Passive perception with no action, if that's not good enough, perception as an action. Alternatively, move to where they are no longer heavily obscured to spot them with no action
Just a few precisions, as Lunali covered all the basics, about the last action, it's actually moving to somewhere where you can see them clearly. You do not need to have heavy obscurement to be hidden, you can also simply be out of sight (for example behind a boulder or tree).
Finally, when the goblins attack from ambush, they lose their hidden status even if out of sight, and need to take an action to be considered hidden again.
Yea, I meant heavily obscured or worse, (such as behind full cover) but didn't actually say that.
Though being goblins, they only need to take a bonus action to hide again.
Does spotting a hidden enemy require your action? bonus action? what?
Outside combat, none of the above.
If the characters are not doing anything that requires full attention (for example, following tracks or making a map) then they get a chance to spot the threat (probably by a Wisdom (Perception) contested by the ambushers' Dexterity (Stealth)).
You may choose to get players to roll dice or to roll the dice yourself or to use Passive Perception. The last two options mean you can surprise the players as well as their characters.
Depending on the terrain and light levels, you might only allow the characters in the front ranks to have a chance to spot the ambush.
A lot of DMs allow things like Perception checks mid-combat as a bonus action, which I can understand for the sake of letting combat continue. But one of the things I keep in mind is that, if a particular action is a special ability of a specific subclass, it's unfair to any player who goes out of their way to play that subclass to just let any other character do the same thing.
With that in mind, The Inquisitive Rogue has a unique skill that allows them to search for hidden enemies as a bonus action mid-combat. So, especially if you have an inquisitive Rogue in your party, it would be unfair to allow other characters to do the same thing.
A lot of DMs allow things like Perception checks mid-combat as a bonus action, which I can understand for the sake of letting combat continue. But one of the things I keep in mind is that, if a particular action is a special ability of a specific subclass, it's unfair to any player who goes out of their way to play that subclass to just let any other character do the same thing.
With that in mind, The Inquisitive Rogue has a unique skill that allows them to search for hidden enemies as a bonus action mid-combat. So, especially if you have an inquisitive Rogue in your party, it would be unfair to allow other characters to do the same thing.
Or if the party has a non-inquisitive rogue who decided not to go inquisitive to get that ability.
Passive perception with no action, if that's not good enough, perception as an action. Alternatively, move to where they are no longer heavily obscured to spot them with no action
Be careful with passive skills. They are not a see-all skill as some would like to think. What I do is make sure the player/s are specific on what they are keeping an eye out for. Traps or hidden baddies. Beyond that you need to use you judgement on passive call outs. This becomes an issue when players build a character that has passive skills that are so high that your hidden foes will have no chance of hiding if you see passive perception as a see-all tool or let the players to use it like one. I have a player that has some very high passive skills that likes to call them out all the time. Sometimes Ill go ahead and let them use it, other times I still make them roll for it. If you let your players abuse it, it can very well be a game breaker in several situations. Look, I know that there are several that would not agree with this and I have even got into rather heated arguments over the topic, but you need to make your own judgement call on it. Let me also be clear that Im not in any way trying to take the players glory away from them by doing this. Passive skills can be grossly misused as well as other skills. Keep in mind that this is a game and it is easy for players to break the mechanics if they get crafty.
I know this is a bit late but I like to use passive to determine whether they can get some hint that they need to look for something. If their passive is high enough I might say, you feel a slight shift of temperature in the air, or there was a shift in the shadows from your torch to your left. Then the player can determine if they want to make a perception check. That way passives give them an idea that something is not right, but they still have to make an attempt to use that information.
Personally I'm of the opinion that if a player spends resources to give their character a high passive check, they should benefit from that investment. At that point it is a part of their character concept.
If noticing hidden enemies, traps, and doors is game breaking to you, I might suggest that maybe your game is too brittle if it breaks that easily. Hiding things is not the only way to challenge players - let them be good at the things they choose to be good at and challenge them in other ways. After all, after they find the enemy/trap/door, they still need to fight/disarm/bypass/unlock it.
A Stealth vs Perception contest has built in rules to possibly counter the action automatically, that is without an action to Search. Many other contest act this way, a Deception vs Insight or a shove/grapple requires no action to contest. Simply revealling clues or hint after a successful Passive Perception is not how i' handle Stealth, usually reserving this method for Intelligence (Investigation) check to discern the presence of secret passage or hidden objects and traps.
But a creature on it's turn can usually also take an action to attempt to Search or break free again.
As stated previously, before combat begins, unless someone is on alert it is the ambusher's Stealth vs the ambushee's Passive Perception, the passive needing to meet or exceed the stealth. If a member of the party states they're actively watching for enemies, then they roll their Perception as an action..
If the party is travelling at a fast pace then they have disadvantage on their perception checks so the passive is reduced by 5 and the active naturally rolls twice and takes the lowest.
