D&D 5E Can a wood elf hide in dim light?

[Mistwell]

I forgot about darkvision. But then again the question remains if a wood elf can hide from creatures with darkvision while standing in darkness.

For this one, I'd say no. People with darkvision treat dim light as normal light, so the elf is not obscured from their perspective, and I think the obscuring must be from the perspective of the person trying to spot them. Similarly, if you are hiding behind a rock, and I am on the same side of the rock as you, you're not hidden from me - just from the people on the opposite side of the rock.

 

[77IM]

I've ruled no. Dim light is too commonplace to qualify as "natural surroundings" and hiding it it is such a powerful ability that if that were the intent I think it would be called out as one of the examples. I mean, air is part of the natural world, so wood elves should be able to hide in air, right?

The ability is worded so vaguely that it requires DM discretion, and from my perspective, hiding behind plants, rocks, and weather phenomena is a very wood-elfy ability, and hiding an any old dim light is not.

 

[ShadowSeeker]

I mean, air is part of the natural world, so wood elves should be able to hide in air, right?

I think you are missing the point of my question: The mask of the wild abiltiy lets a wood elf hide even when only lightly obscured by "natural phenomena". Dim light lightly obscures an area and dim light can surely be considere a natural phenomenon. Air does not lightly obscure anything.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I think you are missing the point of my question: The mask of the wild abiltiy lets a wood elf hide even when only lightly obscured by "natural phenomena". Dim light lightly obscures an area and dim light can surely be considere a natural phenomenon. Air does not lightly obscure anything.

Dim light isn't a natural phenomenon; it's the lack of a natural phenomenon.

If this was the intent of the ability, it surely would have been called out explicitly in the description.

 

[iserith]

That isn't what I had in mind, of course.

So after hearing the arguments I tend to agree that dim light alone is not enough to hide for a wood elf.

Why say that is always the case? I prefer to rule that sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't, whichever better fits the circumstances in play.

What about hiding behind another creature in dim light?

Sometimes they might be able to, sometimes they might not.

 

[77IM]

Dim light lightly obscures an area and dim light can surely be considered a natural phenomenon.

"Surely?" Then why are we having this discussion?

Let me ask some questions to help identify the ambiguity:
1. Exactly what forms of light obscurement are NOT natural phenomena? The only one I can think of are certain spells, although even then most spells (e.g. fog cloud) could be argued as natural. Maybe a gauze curtain?
2. Why doesn't the wood elf ability simply specify that they can hide in any lightly obscured area? If you include dim light, then wood elves can already hide in 95% of lightly obscured scenarios that you are likely to encounter in the game. Why would the designers confuse the ability with an ambiguous limitation that only applies 5% of the time?
3. What is the in-universe explanation for this ability? Is it magical? Why does the ability work for an elf in the woods hiding behind a sapling, but not for an elf in a house hiding behind a coat-tree?

I am not saying that counting dim light as natural phenomenon is wrong, just pointing out that in this case the RAW isn't totally cut-and-dried. It really depends on your perspective on the very purpose of rules. For me, I view 5e through a lens of genre emulation. So in the context of wood-elves and where they can hide, "any shadow anywhere" is too broad. If you prefer a more straightforward and logical approach, then yeah, counting "any shadow anywhere" as a natural phenomenon seems legit. Your answers to my questions above will help reinforce whichever view you take.

 

[Riley37]

If you consider every example that ever happened, in real life, of a human successfully hiding:
some of those examples happened under dim light.

They also generally involved something to hide behind, or hide under, or hide against.

 

[PnPgamer]

I like to think that no, because of the skulker feat would become useless and the fact that then wood elf can hide practically anywhere for no cost at all.

 

[miniaturehoarder]

I vote yes. If their schtick is supposed to be natural stealthiness, then why not let them blend into the walls/trees when light is waning?

If you have walls and trees, you don't need anything else. This is about the elf disappearing in low light.

 

[transtemporal]

I would rule not. The ability is intended for wood elves to be able to hide in light woods and natural settings. I would add mist, rain, dust/sand in there but I would not add ambient light levels. As someone else said, thematically, hiding in shadows is the ability of a different race.