hi. Our group got into a situation where we wondered if the whole group is considdered to see a «hidden» enemy after our wizard rolled well on perception and fired a scorching ray at the hidden drow.
i think i read about this once but cannot find the spure :)
Not at all. The character(s) who notice are the only ones who see. They then have the choice to relay the message to the party, or keep the information to themselves.
This would be akin to you finding money on the ground while walking with buddies - you're the only one who saw it, so you have the options of acting as you wish.
The DM decides when circumstances are appropriate for hiding. When you try to hide, make a Dexterity (Stealth) check. Until you are discovered or you stop hiding, that check's total is contested by the Wisdom (Perception) check of any creature that actively searches for signs of your presence.
So yes, if someone discovers a hidden enemy, by default that enemy is no longer hidden and everyone learns its location. That doesn't necessarily mean they can see it, but at the very least everyone now knows where it is.
The hiding rules are particularly DM-dependent though so your DM might say otherwise depending on the situation.
I run into this on occasion in my game. It requires an understanding with the party. When one character sees an enemy, I put the enemy on the map and I expect the other players to respect the fact that they just can't see it (yet?). With that in mind, they don't target the monster directly, but there is also an understanding that the player who can see it has communicated basic information about there being a monster and roughly where it is, so if someone wanted to cast an AoE spell, I would say it's reasonable to target it in the general vicinity of where an enemy is even if they can't see the enemy specifically. But if the archer said "I'm going to shoot that square." and took the shot with disadvantage, I'd probably have an issue with that.
Something similar happens on occasion with the Arcane Trickster where the familiar notices an enemy before the party does. I prefer to play it as though it is able to communicate to the AT that there is something "over there" so the party can be on their guard, but not accurate enough info to engage what is over there.
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"Not all those who wander are lost"
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hi. Our group got into a situation where we wondered if the whole group is considdered to see a «hidden» enemy after our wizard rolled well on perception and fired a scorching ray at the hidden drow.
i think i read about this once but cannot find the spure :)
Not at all. The character(s) who notice are the only ones who see. They then have the choice to relay the message to the party, or keep the information to themselves.
This would be akin to you finding money on the ground while walking with buddies - you're the only one who saw it, so you have the options of acting as you wish.
From the Hiding rules:
So yes, if someone discovers a hidden enemy, by default that enemy is no longer hidden and everyone learns its location. That doesn't necessarily mean they can see it, but at the very least everyone now knows where it is.
The hiding rules are particularly DM-dependent though so your DM might say otherwise depending on the situation.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
I run into this on occasion in my game. It requires an understanding with the party. When one character sees an enemy, I put the enemy on the map and I expect the other players to respect the fact that they just can't see it (yet?). With that in mind, they don't target the monster directly, but there is also an understanding that the player who can see it has communicated basic information about there being a monster and roughly where it is, so if someone wanted to cast an AoE spell, I would say it's reasonable to target it in the general vicinity of where an enemy is even if they can't see the enemy specifically. But if the archer said "I'm going to shoot that square." and took the shot with disadvantage, I'd probably have an issue with that.
Something similar happens on occasion with the Arcane Trickster where the familiar notices an enemy before the party does. I prefer to play it as though it is able to communicate to the AT that there is something "over there" so the party can be on their guard, but not accurate enough info to engage what is over there.
"Not all those who wander are lost"