I am planing a Gunslinger sith investigator multiclass. My goal is to be able to shoot enmy when I am sure I can hit. I want to know if the next strat is allowed.
I sneak into a position where I can see an enemy. I sneak and I jus use device stratagem until I get a crit, if it’s not. I just keep my position and wait next turn. Of course this is planed with my teammates, that are also hiding far away until they hear my shot.
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If you're using combat actions such as Devise a Strategem (DaS) you're inside of initiative and cannot remain hidden without complete cover and/or concealment which would prevent you from being able to shoot your target in the first place. In other words, you cannot stay undetected against an opponent you can see unless you possess some special senses or have some kind of very special form of concealment that they have no defense against.
You're also trying to jam an infinite number of free surprise rounds into the system when that kind of thing doesn't even exist in the first place.
This is crinky-dinky cheese and doesn't work for a few different reasons.
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If you're using combat actions such as Devise a Strategem (DaS) you're inside of initiative and cannot remain hidden without complete cover and/or concealment which would prevent you from being able to shoot your target in the first place. In other words, you cannot stay undetected against an opponent you can see unless you possess some special senses or have some kind of very special form of concealment that they have no defense against.
You're also trying to jam an infinite number of free surprise rounds into the system when that kind of thing doesn't even exist in the first place.
This is crinky-dinky cheese and doesn't work for a few different reasons.
Incorrect. One way visibility works fine in and out of combat. You need cover or concealment to be hidden, but nothing indicates it needs to be complete. Otherwise concealment wouldn't work at all, as concealment is different than hidden. You just need to exceed the opponent's perception DC.
The only rule as written which gets in the way is this one: You become observed as soon as you do anything other than Hide, Sneak, or Step. If you attempt to Strike a creature, the creature remains flat-footed against that attack, and you then become observed. If you do anything else, you become observed just before you act unless the GM determines otherwise. The GM might allow you to perform a particularly unobtrusive action without being noticed, possibly requiring another Stealth check. If you speak or make a deliberate loud noise, you become hidden instead of undetected.
Devise a Strategem is about as unobtrusive as it gets, and ruling it breaks stealth would also severely cripple it within an encounter, not just one before one.
RAI... While Surprise rounds are gone, it is pretty clear from examples in the GMG that if you roll high on Avoid Notice initiative and don't take offensive action, you can go an entire encounter without actually being spotted.
Balance wise, this is a cool cornercase benefit to playing the planning based class that requires every ally involved in the ambush to also roll high enough on Avoid Notice initiative to start unobserved. Either you are fighting alone (and therefore need the advantage) or it becomes something that happens vanishly few times. I have allowed this interaction but it only came up once in actual play.
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I think it works fine with the limits Captain Morgan describes. But I understand the concern about it. This sort of thing requires GM judgement.
If your allies are really not close then as a GM I'd let it slide. Because that fact will get you into trouble often enough.
But as a GM I would put you into encounter mode, make you roll the dice, and every few rounds your enemy would do a seek action.
I would also think carefully about cover as the player needs some cover normally to be able to do this.
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You are actually very limited in the actions you can take and remain hidden with the stealth skill:
Source
Core Rulebook pg. 251 3.0
Secret
Source Core Rulebook pg. 251 3.0You huddle behind cover or greater cover or deeper into concealment to become hidden, rather than observed. The GM rolls your Stealth check in secret and compares the result to the Perception DC of each creature you’re observed by but that you have cover or greater cover against or are concealed from. You gain the circumstance bonus from cover or greater cover to your check.
Success If the creature could see you, you’re now hidden from it instead of observed. If you were hidden from or undetected by the creature, you retain that condition.
If you successfully become hidden to a creature but then cease to have cover or greater cover against it or be concealed from it, you become observed again. You cease being hidden if you do anything except Hide, Sneak, or Step. If you attempt to Strike a creature, the creature remains flat-footed against that attack, and you then become observed. If you do anything else, you become observed just before you act unless the GM determines otherwise. The GM might allow you to perform a particularly unobtrusive action without being noticed, possibly requiring another Stealth check.
If a creature uses Seek to make you observed by it, you must successfully Hide to become hidden from it again.
Move, Secret
Source Core Rulebook pg. 252 3.0
You can attempt to move to another place while becoming or staying undetected. Stride up to half your Speed. (You can use Sneak while Burrowing, Climbing, Flying, or Swimming instead of Striding if you have the corresponding movement type; you must move at half that Speed.)
If you’re undetected by a creature and it’s impossible for that creature to observe you (for a typical creature, this includes when you’re invisible, the observer is blinded, or you’re in darkness and the creature can’t see in darkness), for any critical failure you roll on a check to Sneak, you get a failure instead. You also continue to be undetected if you lose cover or greater cover against or are no longer concealed from such a creature.
At the end of your movement, the GM rolls your Stealth check in secret and compares the result to the Perception DC of each creature you were hidden from or undetected by at the start of your movement. If you have cover or greater cover from the creature throughout your Stride, you gain the +2 circumstance bonus from cover (or +4 from greater cover) to your Stealth check. Because you’re moving, the bonus increase from Taking Cover doesn’t apply. You don’t get to roll against a creature if, at the end of your movement, you neither are concealed from it nor have cover or greater cover against it. You automatically become observed by such a creature.
Success You’re undetected by the creature during your movement and remain undetected by the creature at the end of it.
You become observed as soon as you do anything other than Hide, Sneak, or Step. If you attempt to Strike a creature, the creature remains flat-footed against that attack, and you then become observed. If you do anything else, you become observed just before you act unless the GM determines otherwise. The GM might allow you to perform a particularly unobtrusive action without being noticed, possibly requiring another Stealth check. If you speak or make a deliberate loud noise, you become hidden instead of undetected.
...
There is some GM's Discretion in there, but you generally can't actually take 'setup' actions from stealth...
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I think it works fine with the limits Captain Morgan describes. But I understand the concern about it. This sort of thing requires GM judgement.
If your allies are really not close then as a GM I'd let it slide. Because that fact will get you into trouble often enough.
But as a GM I would put you into encounter mode, make you roll the dice, and every few rounds your enemy would do a seek action.
I would also think carefully about cover as the player needs some cover normally to be able to do this.
Agreed, but I'd only give the enemy Seek actions if they are actually keeping an eye out. If the guards in the tower are slacking off playing cards instead, no checks for them.
There's also a variant of this situation: using Deception for initiative in social situations. If your entire party can roll high enough on Deception and you're not being closely scrutinized, you can fish for the perfect moment to strike there as well.