Dungeon Master: Stealth

If you play any table top role-playing game for long enough, someone is going to want to try to sneak by something. However, I generally find stealth rules to be written in such a way that they need to either be decoded or completely replaced (inspired by me trying to figure out the D&D 5^th edition stealth system). For this reason I hope to write down the considerations I go through when I think about a stealth system and designing a stealth system. Hopefully it helps someone out there. Next week I'll look at the D&D 5^th edition's stealth system in particular and address some of the weird things I see there.

Case by Case

When we are talking about a stealth system, I find there are some very specific situations that we can list and examine. These situations, when combined with some kind of decision mechanism such as dice rolls, effectively make up the stealth system itself. The basic cases I am talking about are:

1. What happens when the character(s) has successfully achieved “stealth”?
2. What happens when the character(s) has failed to achieve “stealth” when trying to?
3. What happens when some of the characters have failed to achieve stealth while the others have?
4. What happens if both groups achieve “stealth”?

Achieving Stealth

The rules for achieving stealth as an individual or as a group can vary. For example, using D&D 5^th edition, we can force every person to roll a stealth check when trying to sneak as a group or we can try to use a group check. A group check would improve the party's odds of success. This kind of decision from the Dungeon Master will then in turn have an effect on how often the party tries to sneak (it may make sense to give an easier time for players trying to sneak past enemies in a campaign where there are many enemies stronger than them).

Once stealth is achieved, what does that actually mean? There are many different benefits that can be provided from a small bonus to the first attack and the ability to sneak away to giving an entire extra round of combat through “surprise” (like D&D 5^th edition). In the D&D 5^th edition example, you can even choose to house rule it so that when a character surprises another character, they have advantage (A surprises B, A has advantage when attacking B).

Failing to Achieve Stealth

There can be a number of different things that can happen if a character trying to sneak past another is discovered. In games like D&D 5^th edition, there is already an opportunities cost associated with stealth since you need to be moving slowly. However, there can be other penalties added such as acting later in the round (a smart enemy might be able to attack someone who thinks they are hiding).

Only Some Achieving Stealth

If some members of the party manage to be stealthy enough to avoid a threat while others are noticed, there are a number of things that can happen. Two examples are that the entire party will be noticed but the enemy may be surprised by the hidden characters (this is the D&D 5^th edition method) or that the members that managed to hide are not visible to the enemy while the ones that were noticed are visible (this means they will be attacked where as the ones who managed to hide aren't visible). When designing or modifying a stealth system the intended outcome of such a situation needs to be considered as side effects can occur. If only part of the party will be targeted because the rest is hiding, it may be beneficial for the party over all but increase the risk for those who aren't noticed. If done in a certain way, it can actually create a situation where players avoid stealth because it doesn't give enough advantage or where no matter what they try to sneak because it is so advantageous and accessible.

No-one Sees Each-other

Play D&D long enough and you may run into a situation where both sides are sneaky enough not to be seen by the other. Typically, in such a situation it is the Dungeon Master's job to decide what happens. If the two groups don't see each-other but still move towards each-other, they may eventually collide (sometimes literally). The two groups may also pass without incident. If desired, the Dungeon Master could also add concrete rules such as, “two groups within a certain range of each-other (50 feet) will see each-other regardless of sneaking ability when they are in grassy plains”. Because of these options, this case still needs to be considered when running or designing a stealth system (even if no rules are explicitly present).