| Alfaranger |
Hi everyone,
(If this is not the place to ask this, please redirect me)
I just started playing Pathfinder2e with a couple friends. I have never played D&D or other similar games so perhaps some of these questions might be super obvious. I have the core rulebook and watched youtube video's to learn the game but I still have a couple lot of questions :) Big shoutout to the How It's Played youtube channel, otherwise I would have just quit the Rogue class and took up something easier.
I've grouped my questions by type:
Exploration mode
Let's say our party decides to walk from place A to B and I use Avoid Notice to do so.
1. The rules tell me to roll a stealth check. Can/MUST I have cover while rolling his check? If not, how am I then using stealth while walking to point B. You need cover to Hide before you can use Sneak. Or is avoiding notice completely different from hiding/sneaking and is cover therefore not a requirement for using Avoid Notice.
2. Do you get a cover bonus to your stealth check in this scenario?
3. If so, greater cover adds a +4 bonus to stealth checks. So when starting Avoid Notice what is to stop me from always declaring I stand "behind" a building to gain greater cover? But from who am I taking cover at that point?
4. Am I correct in understanding that the point of this Stealth check is to see if any enemies we pass while in exploration mode do notice me (checking against their Perception DC)?
Encounter mode
After a while I spot a group of goblins on the road and the GM asks us to roll initiative.
Initiative
5. The rules say I should usually use Stealth instead of perception to toll my initiative. Do I roll a new Stealth check for initiative or use the dice roll from when I started avoiding notice?
Cover / level of Detection
6. Do I have a cover bonus for this roll? Aka, do you always exit Avoid Notice while having Cover? Otherwise you would never remain Stealthed at the start of an encounter but become observed instead.
7. As I understand, the new Stealth check I did when rolling initiative will be used to determine if the goblins notice me at the start of the encounter (see Q.3). Is this correct?
8. If my assumptions are correct so far, what is the point of rolling that initial Stealth check when Avoiding Notice if at the start of an encounter you roll Stealth again for both initiative and determining the Detection level you start the encounter with?
9. Let's say my new initiative Stealth check beats all the goblins Perception DC's I assume I'm unnoticed and undetected and I still have at least have standard cover?
Attacking
10. If I still have cover when the encounter starts and I want to use a Strike action using my bow. Can I use this while behind cover? Let's say I exited Avoid Notice behind a tree, rolled a 20 for initiative can I then stay behind cover while slightly bending myself around the tree to shoot an arrow? I assume that i can do this, but it will take an extra action to let me remain/regain cover, and will stop my Stealth correct? Does this also work behind greater cover such as a large rock or a wall?
Hiding and Sneaking
11. When I use the Hide and Sneak action, it says the GM should roll a secret Stealth check for me. What is the benefit of this instead of rolling it yourself? Does the GM not let you know what the result of the check is, or only when I try to Strike a creature will I find out if I was Hidden/Undetected because the flat-footed bonus applies in this case?
12. Lets say I use the Create a Diversion Skill to succesfully Hide myself. I roll this Deception check myself against the Perception DC of the enemy. Then, if I want to Sneak away on the same turn I won't know if I was succesfull until I Strike someone?