I'm sorry if this has been asked, I haven't been able to find it.
Does anyone have advice on how to handle flying and its effect on stealth?
It's obviously situational, but I had a situation where a Wizard PC was trying to use Fly to sneak into a guarded castle at night. He didn't have any stealth skill, so it's a difficult task. It seems like Fly should give a bonus to stealth, since it seems silly to say that you make just as much noise whisking through the sky as you do running around on the ground... Does this warrant a situational +5 to Stealth or something like that to account for him making less noise than he would otherwise?
I don't give them it bonus. You can be on the ground, and not make any noise. The silence spell does not grant a stealth bonus, and it makes noise absolutely impossible. Even if you are flying you might bump into something.
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Fly as the spell only has a Good maneuverability, not perfect, so it requires you to rise at half speed at an angle of 45 degrees. So that wizard is either the correct distance away from the tower to hit his mark or is zig zagging thru the sky to get high enough. that would be an easy perception check to SEE the wizard, who cares if hes rustling in the wind at that point. Levitation would be better. In 3.5, there was Move Silently and Hide vs Spot and Listen. Pathfinder rolls that into stealth and perception to make life easy. So stealth is a BLEND of move silent and hide, same as perception is a BLEND. so to be fair, if the spell doesn't give them a bonus, they don't get one. Maybe a +2 circumstance which is the same as a masterwork bonus, or +5 if they role play it well. Gotta make em work for their pluses.
When you fly, you make whoosh noises. No bonus for you.
When you fly, you make whoosh noises. No bonus for you.
Tell that to the owls. It's almost impossible to hear one swooping down on a mouse, despite those little rodents having better hearing than any human being.
When you fly, you make whoosh noises. No bonus for you.Tell that to the owls. It's almost impossible to hear one swooping down on a mouse, despite those little rodents having better hearing than any human being.
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I'm sorry if this has been asked, I haven't been able to find it.
Does anyone have advice on how to handle flying and its effect on stealth?
It's obviously situational, but I had a situation where a Wizard PC was trying to use Fly to sneak into a guarded castle at night. He didn't have any stealth skill, so it's a difficult task. It seems like Fly should give a bonus to stealth, since it seems silly to say that you make just as much noise whisking through the sky as you do running around on the ground... Does this warrant a situational +5 to Stealth or something like that to account for him making less noise than he would otherwise?
I see no reason for a bonus beyond the one you could get for distance. the catch with trying to fly stealthily is that you have no cover and nothing to blend with. all they have to do is look up and you're busted. Flying at night would make sneaking possible, but i still would say it is no easier to sneak through the air than on ground (especially as they would unlikely have much training at sneaking while midair also)
just only allow perception rolls if a character is able to see him, count him as silent.