How do you describe a successful Stealth check beyond "It doesn't notice you"?
>>45260888
You skirt past the guards with ease, creating a small distraction to lure their attention away then using the chance to sprint silently across the open ground and through the open doorway.
>>45260914
This. Don't call for Stealth checks for just sitting on your ass jerking off. Have them DO something.
>>45260888
>You move like the wind I just passed, silent, but deadly.
>btw, hold your breath a minute.
>>45260888
Focus on what the stealthing person does. Put emphasis, something that would cause a racket or otherwise draw attention, but is noticed, avoided, or prevented.
>>45260888
Just have the bad guys do whatever they would do if they weren't aware of you: playing cards with each other, scratching ass, paging through a spell book, or just scratching their asses. I mean, how much description do you really need?
If it's a situation more like your webm, then just mention how you can feel the thing's breath or hear it clicking its teeth together or sniffing the air as it looks for you, like when Frodo was hiding from the Wraith in the first LotR movie.
>>45260888
Whatever - within this constraint: I don't reveal was it successful or not.
The BBEG might feign ignorance, enemies might raise alarm, etc.
>You pass by the guard, he seems to have not noticed you.
>The door slams shut behind you and the guard yells to his allies in the room that the spy just came in.
>Sorry dude, he made his bluff check. Turns out you shouldn't have dumped wisdom.
>>45260888
>As you creep along the wall of the large dining hall, you manage to avoid detection by the guests. A servant passes just a few feet away as you crouch into a small alcove.
>Bad lighting, too much wine on the table? Whatever the case, luck appears to be on your side so far.
>As you're safely exiting the hall, the sounds of the partygoers' indulgence fades.
>>45260888
You killed him, there're not witnesses and noone who can sound the alarm
>>45260888
>you stride silently and unseen through the middle of the brightly lit room, right in front of the alert guards' eyes
Or at least this seems to be how our retarded rollplay Rogue thinks it should work.
>>45260888
It sees the room is so utterly, completely empty, that it chides itself for thinking there was anything in here in the first place. It leaves, never to return.
>The guards overlook the harmless box as they pass by.
>>45260888
You should often make it seem like the PC only narrowly avoided being spotted. Helps up the tension. You can link this into what the dice actually roll or just use it for flavour regardless of the roll.
>the orc stops, sniffs the air and peers suspiciously in your direction for twenty seconds, but eventually turns away and starts to shamble off
>One of the guards stands up suddenly and "Did you hear that? Sounded like footsteps." His companions look surprised and say they didn't hear anything. "Sit daan yer silly sod, dere's bugger all out dere." the grizzled captain grunts, and the guard sheepishly sits back down.
>>45262272
Hey, the wizard gets to do his entire class skill focus with a level 2 spell slot. Let him have his version of it as a class skill.
>>45260888
I don't, successful stealth isn't dramatic. That's the point.
>>45260888
>>45262272
*arrow sticking out of shoulder*
"Eh. Must've been the wind."
>>45263449
My favorite is definitely "Must've been my imagination."
My response is always "You must have a VERY POWERFUL IMAGINATION."
>>45262752
I always though about this. You could effectively replace the rogue with 20,000 GP worth of magic items. A ring of invisibility and a hammer of 4/day knock. Then with the other 4,000 GP you just buy a sneak attack weapon.
>>45262752
Gamists shouldn't be allowed to play in systems where the narrative is important. Just sayin. :^)
>>45264971
Casters shouldn't be allowed to play in systems where class balance is nonexistent. Just sayin. :^)
>>45264971
Narrativists shouldn't play DnD.
As a matter of fact, neither should anyone.
>>45265036
>WAAHHHHHH BADWRONGFUN
You.
>>45265067
>LE STRAWMAN RUSE XD
You.
>>45265100
>Le mémé rebuttal
You.
