character’s animal companion, after successfully hiding in the first round of 143 combat, would be able to maintain its Invisible condition while performing the 144 [Help 145 Action](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules/rules-glossary#HelpAction) 146 on every subsequent round, or until one of the enemies spends at least one 147 action finding it. I haven’t seen anybody try this strategy, but it could get 148 annoying. 149 150 ## Use RAW in combat, handle hiding outside of combat separately 151 152 Overall, I think it’s fine to follow a fairly literal interpretation of the 153 hiding rules for combat encounters, and that’s what I intend to do when I 154 DM[^fornow]. 155 156 Sure, a player could take their character out of combat for a few rounds to 157 prolong their invisibility, but characters built to hide well also tend to be 158 “strikers” who deal a lot of damage per round. A rogue who stays invisible for 159 multiple rounds to get positioned for the perfect attack is giving the DM’s 160 monsters more time to beat up on everyone else. Seems like a fair trade. 161 162 Outside of combat, I’d avoid the “invisible all day” loophole by treating each 163 new “scene” as a new opportunity to hide. As a character scouts a dungeon, ask 164 the player to roll a new Stealth check any any time they become aware of a new 165 enemy. If they (improbably) pass multiple checks, it will happen against a 166 background of mounting tension and rising stakes, and should provide a lot of 167 fun for the table. 168 169 ## Just be consistent 170 171 Whatever approach a DM takes, the most important thing is to apply the rule 172 consistently to all characters and enemies alike. Everyone wants to have fun, 173 and that’s facilitated by keeping the surprises confined to the story and rolls 174 of the dice. 175 176 [^bonus]: Although some characters and monsters have abilities that let them 177 hide as a “bonus action”---most famously, the Rogue class gains this ability 178 at Level 2. 179 180 [^cover]: There are also abilities that change this. 181 182 [^dc]: Since the enemy is making a D20 test, they only must meet or exceed the 183 stealth roll to find the character. 184 185 [^list]: It’s reasonable to treat this list as exhaustive. For example, the 186 [Invisibility](https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/2619116-invisibility) spell 187 has conditions that end the condition that are similar to those listed under 188 the Hide action, but the more powerful [Greater 189 Invisibility](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules/spell-descriptions#GreaterInvisibility) 190 spell doesn’t. 191 192 [^unclear]: I was taught in grad school that you can’t really argue with 193 somebody who tells you (in good faith) that something is unclear to them. 194 195 [^fornow]: For now, anyway. I might change my mind after playing or running 196 enough games.