Stealth

(Dexterity; Armor Check Penalty)

You are skilled at avoiding detection, allowing you to slip past foes or strike from an unseen position. This skill covers hiding and moving silently.

Check

You must start your turn unobserved or in Cover or Concealment in order to make a stealth check. If you are observed by some targets but not others, you can make a stealth check, but it only affects those that are not currently observing you.
Your Stealth check is opposed by a Perception check from anyone who might notice you. Creatures that fail to beat your Stealth check are not aware of you and treat you as if you had total Concealment. You can move up to half your normal speed and use Stealth at no penalty. When moving at a speed greater than half and up to your normal speed, you take a –5 penalty. It’s nearly impossible (-20 penalty) to use Stealth while running. A 5 Foot Step taken as part of your action for the round is considered moving at normal speed, imposing the -5 penalty.
Breaking Stealth: When you start your turn using Stealth, you can leave Cover or Concealment and remain unobserved as long as you succeed at a Stealth check and end your turn in Cover or Concealment. Your Stealth immediately ends after you make an attack roll, whether or not the attack is successful (except when sniping as noted below).
Noisy surfaces, such as bogs or undergrowth, are tough to sneak across. When you try to use stealth to move over such a surface, you take a -5 penalty on your Stealth check.
Create a Diversion to Hide: You can use Bluff to allow you to use Stealth. A successful Bluff check can give you the momentary diversion you need to attempt a Stealth check while people are aware of you.
Hide behind other Creatures: Large bodies that break your opponent’s line of sight can sometimes be just as useful as Darkness for hiding your position. Normally the soft Cover provided by other creatures is not sufficient to allow you to attempt a Stealth check. Soft Cover provided by creatures at least one size category larger than you does allow you to attempt Stealth checks against other creatures not already aware of your presence at a –10 penalty. If the creature providing the Cover knows which square you occupy and is trying to avoid concealing you, this penalty increases to –20.
You can also hide from a creature by staying under its own body if it is at least two size categories larger than you and you are in its space. Such attempts also take a –10 penalty, and the creature gains a +10 to their Perception check to spot you if they are aware you are in the area. If the creature moves away from you, you are automatically revealed, unless you have readied an action to move with it.
Sniping: If you’ve already successfully used Stealth at least 10 feet from your target, you can use a Standard Action to attack and then immediately use Stealth again as a Move Action. You take a –10 penalty on your Stealth check to maintain your obscured location, and any target hit by your attack gets a +10 to their Perception check to spot you. Creatures that fail their Perception check are unaware of the location from which you attacked, only able to tell the general direction (quadrant) of where the attack came from.

Action

Usually none. A Stealth check is included in your movement or other activity, so it is part of another action. When using stealth to snipe, it is a Move Action.

Special

A creature larger or smaller than Medium has a Size Modifier on stealth checks depending on its size category: Fine +16, Diminutive +12, Tiny +8, Small +4, Large -4, Huge -8, Gargantuan -12, Colossal -16.
An invisible creature has a +40 bonus on its stealth checks if stationary, and a +20 bonus if moving.
A creature that retains invisibility after attacking retains total Concealment after making an attack. If it was a melee attack, the direction the attack came from is known (potentially giving away the square the creature is in unless the attack has reach). If it was a ranged attack, Perception checks are rolled as though the attacker were sniping to determine the square the projectile originated from, with the attacker recieving a +20 bonus to stealth for being invisible. Some attacks, including offensive spells, provide more obvious evidence of their point of origin, providing a bonus to Perception checks or negating the need for them entirely.
Generally, a stealth check is re-rolled anytime a hidden character takes an action that may reveal them, such as moving or making a Reflex Save. Any time a creature rolls a stealth check, any creature who could potentially notice them makes a reactive Perception check. Any creature actively attempting to spot a hidden character always rolls their Perception check against the most recent stealth check made.
A creature that has spotted a stealthed character may take a Free Action once per round to attempt to point them out to their allies. Doing so triggers another Perception check for everyone who hears or sees this attempt to find them (depending on the situation, they may need a Perception check to notice their ally attempting to do so).
Hide in Plain Sight: A creature with the Hide in Plain Sight ability can use the stealth skill even when observed. Some forms of Hide in Plain Sight also allow for stealth checks to be made when in the open, and not in Cover or Concealment under certain conditions (as defined by the source that grants the ability). A creature with this ability can still attempt stealth checks after breaking stealth (such as by attacking) provided they make some form of movement as part of the stealth attempt. A creature may attempt to stealth in place, but must still spend the appropriate action for the movement (typically a Move Action or 5 Foot Step), and take a -10 penalty to their check for not actually moving. If a creature successfully uses Hide in Plain Sight while being observed, their last known position is either the square they previously occupied, or the last square they occupied in which they did not meet their requirements for Hide in Plain Sight (if applicable). A creature with this ability could attempt to hide after making ranged attacks using these rules rather than sniping.

Skill Unlock

A character who selects this skill for the Signature Skill feat or a Rogue who selects it for their Rogue's Edge class ability gains the following abilities when they reach the designated number of ranks in this skill:

• 5 Ranks: You no longer take a penalty to your stealth checks while sniping.
• 10 Ranks: Stealth check penalties are halved, including moving full speed, noisy surfaces, hiding behind other creatures, and running while using stealth. Bonuses to Perception checks for creatures you are hiding under or you hit with an attack while sniping are also halved.
• 15 Ranks: If you attack after successfully using Stealth, your target is denied its Dexterity bonus against all attacks that you make before the end of your turn.
• 20 Ranks: If you attack after successfully using Stealth, your target is denied its Dexterity bonus against all attacks that anyone makes before the beginning of your next turn.

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