Skills that the player should roll out in the open (called):
Balance
Climb
Concentration
Craft
Escape Artist
Handle Animal
Heal
Jump
Open Lock
Perform
Profession
Ride
Survival
Swim
Tumble
Use Magic Device
Use Rope
Skills the GM should roll behind the screen:
Appraise
Bluff
Decipher Script
Diplomacy
Disable Device
Disguise
Forgery
Gather Information
Hide
Intimidate
Knowledge
Listen
Move Silently
Search
Sense Motive
Sleight Of Hand
Spellcraft
Spot
>>45264839
>buying MAGIC items like they're just expensive, mundane items
Holy warrior designs that'd make evil crap their pants, or know they're gonna have a bad time.
I always wanted to do something like this with a Tower Shield.
>>45266530
This is amazing.
>>45260888
"You don't notice anyone notice you."
>>45260888
what is that webm from?
>>45273198
Until dawn.
>>45266530
BraumSupport.webm
I typically don't spend alot of time discribing how a player sneaks around, unless they overtly fail. Normaly there is something else going on that I focus on instead. For example, a PC is sneaking up on two NPCS in a dark room, instead of discribing the act of walking quietly, I would continue to discribe the NPCS, and the conversation they are having. I find it helps build tension, as the PCS aren't quite sure if they actually succeded or not, while also bringing the setting to life. Alot of times, one PC is sneaking up on an NPC that is already engaged with the rest of the party. Thats easy mode, I just jump back to what everyone else is doing to keep the flow going. Stealth is about subtley, there is no real reason to ham that up, just makes you sound dumb.
>>45260941
what if they want to jack off without being noticed ?
>>45260888
I usually describe it as "The [enemy] continues to [do whatever it was doing]."
"The sentry continues to squint into the darkness and pick his nose as he walks down the corridor" for example.
That leaves it open just enough for a paranoid player to think "...wait, what if he -did- see me and is just waiting for me to try something?"
You can also describe the guard going "Aha!" and looking behind somewhere the player isn't, then they spit and say "Could've sworn I heard something here."
>"I hopscotch my way through the brightly lit open courtyard past the guards while masturbating"
>"I'm going to impose a penal-"
>"20! With +15"
>"...fuck you."
>>45260888
Holding a scroll, clipboard, etc in your off hand, you hold your head high and march out into the area with a sense of purpose. The guards, thinking you are someone important, hurriedly make themselves look busy, trying to avoid drawing your attention too long
>>45275424
see if we were just fucking around with a throwaway game or something, I'd allow it, but if i was running a serious game and one of my players randomly did some derailing shit like that, I would just ignore it and describe him as sneaking through the courtyard without the extra bits. If they threw a fit, (they probably wont actually care too much) I'd tell him to get over it. Call me a bad GM, idgaf.
>>45275460
Somehow, that feels more like persuasion or intimidate than stealth
Posing as a janitor would work better with stealth
>>45275408
>>45275496
You're probably right, but I wasn't going to argue with my GM over it. We passed it off as a hiding in plain sight deal
>>45275511
>Checked and Keked
>>45275516
I used to play a condottiere in a notVenitian setting that used to get out of every situation by waving papers around and demanding to talk to the person in charge
He eventually got shot point blank with ye olde handgonne while trying his administrative bullshit, but he had a good run. Making as much noise as possible is the best kind of stealth.
>>45275408
That's not a Stealth check. It'sSleight of Hand.
>>45260975
>scratching ass
>or just scratching their asses
Would the bad guys scratch their asses, again?
>>45276366
Very, very slight of hand, if you get the insult that I'm implying.
>>45275424
Mate, when they try bullshit like that I'd auto-fail unless the guards are blind/deaf/dumb.
Maybe have a roll to determine how far they cross before they react maybe; but shit like that just wouldn't work.
>>45260888
>"You hide so well you even hide from the world, becoming one with the shadows. In the darkness you witness the rise and fall of empires, the birth and death of stars. You finally snap out of it, remembering yourself. The *insert cause of hiding* has moved on, disinterested in your location. 10xp. for becoming more wise about the reality of life and the universe."
>>45265155
>Tonight.
You.
Stealth sucks in just about everything unless the whole party is built for stealth, then it's the funnest shit ever.
