Soon going to start GMing for a solo campaign with a friend, and they'll be playing a half-orc rogue. I think the campaign will be quite heavy on infiltration and sneakiness, and the vanilla stealth rules are kinda... weird. They don't work out very well when taken as they are written and I can't really find an interpretation that solves it.
So, do you know any good homebrew stealth rules? Thanks a lot!
Good idea with "pc always rolls", especially in a solo game. But how to treat cover, concealment etc under your system? Thats basically where the vanilla rules fall flat, in addition to combat.
Hmmm... Thinking about it, im not too keen on the macro level take on it; it runs the risk of stealth falling into the trap... trap. One of the primary issues of traps is that regardless of danger they usually come down to a sigle dice roll or two, which often makes them boring, compared to combat where tactics are used and resolution takes a little more effort.
Ive been considering making stuff like lockpickig and trap handling and bluffing and other stuff more similar to combat, especially since with a sigle playerstuff goes pretty quickly regardless. So making stealth more of a binary skill check would seem to work against that, at least in circumstances where utilizig area design can affect the outcome, and thus gice the player more opportunity for smart play.
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For me, Stealth has 2 major issues, one of which has a potential solution already in the rules.
The first is that because you make Stealth rolls every round, Stealth is doomed. With enough rolls, the sneaker will always fail. The solution to this is in the Invisibility rules. With invisibility, you get a +20 DC modifier if you remain still. I read this as remaining absolutely still (no actions involving movement of any kind), and apply it to Stealth as well. This makes a pre-prepared ambush really hard to notice (which is nice as a GM, because sometimes the plot more or less demand them), and allows a Scout to remain in place, silently observing with no risk of discovery. In practice, I do not roll Stealth checks every round - it is just too tedious. I require rolls when the hiding character moves, takes an action, or the situation otherwise changes. Otherwise I assume the +20 modifier for remaining still covers the situation.
The second is the definition of "distraction" in the Stealth rules - the rules are very sketchy. I rule an observer as distracted if there is a clear danger closer than the character trying to hide, and a severe distraction (-5 Perception) if the threat is in melee.
I use opposed rolls. I feel the truncated probability scale of only rolling 1d20 is too tight for me. This is more of a matter of preference than anything else.
...making stealth more of a binary skill check would seem to work against that, at least in circumstances where utilizig area design can affect the outcome, and thus gice the player more opportunity for smart play.
A trick here is that a failed Stealth roll need not be a complete failure - it creates a crisis that requires some kind of distarction to solve. A trown pebble (and Bluff roll), a minor illusion or mage hand spell, or something else - for the player to come up with.
At this point im looking aroud at various homebrewsystems but not really finding anything fitting.
I like the idea of a massive boost when standing still, but dont like opposed checks. A span of 40 makes it entirely too luck based.
Okay so at this point I'm aiming at simply making a homebrew system myself. I'd love feedback.
These are my design goals:
1. Easy and consistent to run.
2. Enabling tactical movement to have a noticable effect.
3. Allowing stealthy characters to do awesome stuff without needing HIPS or Invisibility.
So, this is the basic idea:
Discovery check
Discovery check: When the rules refer to a "discovery check", that is a check of Stealth vs Perception. If a PC is the perceiver, it's a perception check vs DC 10 + Stealth of the stealther. If not, it's a stealth check vs DC 10 + Perception of the perciever.
If the stealther wins the discovery check, they remain unnoticed. If the stealther loses the discovery check by 4 or less (or 5 or more but is not within line of sight), the perceiver has noticed something's there, but not pin-pointed or identified the stealther; they are aware of something being in the vicinity, are not considered flat-footed, and gain a +4 bonus on further discovery checks against that specific stealther for the rest of the encounter. If the stealther loses the discovery check by 5 or more and is within line of sight, the perceiver perceives them fully.
Passive Perception Radius
The passive perception radius (PPR) is how far away a character will automatically get to try to detect a medium-sized creature. It is equal to (10 + Perception) * 10 ft. Whenever a creature moves within this radius, or something else happens that might be percieved, a discovery check occurs.
The passive perception radius is not affected by penalties unless they would apply to the whole area (some squares being concealed does not affect the radius, but the perciever being blind does). If the perceiver is distracted, they take a -4 penalty on their perception checks. If the perceiver is not alert at all (for example concentrating on reading a book, or being asleep) they take a -8 penalty (instead of the -4 for being distracted)
Active Perception
As a move action, a perceiver can make a discovery check. This can be used to detect creatures outside of their PPR, and to grant them several checks per round. They only make a single discovery check, but they make it against every stealther they could theoretically detect.
