D&D 5E The ROGUE can move to behind a 3/4 cover and hide? With Disadvantage? And half cover, can it? Or only full cover?

[maritimo80]

The ROGUE can move to behind a 3/4 cover and hide? With Disadvantage? And half cover, can it? Or only full cover?

 

[Dausuul]

The ROGUE can move to behind a 3/4 cover and hide? With Disadvantage? And half cover, can it? Or only full cover?

Full concealment is required. You must be unseen to use Stealth, unless you have a special ability that says otherwise.

 

[Umbran]

Full concealment is required. You must be unseen to use Stealth, unless you have a special ability that says otherwise.

Note that the word "concealment" does not appear in the Basic rules. So, "full concealment" is not an unambiguous term in the context of 5e rules, especially to someone for whom English may not be their first language.

The hiding rules state:

Hiding
When you try to hide, make a Dexterity (Stealth) check. Until you are discovered or you stop hiding, that check’s total is contested by the Wisdom (Perception) check of any creature that actively searches for signs of your presence.

You can’t hide from a creature that can see you, and if you make noise (such as shouting a warning or knocking over a vase), you give away your position. An invisible creature can’t be seen, so it can always try to hide. Signs of its passage might still be noticed, however, and it still has to stay quiet.

In combat, most creatures stay alert for signs of danger all around, so if you come out of hiding and approach a creature, it usually sees you. However, under certain circumstances, the Dungeon Master might allow you to stay hidden as you approach a creature that is distracted, allowing you to gain advantage on an attack before you are seen.

So, there is a certain amount of GM adjudication involved. When a creature "can see you" is not clear (and, I'd argue, intentionally so). There is not flat, "You can hide in circumstance X, Y, and Z, clearly set out for us.

Broadly, if you are in line of sight, you cannot hide. If you have half cover, that means half of you *isn't* under cover, and that half of you can probably be seen. If you shoot someone with an arrow from behind a crate, for example, unless there's something else going on, the target will turn to look where you are - and you're sticking out there, easily seen. If that crate is all on it's own, he's going to know where you are, and probably be looking directly at you when you pop up again... ready to chop your head off. Or, he'll simply move to he can see behind the crate...

I don't think the hiding rules were made up so that a character can hide, attack from being hidden, hide again, and attack again, forever. That repeated tactic needs some setup, or special circumstances or layout, for the target to not be able to tell where you are and deal with you.

 

[Dausuul]

Note that the word "concealment" does not appear in the Basic rules. So, "full concealment" is not an unambiguous term in the context of 5e rules, especially to someone for whom English may not be their first language.

Yeah, the wording in the rules is "can't see you," but since Maritimo80 was asking in terms of concealment, I answered using that terminology. Besides, the word choices in the Stealth rules are confusing even for native English speakers. In this context I think "full concealment" answers the question better than directly quoting the rules.