I am a new DnD player who just bought the 2024 PHB rulebook, and I haven't played with the earlier rules (this is why maybe I am not so confused by it).
I look at the Hide rules in the 2024 PHB and i find them clear:
If you Hide successfully, you gain Invisible condition. That is, the same Invisible condition that you gain from the Invisibility spell for example. You are Invisible
The difference between Hide's Invisible condition and Invisibility Spell "Invisible" conditions are the circumstances under which the condition is lost, with HIDE having the more strict conditions compared to Invisibility (or Greater Invisibility) Spell.
"Invisible Condition" from HIDE is lost when (p.368)
It makes an attack roll
It casts a Spell with a Verbal component
It makes a sound louder than a whisper
An enemy finds it with a Wisdom (Perception) check vs your Stealth Check's total roll
Invisible Condition from INVISIBILITY spell is lost when the spell ends or (p.289):
It makes an attack roll or Deals damage
It casts a Spell
Invisible Condition from GREATER INVISIBILITY spell is lost when the spell ends (p.281)
(no other conditions)
Disclaimer: Oddly enough, Hidden doesn't list "Deal Damage" , and Invisibility spell doesn't specify "Spells with a Verbal component" in the Casts a Spell condition. If anything, those seem to me like misses /erratas and it'd make sense if those conditions were streamlined between HIDE and INVISIBILITY spell (to avoid mistakes and easier to remember)
Yeah, the bigger issue is that the Invisible condition doesn't say that you are unseen, difficult to see, or actually, you know, invisible. It gives you benefits when someone can't see you, which are already benefits for people without the Invisible condition that are unseen.
Disclaimer: Oddly enough, Hidden doesn't list "Deal Damage" , and Invisibility spell doesn't specify "Spells with a Verbal component" in the Casts a Spell condition. If anything, those seem to me like misses /erratas and it'd make sense if those conditions were streamlined between HIDE and INVISIBILITY spell (to avoid mistakes and easier to remember)
It's intentional. The spell is an illusory effect that causes you or your target to not be able to be perceived by mundane sight; you're not actually invisible but creating the illusion that you're not visible. This is why casting magic in any form break's the condition, because it literally breaks the illusion.
Hide on the other hand is a physical act of moving through cover and Heavily Obscured areas to be unseen by a creature, and that's why the condition doesn't break from dealing damage or casting spells with somatic components. So if you're Hiding behind a large crate and use a spell like Hypnotic Pattern or Mind Spike which triggers a saving throw, the condition won't break because you're neither talking and the enemy has to avoid a silent effect that doesn't give away your location.
But what about "deal damage"? Same scenario as above: you're hiding in a room and improvised a trap for the enemy that's following you. A trap requires a Saving Throw per the DMG, and if the enemy triggers it, they will receive damage, but that doesn't mean it will give away the location you're hiding, thus it doesn't break the condition.
Since the Hide action received errata, this thread should probably be read using the new wording:
Hide [Action] (p. 368) In the second paragraph, “you have the Invisible condition” is now “you have the Invisible condition while hidden”. In the third paragraph, “The condition ends on you” is now “You stop being hidden”.
Pre:
With the Hide action, you try to conceal yourself. To do so, you must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity (Stealth) check while you’re Heavily Obscured or behind Three-Quarters Cover or Total Cover, and you must be out of any enemy's line of sight; if you can see a creature, you can discern whether it can see you.
On a successful check, you have the Invisible condition. Make note of your check's total, which is the DC for a creature to find you with a Wisdom (Perception) check.
The condition ends on you immediately after any of the following occurs: you make a sound louder than a whisper, an enemy finds you, you make an attack roll, or you cast a spell with a Verbal component.
Now:
With the Hide action, you try to conceal yourself. To do so, you must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity (Stealth) check while you’re Heavily Obscured or behind Three-Quarters Cover or Total Cover, and you must be out of any enemy’s line of sight; if you can see a creature, you can discern whether it can see you.
On a successful check, you have the Invisible condition while hidden. Make note of your check’s total, which is the DC for a creature to find you with a Wisdom (Perception) check.
You stop being hidden immediately after any of the following occurs: you make a sound louder than a whisper, an enemy finds you, you make an attack roll, or you cast a spell with a Verbal component.
I'm VERY grateful for this change, which finally makes it clear that using the Hide action gives you more than simply being invisible, while also making it clear that casting Invisibility on yourself doesn't grant you the same benefits as hiding.
