Hide (Dex) Armor Penalty

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**Check:** A character’s Hide check is opposed by the Spot check of anyone who might see the character. The character can move up to half his or her normal speed and hide at no penalty. At more than half and up to the character’s full speed, the character takes a –5 penalty. It’s practically impossible (–20 penalty) to hide while attacking, running, or charging. The hide check is also modified by the character’s size:

If people are observing the character, even casually, he or she can’t hide. The character can run around a corner so that he or she is out of sight and then hide, but the others then know at least where the character went. Cover and concealment grant circumstance bonuses to Hide checks, as shown below. Note that a character can’t hide if he or she has less than one-half cover or concealment.

 Nine-tenths

**Creating a Diversion to Hide:** A character can use the Bluff skill to help him or her hide. A successful Bluff check can give the character the momentary diversion needed to attempt a Hide check while people are aware of the character. While the others turn their attention from the character, he or she can make a Hide check if the character can get to a hiding place of some kind. (As a general guideline, the hiding place has to be within 1 foot for every rank the character has in Hide.) This check, however, is at a –10 penalty because the character has to move fast.

**Tailing:** A character can use Hide to tail a person in public. Using the skill in this manner assumes that there are other random people about, among whom the character can mingle to remain unnoticed. If the subject is worried about being followed, he or she can make a Spot check (opposed by the character’s Hide check) every time he or she changes course (goes around a street corner, exits a building, and so on). If he or she is unsuspecting, he or she generally gets only a Spot check after an hour of tailing.

**Blend into a Crowd:** You can use the Hide skill to blend into a crowd, but doing so conceals you only from someone scanning the area to ﬁnd you. You remain visible to everyone around you, and if they happen to be hostile they’re likely to point you out.

**Move between Cover:** If you’re already hiding (thanks to cover or concealment) and you have at least 5 ranks in Hide, you can make a Hide check (with a penalty) to try to move across an area that does not offer cover or concealment without revealing yourself. For every 5 ranks in Hide you possess, you can move up to 1 meter between one hiding place and another. For every 1 meter of open space you must cross between hiding places, you take a –5 penalty on your Hide check. If you move at more than one-half your speed, you also take the normal penalty on Hide checks when moving quickly (–10 for moving faster than normal speed, or –5 for moving between half speed and normal speed). You can also use this option to sneak up on someone from a hiding place. For every 1 meter of open space between you and the target, you take a –5 penalty on your Hide check. If your Hide check succeeds, your target doesn’t notice you until you attack or make some other attention-grabbing action. Such a target is treated as being ﬂat-footed with respect to you.

**Tail Someone:** You can try to follow someone while remaining unseen. If you stay at least 20 meters away from your quarry, you must succeed on a Hide check (opposed by your quarry’s Spot check) once every 10 minutes. At a distance of less than 20 meters, you must make a Hide check each round. Extraordinary actions on your part (such as spellcasting or attacking) may disrupt this attempt even if you do not fail a check. Tailing someone still requires cover or concealment, as normal for attempting a Hide check. A moderately crowded street provides sufficient cover and concealment to accomplish this goal. Alternatively, you can duck between areas of cover or concealment, as described in Move between Cover (see above). Even if you fail a Hide check while tailing someone or you are spotted while moving too great a distance between hiding places, you can attempt a Bluff check opposed by your quarry’s Sense Motive check to look innocuous. Success means your quarry sees you but doesn’t realize you’re tailing him; failure alerts him that you’re actually following. A modifier may apply to the Sense Motive check, depending on how suspicious your quarry is. The table below provides Sense Motive modiﬁers for particular situations. Sense Motive Your Quarry TN Modifier Is sure nobody is following –5 Has no reason to suspect anybody is following +0 Is worried about being followed +10 Is worried about being followed and knows you’re an enemy +20

**Special:** A character can take 10 when making a Hide check, but can’t take 20. A character with the Stealthy feat gets a +2 bonus on all Hide checks.

**Time:** A Hide check is an attack action.