It is very common to determine whether a creature is noticed by rolling stealth against perception (possibly passive) but there are features and equipmet that are unique to a particular sense.
For example the party scout is sneaking though a dimly lit forest and rolls for stealth. There is an bear in the vicinty who can either perceive the scout through site (at disadvantage) hearing (straight) or by smell (at advantage). How do you treat the perception roll. If the answer is not that the bear has advantage and the scout has invisability cast on him and has boots of elvenkind so he can only be detected by smell does that make him easier for the bear to spot!
The single stealth roll is a mix of the scouts ability to keep upwind of the bear (if he is aware for the bears presence, move silently and keep to the shadows to avoid being seen but how you you apply this when the perception is different for each sense?.
I've said it before, I'll say it again. The rules for senses (including sight, but especially every other sense) range from incomplete to non-existent.
The hiding rules require creatures to stay out of sight, so stealth rolls mainly account for your ability to move quietly. This is further hinted at by the penalties to Stealth rolls when traveling at a fast pace or when wearing certain armor.
Sight-based Perception checks are mainly used for spotting environmental details (traps, secret doors, clues). Smell isn't addressed in the rules, but in my opinion it's not meant to oppose Stealth checks directly, since winning a Stealth vs Perception contest implies pinpointing a creature's location, and a lot of creatures (e.g. humans) can't instantly pinpoint the origin of a smell. Still, a DM could use it to determine if a creature becomes aware of another's presence, or allow one creature to track down another by following a scent.
Either way, the hiding rules are built around a single Stealth vs Perception contest. So even if the DM deems vision or smell relevant to a situation, they should pick the most applicable sense rather than making multiple checks.
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It is very common to determine whether a creature is noticed by rolling stealth against perception (possibly passive) but there are features and equipmet that are unique to a particular sense.
For example the party scout is sneaking though a dimly lit forest and rolls for stealth. There is an bear in the vicinty who can either perceive the scout through site (at disadvantage) hearing (straight) or by smell (at advantage). How do you treat the perception roll. If the answer is not that the bear has advantage and the scout has invisability cast on him and has boots of elvenkind so he can only be detected by smell does that make him easier for the bear to spot!
The single stealth roll is a mix of the scouts ability to keep upwind of the bear (if he is aware for the bears presence, move silently and keep to the shadows to avoid being seen but how you you apply this when the perception is different for each sense?.
I've said it before, I'll say it again. The rules for senses (including sight, but especially every other sense) range from incomplete to non-existent.
The hiding rules require creatures to stay out of sight, so stealth rolls mainly account for your ability to move quietly. This is further hinted at by the penalties to Stealth rolls when traveling at a fast pace or when wearing certain armor.
Sight-based Perception checks are mainly used for spotting environmental details (traps, secret doors, clues). Smell isn't addressed in the rules, but in my opinion it's not meant to oppose Stealth checks directly, since winning a Stealth vs Perception contest implies pinpointing a creature's location, and a lot of creatures (e.g. humans) can't instantly pinpoint the origin of a smell. Still, a DM could use it to determine if a creature becomes aware of another's presence, or allow one creature to track down another by following a scent.
Either way, the hiding rules are built around a single Stealth vs Perception contest. So even if the DM deems vision or smell relevant to a situation, they should pick the most applicable sense rather than making multiple checks.
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