My current understanding of stealth is this:
- Even if you give yourself or an enemy a condition that prevents them from seeing you, they can still estimate your position using their other senses. They will have disadvantage on their attack rolls, but they will still know where to attack.
- If you successfully use the Hide action, an enemy cannot discern or even estimate your position unless you do something that ends your stealth, or the enemy defeats your Stealth roll with their own Perception (check by using the Search action, or if their Passive Perception already beats the DC of your Stealth check. Best they can do is guess by attacking your last known location.
Honestly, I think things would be much clearer if Hidden was a condition. All the ambiguity around stealth in my opinion come from the fact that there's no such thing as a Hidden condition rules, despite the game providing all the elements for one.
I'm still wondering though, what if an enemy's sight and hearing are both negated at the same time, would you still need a stealth check to be hidden from them? Let's say I'm a Fighter who uses Blind Fighting, fighting an enemy who doesn't have blindsight. The party Ranger casts Fog Cloud, and a Wizard casts Silence around us. The enemy can neither see nor hear me. Would I still need a Stealth check to become hidden? What other sense could they possibly use to even estimate my position? (Assuming my character has good body hygiene and doesn't stink from 10ft away)
I'm VERY grateful for this change, which finally makes it clear that using the Hide action gives you more than simply being invisible, while also making it clear that casting Invisibility on yourself doesn't grant you the same benefits as hiding.
If only that were actually true. The new wording doesn't actually change anything meaningful.
The rules don't offer guidelines for a Passive Stealth score that reflects a creature’s general stealth in its surroundings that the DM uses when determining whether a creature hides without consciously making a Dexterity (Stealth) check.
[...] I'm still wondering though, what if an enemy's sight and hearing are both negated at the same time, would you still need a stealth check to be hidden from them? Let's say I'm a Fighter who uses Blind Fighting, fighting an enemy who doesn't have blindsight. The party Ranger casts Fog Cloud, and a Wizard casts Silence around us. The enemy can neither see nor hear me. Would I still need a Stealth check to become hidden? What other sense could they possibly use to even estimate my position? (Assuming my character has good body hygiene and doesn't stink from 10ft away)
The enemy can neither see nor hear me. Would I still need a Stealth check to become hidden? What other sense could they possibly use to even estimate my position? (Assuming my character has good body hygiene and doesn't stink from 10ft away)
If you attack them, your position becomes known; there doesn't seem to be any exception for hearing or vision there. However, you can move after attacking and the rules are silent on what that does.
If a DM determine that circumstances should automatically make one's position unknown somehow, a Dexterity (Stealth) check, whether active or passive, would be necessary at least to set a DC against which to be found.
LOL yeah that would make sense... If I'm less than 2 feet away from them :)
To be honest I'm starting to understand that this is not about logic, it's about balance. No matter how many senses you deprive your targets of, you still need a Hide action to truly prevent your enemy from detecting you, unless you've done and invested so much to conceal your position that you can reasonably ask the DM to concede that there's absolutely no way for them to detect you. Otherwise, stealth would be OP.
If only that were actually true. The new wording doesn't actually change anything meaningful.
The new wording acknowledges the state of being hidden, which was unclear before. Even though I would have preferred a Hidden condition, I think this is still a great step in the right direction.
LOL yeah that would make sense... If I'm less than 2 feet away from them :)
To be honest I'm starting to understand that this is not about logic, it's about balance. No matter how many senses you deprive your targets of, you still need a Hide action to truly prevent your enemy from detecting you, unless you've done and invested so much to conceal your position that you can reasonably ask the DM to concede that there's absolutely no way for them to detect you.
We should incorporate scent/smell rules into the book, Natrel.
I think that would be great, yeah. And species with an especially keen sense of smell should have advantage on perceiving creatures this way. Ursine and canine creatures, notably. And species that normally aren't suited to locate creatures this way (like humans) should have disadvantage too.
The new wording acknowledges the state of being hidden, which was unclear before.
It just doesn't give the state any more definition than existed before. It's a useful step towards having a better rule, but it doesn't accomplish much by itself.
I think that would be great, yeah. And species with an especially keen sense of smell should have advantage on perceiving creatures this way. Ursine and canine creatures, notably. And species that normally aren't suited to locate creatures this way (like humans) should have disadvantage too.
