Hi. New DM just trying to get my head round Rogues attacks as me and the New Rogue arnt 100% sure. We played it out as we thought to avoid rules checking mid game but now want to clarify a little for tonights game.
Rogue at level 3.
Rogue in a dungeon room. He fires an arrow at a Goblin. He then uses his Cunning Action to Hide again.
Next Round he fires another arrow at a goblin. He then uses CA again to hide.
Is this correct, any rules around it or are there more situational rules around it?
Can he just keep doing that?
Does he roll vs monsters perception each time he hides?
Does there have to be something to hide behind realistically (say a large boulder)?
It is correct if you determine the character is not in plain sight when the CA is used. Plain sight is not a hard rules term. It mostly depends on available cover which can include other characters.
Is this correct, any rules around it or are there more situational rules around it?
Basically. The rules around this are scattered in a few places, and some parts get interpreted in different ways by different DMs. Some things I've seen as common-ish:
Being able to hide requires being invisible, being fully obscured, being behind full cover, or being behind partial cover, based on DM preferences.
Other situations (like Skulker) can apply.
If you try to hide in the same place twice (or at least twice in a row), you hide with disadvantage.
When you hide, for it to work, you need to beat the highest passive perception of the enemy (assuming the enemy is communicating with each other). Since the enemy probably yells "hey, look out for that guy!" if you fail, the DM may as well just tell you the highest passive perception to beat to speed play up.
If you put expertise in Stealth, this'll all feel "too easy" but that's OK. If you make it long enough to get Reliable Talent, too, then rolling for stealth will often feel like a gratuitous formality. This is one of the ways you actually get to feel real cool as a rogue.
If you're too hosed to have the spare action to hide, you can still get sneak attack (but not advantage!) by shooting someone an enemy (your ally, presumably) within 5ft, assuming you don't have disadvantage.
If you want to play "sniper" rogue, that'll all be your bread and butter.
The way the DMs I've played with have always done the cunning action hide is that you must be able to break line of site between yourself and the person/people you are hiding from. If you are in an empty, lighted room there is no opportunity to hide. But, having a barrel, statue or some other object in the room does give you the opportunity to hide. You simply have to duck behind that object and roll a high enough stealth check to pass the opponents passive perception.
Does the Rogue just need to attack using his short bow, vs a target that already has an enemy within 5ft to gain Sneak Attack (and the extra damage?)
This is correct, having an opponent within 5 feet of the target does trigger the sneak attack damage. There are two reasons to hide at the end of each turn. (1) If you are hidden, then the enemy archers and spell casters can't target you (unless they cast area of effect spells). As a rogue, I've finished many adventuring days with max or near max hp, while the rest of the party is in single digits. (2) If you successfully hide, then you have advantage on your next attack.
While repeatedly re-hiding at the same place after attacking is possible, the downside is that enemies will easily be able to figure out the Rogue's location, which is one of the benefits to hide.
This is correct, having an opponent within 5 feet of the target does trigger the sneak attack damage. There are two reasons to hide at the end of each turn. (1) If you are hidden, then the enemy archers and spell casters can't target you (unless they cast area of effect spells).
That is incorrect, you can always target a hidden creature with range attacks unless the spell or effect specifically target a creature you can see. Otherwise, you have to guess your target's location and attack with disadvantage as per Unseen Attackers and targets rules.
3. If you try to hide in the same place twice (or at least twice in a row), you hide with disadvantage.
4. When you hide, for it to work, you need to beat the highest passive perception of the enemy (assuming the enemy is communicating with each other). Since the enemy probably yells "hey, look out for that guy!" if you fail, the DM may as well just tell you the highest passive perception to beat to speed play up.
The rules don't specifically impose disadvantage for hiding at the same place or make you fail to hide against enemies you win the Stealth vs Perception contest when you fail against others. Surprise specifically say a member of a group can be surprised even if the other members aren't when the DM to compares the Dexterity (Stealth) checks of anyone hiding with the passive Wisdom (Perception) score of each creature on the opposing side. Especially, any character or monster that doesn't notice a threat is surprised at the start of the encounter, which wouldn't be the case if handling Stealth this way.
The rules don't specifically impose disadvantage for hiding at the same place or make you fail to hide against enemies you win the Stealth vs Perception contest when you fail against others. Surprise specifically say a member of a group can be surprised even if the other members aren't when the DM to compares the Dexterity (Stealth) checks of anyone hiding with the passive Wisdom (Perception) score of each creature on the opposing side. Especially, any character or monster that doesn't notice a threat is surprised at the start of the encounter, which wouldn't be the case if handling Stealth this way.
Like I said , "Some things I've seen as common-ish"
Treating the enemy as if they are communicating, via the highest passive perception, streamlines things quite well, and you'll like it when the DM is having NPCs hide from the party...
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Hi. New DM just trying to get my head round Rogues attacks as me and the New Rogue arnt 100% sure. We played it out as we thought to avoid rules checking mid game but now want to clarify a little for tonights game.
Rogue at level 3.
Rogue in a dungeon room. He fires an arrow at a Goblin. He then uses his Cunning Action to Hide again.
Next Round he fires another arrow at a goblin. He then uses CA again to hide.
Is this correct, any rules around it or are there more situational rules around it?
Can he just keep doing that?
Does he roll vs monsters perception each time he hides?
Does there have to be something to hide behind realistically (say a large boulder)?
It is correct if you determine the character is not in plain sight when the CA is used. Plain sight is not a hard rules term. It mostly depends on available cover which can include other characters.
Am I reading the whole thing wrong anyway.
Does the Rogue just need to attack using his short bow, vs a target that already has an enemy within 5ft to gain Sneak Attack (and the extra damage?)
Basically. The rules around this are scattered in a few places, and some parts get interpreted in different ways by different DMs. Some things I've seen as common-ish:
If you want to play "sniper" rogue, that'll all be your bread and butter.
The way the DMs I've played with have always done the cunning action hide is that you must be able to break line of site between yourself and the person/people you are hiding from. If you are in an empty, lighted room there is no opportunity to hide. But, having a barrel, statue or some other object in the room does give you the opportunity to hide. You simply have to duck behind that object and roll a high enough stealth check to pass the opponents passive perception.
This is correct, having an opponent within 5 feet of the target does trigger the sneak attack damage. There are two reasons to hide at the end of each turn. (1) If you are hidden, then the enemy archers and spell casters can't target you (unless they cast area of effect spells). As a rogue, I've finished many adventuring days with max or near max hp, while the rest of the party is in single digits. (2) If you successfully hide, then you have advantage on your next attack.
Thanks folks, explains it very well.
While repeatedly re-hiding at the same place after attacking is possible, the downside is that enemies will easily be able to figure out the Rogue's location, which is one of the benefits to hide.
That is incorrect, you can always target a hidden creature with range attacks unless the spell or effect specifically target a creature you can see. Otherwise, you have to guess your target's location and attack with disadvantage as per Unseen Attackers and targets rules.
Like I said , "Some things I've seen as common-ish"
Treating the enemy as if they are communicating, via the highest passive perception, streamlines things quite well, and you'll like it when the DM is having NPCs hide from the party...