STEALTH
Description: This is the ability to avoid being detected, whether you’re hiding or moving at the time. Stealth is often tested against someone else’s Perception + Alertness. This ability is, for obvious reasons, highly useful in stalking prey. In many cases, Stealth is also used to conceal items, whether on one’s person or somewhere in the environment.
Allowed Specialties: Camouflage, Misdirection, Rural, Urban
Rules: There are many occasions in the World of Darkness to roll Stealth. The Rural and Urban simply specialties reflect a particular talent for either quietly finding your way through the city streets or the wilderness. Additionally, without one of these specialties, your Stealth will typically be capped by your Streetwise in an urban environment and capped by your Survival in a rural environment. This is always up to the Storyteller whether to enforce: In very narratively appropriate or uncertain circumstances, such as a pitch black room or a city park, the player should be allowed to roll their entire Stealth, regardless.
- Sneaking: A sneaking character uses Dexterity + Stealth as a resisted action against Perception + Alertness rolls from anyone able to detect her passing. The difficulty of both rolls is typically 6 (e.g., a city street), though may be subject to circumstantial modifiers as common sense dictates (it is easier to avoid detection in a dark forest during a rain storm than a well lit parlor after brunch). Unless the observer scores more successes than the sneaking character does, she passes undetected. Certain security devices, scanners or superior vantage points may add dice to the opposing Perception + Alertness rolls, and both rolls may be grossly affected by various supernatural powers.
- Shadowing: Stalking someone requires that your character keep tabs on the target without necessarily catching her – and without being noticed in the process. At the Storyteller’s discretion, or if the target suspects she’s being pursued, the target’s player can roll Perception + Alertness whenever she has a chance to spot her tail (usually determined by the ST). The pursuer’s player opposes this with a Dexterity + Stealth roll (or Dexterity + the lowest of your Stealth or Drive, if the shadower is in a vehicle).
- Shadowing differs from normal sneaking and hiding in two key ways: The first is that both the shadower and the target’s Stealth and Alertness ratings are capped to no higher than their Streetwise or Survival, depending on whether they’re in a rural or urban setting. Secondly, teams of shadowers who have trained together, such as a gang of pickpockets or pack of wolves can combine their separate rolls into one success total. This is an excellent way to keep tabs on even the most suspicious quarry – although if even one participant botches their roll, the jig will immediately be up for the whole crew.
- Shadowing differs from normal sneaking and hiding in two key ways: The first is that both the shadower and the target’s Stealth and Alertness ratings are capped to no higher than their Streetwise or Survival, depending on whether they’re in a rural or urban setting. Secondly, teams of shadowers who have trained together, such as a gang of pickpockets or pack of wolves can combine their separate rolls into one success total. This is an excellent way to keep tabs on even the most suspicious quarry – although if even one participant botches their roll, the jig will immediately be up for the whole crew.
- The Camouflage specialty allows a character to roll their Stealth pool to conceal another object, such as a body, a booby trap or a vehicle beneath camo-netting, in order to avoid detection.
- The Misdirection specialty represents the fine art of distracting folks from what you’re actually trying to do. It is an essential skill for magicians, pickpockets, spies anyone else who prefers to redirect attention (or slip something into a drink), and can be used to represent a talent for sleight of hand.
- Additionally, instead of attempting a normal surprise attack, a character with this specialty can roll Manipulation + Stealth (difficulty 5 + the target’s Wits) when winning Initiative and initiating combat during the same round. Every success lowers the difficulty of your next strike.