I'm still wondering though, what if an enemy's sight and hearing are both negated at the same time, would you still need a stealth check to be hidden from them?
Let's say I'm a Fighter who uses Blind Fighting, fighting an enemy who doesn't have blindsight. The party Ranger casts Fog Cloud, and a Wizard casts Silence around us.
The enemy can neither see nor hear me. Would I still need a Stealth check to become hidden? What other sense could they possibly use to even estimate my position? (Assuming my character has good body hygiene and doesn't stink from 10ft away)
My ruling here is that you are automatically hidden with no action required in this case. ("The Dungeon Master decides when circumstances are appropriate for hiding.") If an enemy can somehow see or hear you anyway, then you are just not hidden at all since you didn't take the Hide action and are making no additional attempt to prevent such an enemy from detecting you. The Hide action only adjudicates a situation where "you try to conceal yourself" -- if you are not trying, then you are not taking this action. However, if circumstances exist such as those suggested above which render you already concealed, then you should have the benefits of being concealed.
If a DM determine that circumstances should automatically make one's position unknown somehow, a Dexterity (Stealth) check, whether active or passive, would be necessary at least to set a DC against which to be found.
I don't agree with this idea.
First, the Dexterity (Stealth) check is only called for when the Hide action is taken. If the action is not taken, then this procedure is ignored / doesn't apply.
Second, a DM should generally only call for dice rolls when the outcome is uncertain. This does not apply in this case -- the outcome is automatically successful, no roll required.
Third, the mechanic of keeping track of an ongoing, persistent Dexterity (Stealth) check value is for the purposes of determining if an enemy can find you with a future Wisdom (Perception) check. In this case, they cannot. Such a check will automatically fail (again, the outcome is certain -- no roll required).
An enemy would have to start by taking the Search action. This is summarized as "Make a Wisdom (Insight, Medicine, Perception, or Survival) check." The Glossary explains that this is to attempt to "discern something that isn't obvious". You use the Perception skill to attempt to discern a concealed creature.
However, when we take a look at what "Perception" means, we see that it refers to:
Using a combination of senses, notice something that’s easy to miss.
From this, it is easy to see that if those senses are not available or are otherwise not naturally able to detect something, then this effort automatically fails. For example:
Blinded [Condition]
While you have the Blinded condition, you experience the following effects.
Can’t See. You can’t see and automatically fail any ability check that requires sight.
and
Deafened [Condition]
While you have the Deafened condition, you experience the following effect.
Can’t Hear. You can’t hear and automatically fail any ability check that requires hearing.
Therefore, in this situation, an enemy's Search action will automatically fail -- no roll required. We do not need to keep track of any Dexterity (Stealth) check value for the purposes of setting any sort of DC for an enemy to Search for this character since we already know that in this situation such an activity will automatically fail.
It still seems like the Hide action doesn't actually do anything in 5.5e. You have to be unseen in order to Hide, then Hiding makes you unseen, unless you can be seen.
And they didn't expand on what "an enemy finds you" means, either. If you lean out of your cover, you would be seen (thus no longer hidden), and then you wouldn't gain any Advantage on your attack, right?
So I duck out of their line of sight, and use my entire action (+ DC15 check) to not be seen by them?
I'm VERY grateful for this change, which finally makes it clear that using the Hide action gives you more than simply being invisible, while also making it clear that casting Invisibility on yourself doesn't grant you the same benefits as hiding.
If only that were actually true. The new wording doesn't actually change anything meaningful.
Sure it does. It closes the problem wherein you could have invisibility the spell cast on you and have it get ended early by being spotted after trying to hide. Somehow.
Because now the invisibility is gained contingent on being hidden, and is not forced off you with "the condition ends immediately" language. So the fact the spell (or other effect) grants invisibility doesn't get messed with any longer.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Sure it does. It closes the problem wherein you could have invisibility the spell cast on you and have it get ended early by being spotted after trying to hide. Somehow.
It didn't do that before, but it does make it more explicit that it doesn't do so.
It still seems like the Hide action doesn't actually do anything in 5.5e. You have to be unseen in order to Hide, then Hiding makes you unseen, unless you can be seen.
And they didn't expand on what "an enemy finds you" means, either. If you lean out of your cover, you would be seen (thus no longer hidden), and then you wouldn't gain any Advantage on your attack, right?
So I duck out of their line of sight, and use my entire action (+ DC15 check) to not be seen by them?