Distance and Size
The further away a creature is the harder it is to spot. Perception checks outside of the PPR take a -4 penalty. This penalty increases by -4 for every doubling of the range; thus, a creature with +0 stealth would have a -4 penalty at 100-200ft, a -8 penalty at 200-400ft. and so on.
The size of a creature or object affects how hard it is to see, by treating the object as closer or further away for determining range penalties and whether it's within the PPR.
For every size larger than medium, treat the creature as half as far away as it is, to a maximum of treating it as 1/16th as far away as it actually is for a colossal creature.
For every size smaller than medium, treat the creature as twice as far away as it is.
Primary and secondary senses
Very simple; most creatures have one primary and one secondary sense. For humans and most other mammals, the primary is sight and the secondary is sound. Some creatures have additional secondary senses, most commonly Scent. Every extra secondary sense grants a +4 bonus on perception checks. Senses that aren't primary or secondary (such as smell or taste for humans) do not affect perception.
Losing access to senses
Hindering Primary Sense: If a perceiver is somewhat hindered in using their primary sense, for example by the stealther being in an area of dim light or behind cover or the perceiver being dazzled, they take a -4 penalty on their perception. If several similar conditions apply, these stack to a maximum of -12. This does not stack with having their primary sense negated.
Negating Primary Sense: If a perceiver has their primary sense negated - for example by being blinded or the stealther being invisible, they take a -12 penalty on their perception.
Negating Secondary Sense: If a perceiver has their secondary sense negated, for example through being deaf, they take a -4 penalty on their perception checks.
Using Stealth
A stealther that is standing still, taking no physical actions at all, gain a +12 bonus on stealth that round. A stealther moving at more than their base speed in a round take a -4 penalty on stealth checks during that round. It is impossible to use stealth while running or charging.
When a stealther is outside an enemy's PPR, their stealth simply makes them harder to discover if the enemy is actively trying to detect them.
When a stealther move within an enemy's PPR, they get a free discovery check. Normally this check will occur in the least beneficial spot for the stealther; if the stealther moves 10ft. through dim lighting, then 5ft. through bright lighting, and then behind a wall, the discovery check will occur when the stealther is in the bright light.
Timing: As a full-round action, a stealther that can observe a perceiver can time their movement right. They can move up to half their base speed as part of this action. Instead of discovery checks occuring at the worst possible moment, the stealther can select up to 10 ft of movement to ignore for this purpose; hence in the situation detailed above, the stealther could choose to ignore the 5ft of bright light, the check instead occuring in the dim light.
Hiding from a foe that perceives you: To hide from an enemy that is aware of them, a stealther needs to succeed at a discovery check at a -20 penalty. With a successful bluff check, this penalty does not apply.
Stealth and Combat
When a stealther attacks a target that does not perceive them, the target do not get to add their dexterity bonus to AC. A target hit by an attack instantly get a discovery check with a bonus of +20 against the attacker. If the target has no penalties to perception and the attack was a melee attack, they automatically perceive the attacker.
Cover, concealment, silence and other circumstances
Various conditions and circumstances affect a perceivers ability to discover a stealther. Some of the more common ones are listed here. Format: name (sense) - effect.
Blindness (sight) - negated.
Cover (sight) - hindered.
Deafness (sound) - negated.
Dazzle (sight) - hinder
Concealment (sight) - hindered.
Silence (sound) - hindered (the perceiver can notice the lack of sound).
Stinking cloud (scent) - hindered.
Total concealment (sight) - negated.
Total cover (sight, scent) - negated, other senses hindered.
Scent
Creatures with the scent special ability has an extra secondary sense, usually scent (though sometimes scent will be primary and sight the extra secondary), granting a +4 bonus to all perception checks. In addition, stealthers within 60 ft of the perceiver gain no bonus to stealth for standing still, and the perceiver gains an extra free discovery check every round against such a stealther, unless the scent secondary sense is negated.
Blindsense
Creatures with the blindsense special ability has blindsense as their secondary sense. Against any stealther within line of sight and within the radius of their blindsense ability, they gain a free perception check with a +12 bonus; however, this check can never result in pin-pointing; every success is treated as succeeding by 4 or less.
Blindsight
Creatures with the blindsight special ability has blindsight as their primary sense. Against any stealther within line of sight and within the radius of their blindsight ability, they gain a free perception check with a +12 bonus.
Hide in Plain Sight
When this ability applies (depends on source), the character takes no penalty for hiding from a foe that perceives them.
Thoughts? I'm primarily looking for feedback on issues inherent in the system or that might show up accidentally; I don't care much if the system is "breakable" (since it's a home game), but I do care if it's broken already, so to speak.