Stealth

I've been wrestling with the idea of stealth for several days now. A system that does not address sneaking would be wholly inadequate. No matter what sort of game you're running--dungeoneering, wilderness, urban, noble court, etc., you're going to have someone wanting to be undetected eventually. But I can't say that I've ever seen a stealth system with which I was fully satisfied.

In AD&D, there were two forms of stealth. The first was simply to have a good surprise chance. When I DM'd the D-series, my players marched through the underdark with an advance guard of elves, rangers and thieves would were able to gain surprise 2/3 of the time. This is probably the happiest I've ever felt with a stealth system. The second stealth system in AD&D was the Thieve's Hide in Shadows/Move Silently. This system seemed simple on paper, but was quite complicated in practice. When were these rolls made? What sort of circumstances were required? etc. I think now I have better perspective than when I played AD&D (Hide in Shadows is used to avoid detection while stationary in an obscured location, and then Move Silently was used to sneak up on the unaware--adjudicating the circumstances was DM's discretion). However, a major issue with the Thief sub-system is that Thieves' stealth chances were woefully inadequate at low levels.

In modern systems, D&D 3-4, WoD, the stealth roll is made and compared to an opponents detection roll (or, in the case of 4e, an opponent's passive detection). However, this leads to many issues as stealth is relative to the observer. While perhaps this is more "realistic," it also creates a lot of headaches at times--especially with 4th editions requirements of total concealment to gain stealth and concealment to maintain stealth since such conditions are sometimes relative.

The final issue I have with all of these systems is the difficulty of group stealth. In properly played AD&D (with parties of 7-9 PCs along with their entourages), it was definitely possible in overland travel to have "team sneaky" leading the party by 90'. This is part of my ultimate satisfaction with the surprise system of AD&D--players were able to, in a relatively simple and transparent manner, game the system with reasonable results. However, in modern systems with small parties and protectionist maintenance of niches, it is nearly impossible to have a sneaky party.

In my imagining, it should be possible for a group of assorted D&D characters to move around a "dungeon" with relative sneak-ocity. How can this be accomplished without stepping on the toes of the thief-type?

Perhaps the best way to do that would be to set stealth DCs relatively low--such that a standard party of adventurers has a 2/3 chance of everyone passing and a thief-type is guaranteed success. Certain monsters (elite guards, beholders, dragons, etc.) would be sentry types (maybe even give such monsters a keyword) who would raise stealth DCs around them significantly.

This would work well with my planned Scout class, since a Scout's backstab ability allows him to fairly reliably one-shot an elite.

The party as a whole can stealth across a large shadowy courtyard to get into the Temple of Fundamental Wickedness, avoiding the detection of the mindless undead (DC 3 for level 1 characters). As they proceed, the Scout spots a skeletal sentry standing near the gate. The Scout proceeds around the edge of the courtyard, hoping to get the jump on the guard (DC 16). The Scout, with a +9 modifier, makes a modified roll of 19, which succeeds. He attacks from the darkness with a +9 modifier (+5 base +4 for backstab) and hits, dealing 40 damage. The Scout has jabbed his blade into the Skeleton's spine. The Scout catches the Sentry's skull before it crashes to the ground and silently lowers his victim to the earth before giving his party the all-clear.

Of course, the DM would adjudicate when stealth is possible. Situations like the aforementioned courtyard work great. In the case of narrow twisting catacombs, you might use stealth to sneak past the door to a room full of monsters, but not THROUGH a room full of monsters.