You have to look at the text differently to really see what it does. If you are looking for what the Hide action does, and you skip down to "On a successful check, you have the Invisible condition while hidden", then you've missed it. And that seems to be what happens to a lot of folks who read the description for this action.
What the Hide action does is explained on the very first line. The action is an attempt to conceal yourself. A successful Hide action means that you successfully conceal yourself. That is what the action actually does. The rest of the text is just a description of the various mechanics and benefits that are associated with being concealed.
The game doesn't provide a general definition for "concealed". The word exists within the description of the Invisible condition, but that provides a definition only within the context of that text for that condition. From reading the rest of the text for the Hide action, as well as bits of other general rules that are spread throughout the game, we can pick the English language definition which best fits this context of "hiding" -- which is that to conceal something means that you make its location unknown.
In terms of this game's mechanics, a creature can really only know the location of something (without being in physical contact with it) by currently detecting it with one of its senses -- by default, that is just visual senses to see something and auditory senses to hear something. The creature uses this sensory information to determine something's location. When the location is unknown, that means that it cannot be seen or heard.
The general rules as well as the first paragraph of the Hide action provide the prerequisites and procedures for making an attempt to become concealed. Once this attempt is successful, the remainder of the text just explains some of the benefits associated with having an unknown location due to being unseen and unheard. The text also explains the mechanics involved in attempting to remain this way as well as some of the explicit events which reveal your location.
The main benefit that is associated with having an unknown location due to being unseen and unheard that is explicitly listed is that you have the Invisible condition while hidden. This is just a shorthand way of listing a bunch of the benefits which are already listed within that condition's description. Some of these are actually a bit redundant with some of the benefits that are already given by the general rules for "Unseen Attackers and Targets", but that's ok. There aren't really any additional benefits and mechanics associated with being Unheard beyond just contributing to a concealed / unknown location, and all of those benefits are already listed in the general rules for "Unseen Attackers and Targets". So, there is nothing in the "Unheard" category to list in the Hide action alongside the benefit of having the Invisible condition while hidden. That doesn't mean that the action has nothing to do with becoming unheard -- it just means that once you are unheard there isn't anything additional to say about what else happens when you are unheard that isn't already covered elsewhere.
The Hide action explains that an enemy must succeed on a Wisdom (Perception) check to find you (it is assumed that a Search action is required for an active check -- perhaps no action is required for Passive Perception . . . this is not explicitly explained within the text for the Hide action). A Wisdom (Perception) check can involve a combination of senses.
The game design is that the visual and auditory senses are able to automatically detect anything that is obvious. The act of concealing yourself makes it so that you are not obviously detectable from these senses, but you can still be detected by the Search action's Wisdom (Perception) check which explicitly uses senses to "notice something easy to miss". Also, "When you take the Search action, you make a Wisdom check to discern something that isn’t obvious."
So, the Hide action conceals yourself in such a way that you go from being obviously discernable / noticeable to being a lot less obviously discernable / noticeable (so that it takes some amount of effort to find you). The Hide action alone does not make you totally undiscernible / noticeable -- just less obviously so.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Yeah, the bigger issue is that the Invisible condition doesn't say that you are unseen, difficult to see, or actually, you know, invisible. It gives you benefits when someone can't see you, which are already benefits for people without the Invisible condition that are unseen.
It's intentional. The spell is an illusory effect that causes you or your target to not be able to be perceived by mundane sight; you're not actually invisible but creating the illusion that you're not visible. This is why casting magic in any form break's the condition, because it literally breaks the illusion.
Hide on the other hand is a physical act of moving through cover and Heavily Obscured areas to be unseen by a creature, and that's why the condition doesn't break from dealing damage or casting spells with somatic components. So if you're Hiding behind a large crate and use a spell like Hypnotic Pattern or Mind Spike which triggers a saving throw, the condition won't break because you're neither talking and the enemy has to avoid a silent effect that doesn't give away your location.
But what about "deal damage"? Same scenario as above: you're hiding in a room and improvised a trap for the enemy that's following you. A trap requires a Saving Throw per the DMG, and if the enemy triggers it, they will receive damage, but that doesn't mean it will give away the location you're hiding, thus it doesn't break the condition.
This is the best explanation of how stealth should be run into this game.
Thank you!
Since the Hide action received errata, this thread should probably be read using the new wording:
Pre:
Now:
I'm VERY grateful for this change, which finally makes it clear that using the Hide action gives you more than simply being invisible, while also making it clear that casting Invisibility on yourself doesn't grant you the same benefits as hiding.