If the party is travelling at a slow pace then they have advantage on their perception checks so the passive is increased by 5 and the active rolls twice and takes the highest.
RAW, in combat the player must use their action to search (unless they have some ability to use it as a bonus) and so they roll. I personally rule it where if the stealther attacks a target from behind an obstruction, such as a tree, then restealths without moving, the target will know they're behind the tree they just won't be able to target them because they're behind total cover.
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about eight goblins ambushed the party, but I ran into some confusion:
Does spotting a hidden enemy require your action? bonus action? what?
Passive perception with no action, if that's not good enough, perception as an action. Alternatively, move to where they are no longer heavily obscured to spot them with no action
Yea, I meant heavily obscured or worse, (such as behind full cover) but didn't actually say that.
Though being goblins, they only need to take a bonus action to hide again.
Outside combat, none of the above.
If the characters are not doing anything that requires full attention (for example, following tracks or making a map) then they get a chance to spot the threat (probably by a Wisdom (Perception) contested by the ambushers' Dexterity (Stealth)).
You may choose to get players to roll dice or to roll the dice yourself or to use Passive Perception. The last two options mean you can surprise the players as well as their characters.
Depending on the terrain and light levels, you might only allow the characters in the front ranks to have a chance to spot the ambush.
A lot of DMs allow things like Perception checks mid-combat as a bonus action, which I can understand for the sake of letting combat continue. But one of the things I keep in mind is that, if a particular action is a special ability of a specific subclass, it's unfair to any player who goes out of their way to play that subclass to just let any other character do the same thing.
With that in mind, The Inquisitive Rogue has a unique skill that allows them to search for hidden enemies as a bonus action mid-combat. So, especially if you have an inquisitive Rogue in your party, it would be unfair to allow other characters to do the same thing.
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Or if the party has a non-inquisitive rogue who decided not to go inquisitive to get that ability.
Be careful with passive skills. They are not a see-all skill as some would like to think. What I do is make sure the player/s are specific on what they are keeping an eye out for. Traps or hidden baddies. Beyond that you need to use you judgement on passive call outs. This becomes an issue when players build a character that has passive skills that are so high that your hidden foes will have no chance of hiding if you see passive perception as a see-all tool or let the players to use it like one. I have a player that has some very high passive skills that likes to call them out all the time. Sometimes Ill go ahead and let them use it, other times I still make them roll for it. If you let your players abuse it, it can very well be a game breaker in several situations. Look, I know that there are several that would not agree with this and I have even got into rather heated arguments over the topic, but you need to make your own judgement call on it. Let me also be clear that Im not in any way trying to take the players glory away from them by doing this. Passive skills can be grossly misused as well as other skills. Keep in mind that this is a game and it is easy for players to break the mechanics if they get crafty.
I know this is a bit late but I like to use passive to determine whether they can get some hint that they need to look for something. If their passive is high enough I might say, you feel a slight shift of temperature in the air, or there was a shift in the shadows from your torch to your left. Then the player can determine if they want to make a perception check. That way passives give them an idea that something is not right, but they still have to make an attempt to use that information.
Personally I'm of the opinion that if a player spends resources to give their character a high passive check, they should benefit from that investment. At that point it is a part of their character concept.
If noticing hidden enemies, traps, and doors is game breaking to you, I might suggest that maybe your game is too brittle if it breaks that easily. Hiding things is not the only way to challenge players - let them be good at the things they choose to be good at and challenge them in other ways. After all, after they find the enemy/trap/door, they still need to fight/disarm/bypass/unlock it.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
A Stealth vs Perception contest has built in rules to possibly counter the action automatically, that is without an action to Search. Many other contest act this way, a Deception vs Insight or a shove/grapple requires no action to contest. Simply revealling clues or hint after a successful Passive Perception is not how i' handle Stealth, usually reserving this method for Intelligence (Investigation) check to discern the presence of secret passage or hidden objects and traps.
But a creature on it's turn can usually also take an action to attempt to Search or break free again.
As stated previously, before combat begins, unless someone is on alert it is the ambusher's Stealth vs the ambushee's Passive Perception, the passive needing to meet or exceed the stealth. If a member of the party states they're actively watching for enemies, then they roll their Perception as an action..
If the party is travelling at a fast pace then they have disadvantage on their perception checks so the passive is reduced by 5 and the active naturally rolls twice and takes the lowest.
If the party is travelling at a slow pace then they have advantage on their perception checks so the passive is increased by 5 and the active rolls twice and takes the highest.
RAW, in combat the player must use their action to search (unless they have some ability to use it as a bonus) and so they roll. I personally rule it where if the stealther attacks a target from behind an obstruction, such as a tree, then restealths without moving, the target will know they're behind the tree they just won't be able to target them because they're behind total cover.