D&D 5E Ranger Hide in Plain Sight...useful?

[Springheel]

Anyone have experience with this Ranger ability? I'm having a hard time figuring out what it would be useful for, but since it's a 10th level ability, I assume I must be missing something. But being unable to move seems to really limit its usefulness. The only thing I can imagine it being really good for would be spying, but that's only if you know exactly where creatures are going to be and can position yourself before they get there.

H i d e i n P l a i n S i g h t
Starting at 10th level, you can spend 1 minute creating
camouflage for yourself. You must have access to fresh
mud, dirt, plants, soot, and other naturally occurring
materials with which to create your camouflage.
Once you are camouflaged in this way, you can try
to hide by pressing yourself up against a solid surface,
such as a tree or wall, that is at least as tall and wide
as you are. You gain a +10 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth)
checks as long as you remain there without moving or
taking actions. Once you move or take an action or a
reaction, you must camouflage yourself again to gain
this benefit.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

It is situational, but the situations in which it functions in it is actually better than an invisibility spell in some ways.

Need to overhear some meeting? Hide in Plain Sight within earshot before anyone shows up.
Need to set up as a sniper in a position that doesn't have any cover to hide with? Hide in Plain Sight within range of where your target will be.

It, like many of the Ranger class features, is a ribbon - but that's why the Ranger class gets a larger number of class features than most other classes do, because some of them are less potent in a general sense because of being very situational in nature.

 

[Xeviat]

This ability should simply be a part of the stealth and survival skills. Anyone can paint on camouflage, but your skill is going to determine how well you do with it.

I bring back their 3E version, letting them simply pull a batman and vanish if they have any cover or obscuring terrain within a move.


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[Ganymede81]

Yeah, Rangers get a lot of defining abilities at higher levels that many other classes get early on. They kinda get the Rogue's Cunning action, but only at higher levels and only piecemeal.

 

[Ahglock]

It's not useless but it does need planning and it certainly helps when you have a GM who will design stories with a eye to your abilities. All classes have abilities that benefit from this but the ranger seems to have a bit more. Now +X abilities on average even when limited are fairly valuable as they stack and work with advantage.

 

[Ashrym]

It's one of those abilities that's great in the right situation and useless other times. Highly situational. It's a huge stacking bonus to stealth that contributes to the scouting aspect of rangers.

Rangers can facilitate a short rest for themselves to allow for any short rest ability that doesn't require movement, actions, or reactions. This should include recovering hit points by spending hit dice but I have seen some DM's add implied action requirements for basic first aid in order to spend hit dice, so check with the DM on that one, but I allow it because I didn't see any such requirement to spend hit dice while resting.

Typically, it's used when the party is stationary anyway, like during the ranger's turn during watch, or when the ranger wants to ambush or spy on others. Circling ahead of enemies to hide on the trail or to hide preceding a secret meeting regardless of precautions to avoid hiding places near such a meeting spot.

It's a question of bonus vs mobility so the ranger has a choice of which is more applicable. When it's applicable it's better than invisibilty and expertise combined. Adding in pass without trace as a ranger spell and dexterity as a typical class ability score brings rangers with a massive stealth bonus and no need for cover.

 

[Jediking]

It's the perfect choice when your party is slowly picked off one by one by some Planes-hopping dreadlocked hunter.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Anyone have experience with this Ranger ability? I'm having a hard time figuring out what it would be useful for, but since it's a 10th level ability, I assume I must be missing something. But being unable to move seems to really limit its usefulness. The only thing I can imagine it being really good for would be spying, but that's only if you know exactly where creatures are going to be and can position yourself before they get there.

I've always wanted to use this ability on a Hunter ranger (for Volley), plus three levels of Assassins, to terrorize orcs.

Realistically though, you're right, it would be hard to use right at a typical D&D table. At least you can use it while concentrating on Conjure Animals, so you can send your giant spiders ahead to look for prey while you stay behind ready to ambush anything that follows them.

"Surprise is what happens when something you saw all along turns out to be not what you thought." That's how you win deadly battles, and how you maximize your wins after a battle by picking off all the stragglers: offer the enemy an easy target that he will deploy enough forces against to ensure a kill, and then mousetrap his forces with your own actually-larger force so that none of his guys escape. In that scenario, a high Stealth bonus is great--but D&D is calibrated by default so that those kinds of battles don't happen.

I dunno, man. It's a great ability on paper, and I think it would be fun in a solo campaign--but probably not much fun in a regular party-based campaign.

 

[Ashrym]

Don't forget that the mass combat rules from UA established that unit stands run off of one minute turns. I don't recall if that was updated, but it worked well for rangers as military scouts.