My current understanding of stealth is this:
- Even if you give yourself or an enemy a condition that prevents them from seeing you, they can still estimate your position using their other senses. They will have disadvantage on their attack rolls, but they will still know where to attack.
- If you successfully use the Hide action, an enemy cannot discern or even estimate your position unless you do something that ends your stealth, or the enemy defeats your Stealth roll with their own Perception (check by using the Search action, or if their Passive Perception already beats the DC of your Stealth check. Best they can do is guess by attacking your last known location.
Honestly, I think things would be much clearer if Hidden was a condition. All the ambiguity around stealth in my opinion come from the fact that there's no such thing as a Hidden condition rules, despite the game providing all the elements for one.
I'm still wondering though, what if an enemy's sight and hearing are both negated at the same time, would you still need a stealth check to be hidden from them?
Let's say I'm a Fighter who uses Blind Fighting, fighting an enemy who doesn't have blindsight. The party Ranger casts Fog Cloud, and a Wizard casts Silence around us.
The enemy can neither see nor hear me. Would I still need a Stealth check to become hidden? What other sense could they possibly use to even estimate my position? (Assuming my character has good body hygiene and doesn't stink from 10ft away)
If only that were actually true. The new wording doesn't actually change anything meaningful.
The rules don't offer guidelines for a Passive Stealth score that reflects a creature’s general stealth in its surroundings that the DM uses when determining whether a creature hides without consciously making a Dexterity (Stealth) check.
But one can always rule corner case that way.
You gave us almost no room to choice, adventurer!
Since smelling isn't an option (you made that clear in Question about stealth (and ability checks in general) ;)), I'd go with the air shifting around you as you move through it :)
If you attack them, your position becomes known; there doesn't seem to be any exception for hearing or vision there. However, you can move after attacking and the rules are silent on what that does.
If a DM determine that circumstances should automatically make one's position unknown somehow, a Dexterity (Stealth) check, whether active or passive, would be necessary at least to set a DC against which to be found.
LOL yeah that would make sense... If I'm less than 2 feet away from them :)
To be honest I'm starting to understand that this is not about logic, it's about balance. No matter how many senses you deprive your targets of, you still need a Hide action to truly prevent your enemy from detecting you, unless you've done and invested so much to conceal your position that you can reasonably ask the DM to concede that there's absolutely no way for them to detect you.
Otherwise, stealth would be OP.
The new wording acknowledges the state of being hidden, which was unclear before. Even though I would have preferred a Hidden condition, I think this is still a great step in the right direction.
We should incorporate scent/smell rules into the book, Natrel.
I think that would be great, yeah. And species with an especially keen sense of smell should have advantage on perceiving creatures this way. Ursine and canine creatures, notably. And species that normally aren't suited to locate creatures this way (like humans) should have disadvantage too.
It just doesn't give the state any more definition than existed before. It's a useful step towards having a better rule, but it doesn't accomplish much by itself.
There was some "smell" back in 2014, indeed: The Removal of Keen Senses/Smell/Hearing from 5e’24 Monsters
My ruling here is that you are automatically hidden with no action required in this case. ("The Dungeon Master decides when circumstances are appropriate for hiding.") If an enemy can somehow see or hear you anyway, then you are just not hidden at all since you didn't take the Hide action and are making no additional attempt to prevent such an enemy from detecting you. The Hide action only adjudicates a situation where "you try to conceal yourself" -- if you are not trying, then you are not taking this action. However, if circumstances exist such as those suggested above which render you already concealed, then you should have the benefits of being concealed.
I don't agree with this idea.
First, the Dexterity (Stealth) check is only called for when the Hide action is taken. If the action is not taken, then this procedure is ignored / doesn't apply.
Second, a DM should generally only call for dice rolls when the outcome is uncertain. This does not apply in this case -- the outcome is automatically successful, no roll required.
Third, the mechanic of keeping track of an ongoing, persistent Dexterity (Stealth) check value is for the purposes of determining if an enemy can find you with a future Wisdom (Perception) check. In this case, they cannot. Such a check will automatically fail (again, the outcome is certain -- no roll required).
An enemy would have to start by taking the Search action. This is summarized as "Make a Wisdom (Insight, Medicine, Perception, or Survival) check." The Glossary explains that this is to attempt to "discern something that isn't obvious". You use the Perception skill to attempt to discern a concealed creature.
