In my group often times I’ll do a group stealth check most of the time but if someone gets detected it can quickly turn into a problem solving encounter
Basically there’s going to be like 1 person who tries to run and alert others and they have a small window to incapacitate that person to maintain their stealth even if someone in the party failed their check
Last session the party snuck into a cultist encampment, the ranger blew their stealth check while the rest of the party made theirs. The passive perception of the cultists wasn’t an issue for the most part until a cultist finally saw the ranger but before the cultist could say something the rogue made a stealth attack on the cultist so even though the ranger got a really low score he basically became a distraction for the other party members.
They got pretty deep into the encampment (and had a couple close calls) before the alarm ended up getting raised because of the bold ranger stepping into a tent failing to check inside.
Fun session overall, the ranger had a night where all of his combat rolls were gold but his skill checks were crap.
Literally had a moment that boiled down to:
DM: “The cultist sees you and asks, ‘Who are you and what are you doing here?’”
Ranger: “I’m new to the order and I’m trying to find the boss to get some new robes.”
DM: “Alright make a deception check.”
Ranger: “Fuck it, nevermind I haven’t made a skill check all night. I’ll just stab him. Nat 20. Max damage.”
Edit: This isn’t to say that “x rounds until alarm is raised” isn’t a fun tool to use sometimes. Basically it’s a picking the right tool for the right time.
In my group often times I’ll do a group stealth check most of the time but if someone gets detected it can quickly turn into a problem solving encounter
In a group stealth check, one person failing is irrelevant, that’s literally the only difference between regular checks and group ones. Only half the party have to pass a group check
Hot take: group stealth checks are bad. Using a clock or ‘x strikes until alarm is raised’ is a lot better.
In my group often times I’ll do a group stealth check most of the time but if someone gets detected it can quickly turn into a problem solving encounter
Basically there’s going to be like 1 person who tries to run and alert others and they have a small window to incapacitate that person to maintain their stealth even if someone in the party failed their check
Last session the party snuck into a cultist encampment, the ranger blew their stealth check while the rest of the party made theirs. The passive perception of the cultists wasn’t an issue for the most part until a cultist finally saw the ranger but before the cultist could say something the rogue made a stealth attack on the cultist so even though the ranger got a really low score he basically became a distraction for the other party members.
They got pretty deep into the encampment (and had a couple close calls) before the alarm ended up getting raised because of the bold ranger stepping into a tent failing to check inside.
Fun session overall, the ranger had a night where all of his combat rolls were gold but his skill checks were crap.
Literally had a moment that boiled down to:
DM: “The cultist sees you and asks, ‘Who are you and what are you doing here?’”
Ranger: “I’m new to the order and I’m trying to find the boss to get some new robes.”
DM: “Alright make a deception check.”
Ranger: “Fuck it, nevermind I haven’t made a skill check all night. I’ll just stab him. Nat 20. Max damage.”
Edit: This isn’t to say that “x rounds until alarm is raised” isn’t a fun tool to use sometimes. Basically it’s a picking the right tool for the right time.
In a group stealth check, one person failing is irrelevant, that’s literally the only difference between regular checks and group ones. Only half the party have to pass a group check