Seeking in your own square

[hyphz]

It seems that it's possible for a Tiny creature with Invisibility to Sneak and Hide in a creature's actual square. Is that correct?

It also seems that by RAW this is actually very powerful. The Seek action says that if you're looking for creatures, you choose a cone or a burst. If you choose a cone, it starts at the edge of your square and moves outwards, which means it doesn't include your square itself.

This seems quite powerful because it means that all attempts to seek in the cone, which is the most common option, will fail. Only if the character thinks to seek in a burst that includes themselves will they detect the creature. This potentially means that in an encounter where such a creature may be present, their opponents (PC or NPC) are likely to waste a lot of actions checking their feet. Is that correct?

[YuriP]

Yes and it can even be something fun. It reminds me of the comic scenes of the character hiding behind the other's back, common in comedies and animations.
That said, though, it's unlikely that a GM would let you hide in another's square without adding a hefty Hide check penalty due to the risk of bumping into each other.

[beowulf99]

The cone and burst are actually recommendations for the GM if you need a precise measurement of what a character is searching. Like if say you are playing on a grid and the GM wants you to specify squares you are looking at. This is often treated as a standard, but as written is really just a loose guideline.

Seek wrote:

You scan an area for signs of creatures or objects. If you're looking for creatures, choose an area you're scanning. If precision is necessary, the GM can have you select a 30-foot cone or a 15-foot burst within line of sight. You might take a penalty if you choose an area that's far away.

You can select any sized area to seek at any time. The GM is just the final arbiter that tells you whether you can look at that entire area in the given time. If that area happens to be just your own square, then you are only going to find things in your own square.

Edit:

Also, even if restricted to only cones and bursts, bursts issue forth from a corner of a square in all directions, including over their originating square. So you are still covered.

[hyphz]

Per RAW there is no risk of bumping into the opponent but that's probably a bit pedantic. Also, you couldn't take cover from someone behind themselves because the text does state that the cover must be "between" you and the opponent - the opponent is not between you and the opponent.

And yes, the burst works, but most people will choose the cone when Seeking in combat without any prior knowledge because of its longer range. Forcing the opponent to waste an action on choosing a Burst that covers their square (and therefore only covers 10' in front of them) could be beneficial if other stealth characters are ranged.

Regarding the seeking sized areas, this does have the issue of whether or not a player has the right to insist that the GM follow the cone/burst rule when an enemy is seeking their PC. If it's one way but not the other then stealth abilities may be significantly more powerful for NPCs than they are for PCs.

[Claxon]

Deliberately using this kind of setup falls under "Unsportsmanlike conduct" of a GM, at least in my opinion.

It's just a frustrating meta-gamist nightmare.

[ReyalsKanras]

Hidden creatures in general can feel unsportsmanlike on the particulars. I had an entire party stumped (and exceptionally frustrated) all because they forgot Vampires get a climb speed (admittedly, it was called spider climb at the time) for free. As for a Tiny creature in your own square? Pretty easily countered if there are at least two characters. They can cover the other each turn. That would certainly feel bad if the players tried everything else but forgot the one thing. Of course, I think that is a serious hazard with any use of hidden foes. They feel clever when they figure it out and feel awful every other time.

Really, most games should end the night after the PCs gain any amount of notoriety when they get stabbed to death in their sleep. Way easier than these Tiny and Invisible in your own square shenanigans.