However, when we take a look at what "Perception" means, we see that it refers to:
From this, it is easy to see that if those senses are not available or are otherwise not naturally able to detect something, then this effort automatically fails. For example:
and
Therefore, in this situation, an enemy's Search action will automatically fail -- no roll required. We do not need to keep track of any Dexterity (Stealth) check value for the purposes of setting any sort of DC for an enemy to Search for this character since we already know that in this situation such an activity will automatically fail.
It still seems like the Hide action doesn't actually do anything in 5.5e. You have to be unseen in order to Hide, then Hiding makes you unseen, unless you can be seen.
And they didn't expand on what "an enemy finds you" means, either. If you lean out of your cover, you would be seen (thus no longer hidden), and then you wouldn't gain any Advantage on your attack, right?
So I duck out of their line of sight, and use my entire action (+ DC15 check) to not be seen by them?
Sure it does. It closes the problem wherein you could have invisibility the spell cast on you and have it get ended early by being spotted after trying to hide. Somehow.
Because now the invisibility is gained contingent on being hidden, and is not forced off you with "the condition ends immediately" language. So the fact the spell (or other effect) grants invisibility doesn't get messed with any longer.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
It didn't do that before, but it does make it more explicit that it doesn't do so.
You have to look at the text differently to really see what it does. If you are looking for what the Hide action does, and you skip down to "On a successful check, you have the Invisible condition while hidden", then you've missed it. And that seems to be what happens to a lot of folks who read the description for this action.
What the Hide action does is explained on the very first line. The action is an attempt to conceal yourself. A successful Hide action means that you successfully conceal yourself. That is what the action actually does. The rest of the text is just a description of the various mechanics and benefits that are associated with being concealed.
The game doesn't provide a general definition for "concealed". The word exists within the description of the Invisible condition, but that provides a definition only within the context of that text for that condition. From reading the rest of the text for the Hide action, as well as bits of other general rules that are spread throughout the game, we can pick the English language definition which best fits this context of "hiding" -- which is that to conceal something means that you make its location unknown.
In terms of this game's mechanics, a creature can really only know the location of something (without being in physical contact with it) by currently detecting it with one of its senses -- by default, that is just visual senses to see something and auditory senses to hear something. The creature uses this sensory information to determine something's location. When the location is unknown, that means that it cannot be seen or heard.
The general rules as well as the first paragraph of the Hide action provide the prerequisites and procedures for making an attempt to become concealed. Once this attempt is successful, the remainder of the text just explains some of the benefits associated with having an unknown location due to being unseen and unheard. The text also explains the mechanics involved in attempting to remain this way as well as some of the explicit events which reveal your location.
The main benefit that is associated with having an unknown location due to being unseen and unheard that is explicitly listed is that you have the Invisible condition while hidden. This is just a shorthand way of listing a bunch of the benefits which are already listed within that condition's description. Some of these are actually a bit redundant with some of the benefits that are already given by the general rules for "Unseen Attackers and Targets", but that's ok. There aren't really any additional benefits and mechanics associated with being Unheard beyond just contributing to a concealed / unknown location, and all of those benefits are already listed in the general rules for "Unseen Attackers and Targets". So, there is nothing in the "Unheard" category to list in the Hide action alongside the benefit of having the Invisible condition while hidden. That doesn't mean that the action has nothing to do with becoming unheard -- it just means that once you are unheard there isn't anything additional to say about what else happens when you are unheard that isn't already covered elsewhere.
The Hide action explains that an enemy must succeed on a Wisdom (Perception) check to find you (it is assumed that a Search action is required for an active check -- perhaps no action is required for Passive Perception . . . this is not explicitly explained within the text for the Hide action). A Wisdom (Perception) check can involve a combination of senses.
The game design is that the visual and auditory senses are able to automatically detect anything that is obvious. The act of concealing yourself makes it so that you are not obviously detectable from these senses, but you can still be detected by the Search action's Wisdom (Perception) check which explicitly uses senses to "notice something easy to miss". Also, "When you take the Search action, you make a Wisdom check to discern something that isn’t obvious."
So, the Hide action conceals yourself in such a way that you go from being obviously discernable / noticeable to being a lot less obviously discernable / noticeable (so that it takes some amount of effort to find you). The Hide action alone does not make you totally undiscernible / noticeable -- just less obviously so.