Stealth

Race	Stalking and Hiding Bonus
Human	+10 while in town
Giantman	-10 everywhere
Half-elf	+5 everywhere
Sylvankind	+30 in forests
Dwarf	+15 in mountain caves +10 outdoors in the mountains
Halfling	+10 everywhere
Forest Gnome	+30 in forests
Burghal Gnome	+10 in town

This article is about the stalking and hiding system. For the Rogue Guild ability, see Rogue Gambits.

To enter stealth, use the HIDE verb. To track a specific target while being hidden, use the STALK verb. To move to another room while remaining hidden, use the SNEAK verb. To leave stealth, use the UNHIDE verb.

To sneak automatically when hidden, MOVEMENT AUTOSNEAK ON.

Hidden characters and creatures are not shown in the room when using LOOK and cannot be targeted with single-target attacks.

Stalking and Hiding is the main governing skill for the stealth system.

HIDE (verb)

HIDE will put a character into stealth status, during which he/she will not be visible in the room when others LOOK. All characters may hide, but only those skilled in Stalking and Hiding will be truly effective at it. Roundtime from hiding can be reduced by training in Stalking and Hiding with one second reductions at 60 and 120 ranks. Celerity (506) will also help to reduce roundtime.

Once hidden, characters may STALK others and SNEAK. To become visible again, one should UNHIDE. To sneak automatically when hidden, MOVEMENT AUTOSNEAK ON.

Unskilled character:

>hide
Roundtime: 10 sec.
You see XXXX turn her head in your direction as you hide.
You attempt to blend with the surroundings, but don't feel very confident about your success.

Third person:

You notice XXXX slip into a hiding place.

Success Factors

Success in hiding and remaining hidden is determined by hidden rolls. Stalking and Hiding skill bonus adds directly to the roll result. For example, a character with 50 skill ranks gains a bonus of 150 to each roll.

Profession

Rogues receive a very large bonus to hiding which settles at +level+3 from level 20 onwards, leading to a +103 bonus at level 100.

Rangers and bards receive +1 bonus per level, capped at +20.

Rogues and rangers are the only professions for whom hiding is typically useful in combat due to the enormous hide bonus and bevy of stealth spells, respectively.

Stats

Discipline is involved for both hiding and staying hidden. Agility is also factored into staying hidden, but not the initial hide attempt.

Spells

The ranger spell Camouflage (608) always puts the caster into stealth, but remaining hidden relies on skill training.

Combat Maneuvers

It is normally not possible to enter stealth while in roundtime, but rogues able to Vanish may do so at a stamina cost.

Ambush and Sniping

Melee combatants can use the ATTACK, AMBUSH, and WAYLAY commands from stealth. Using ATTACK is the same as AMBUSH in this context. If trained in the Ambush skill, the defender's stance will be lowered for the attack and the attacker receives either critical weighting (for AMBUSH) or damage weighting (for WAYLAY). Attacking from stealth in this manner adds one second of roundtime to the attack. For example, a short sword normally has a 3 second base and minimum roundtimes, so ambushing or waylaying with a short sword has 4 second base and minimum roundtimes. Ambushing reveals the attacker, so to reuse this ability it is necessary to HIDE again afterwards. The Silent Strike combat maneuver available to rogues allows them to attack while remaining hidden, and with additional training they may also use the Cutthroat and Subdue maneuvers in such a manner.

It is estimated that a fully trained level 100 rogue receives around 50 points of critical weighting when ambushing.

Two-handed polearms cannot be used to ambush from hiding.

When using ranged weapons, using the FIRE verb from stealth (also known as sniping) will make an automatic hiding check. If successful, the attacker will stay hidden after the attack. Ranged attacks receive no additional critical weighting.

Using any unarmed attack from hiding gives an Ambush skill based chance to increase the positioning tier immediately to "good" or "excellent".

Removing Stealth

Characters or creatures can attempt to SEARCH for someone who is hidden. There is a bonus based on the searcher's Perception. For player characters, searching incurs some minor roundtime and does not reveal the hider even on a success unless the searcher uses the POINT verb afterwards; for creatures, a successful search incurs no roundtime, reveals instantly, and they can attack immediately after revealing a hidden character. Generally, wild animals and the undead have very high perception and are much more difficult to stay hidden from.

The following abilities can remove stealth instantly from anyone in the room:

• Sun Burst (609)
• Searing Light (135)

Many area spells such as Elemental Wave (410) can also reveal hidden characters or creatures.