Some questions answered about stealth

[machmoth]

Detect/Stealth has always been a bit of a mystery to us.  Finally, someone went into the code over at Bioware, and told us what it is they did.  I reproduce for you to do with what you wish:

Ok, I got a PM from fuzzy_shortyking about this, so I thought I'd scour the old BioWare programmer list for people who'd worked on NWN. After three or four attempts, I managed to snag the inimitable Brenon "Kilimanjaro" Holmes, who was able to give me the low-down on Detect Mode and all of its secret, inner workings. We tried to involve Craig "Uncanny Frankie Valli" Welburn in the conversation, but the network gods we worship were not appeased by our offering of stale Doritos and croissants. Here's the breakdown I received from Mr. Holmes, which is probably about as "official" as any info gets. He went through old NWN code and everything!

Passive (default) mode
Trap detection radius: 5ft
Trap detection rate: 6 seconds (every round)
Trap detection roll: d20
Spot/Listen roll: d10

Active (Detect) mode
Trap detection radius: 10ft
Trap detection rate: 3 seconds (twice per round)
Trap detection roll: d20
Spot/Listen roll: d20

Stealth checks
Player detects stealth: 5 times per second
Player rolls for hide/move silently/spot/listen: 6 seconds
NPC detects stealth: 4 seconds
NPC rolls for hide/move silently/spot/listen: 6 seconds

Hopefully, that will clear something up. I'm still confused.

Most of it seems pretty obvious, but yes, it seems when you're not in detect mode, you roll a d10 for your spot/listen checks, and not a d20.  Secondly, no wonder I always trip the traps when not in detect mode.  I can cover more than 5 feet in 6 seconds.

[Tails1879_]

Yeah, when a non-elf is not in Detect Mode, I believe the spot/listen checks are cut in half.

d10 would just make it easier than d20 / 2 (and more accurate).

Stealth checks
Player detects stealth: 5 times per second

A little clarification, maybes?

[Oscer the Rogue]

Been a rule for a while.. at least in pnp. Those not actively looking, listening or the like take a -10, save elves and a few rare subraces who're always on the watch.  

But ehr.. that jumbled mess is a bit.. off

[machmoth]

Stealth checks
Player detects stealth: 5 times per second

A little clarification, maybes?

I'm going to take a stab, and guess that it checks if your roll is better 5 times per second, but only rolls every 6 seconds (round).  

Example, two rogues in stealth mode, one an elf (and thus in detect mode).  The end of the round hits, and each makes a Hide, Move Silent, Spot, Listen, and Search roll, and those numbers are stored on their individual persons.  A second later, they step within range of each other.  It only takes another 1/5 of a second before it checks and realizes their scores need comparing.  The game compares each one's Hide to the other's Spot and Move Silent to their Listen.  The non-elf's Spot/Listen numbers are probably lower, as they weren't in detect mode, and only got to roll a d10.  Though the game will compare their scores another 24 times this round, it doesn't matter, because they have the same stealth/detect rolls stored on them, and the result will stay the same.

A couple seconds later, the elf's Search check gets rerolled, and that score replaces his old stored number (more frequent number changes = better chance for good roll).  3 more seconds, and both parties have all of their numbers rerolled and stored.

Monsters check much less frequently, for CPU purposes, and so I would say in theory that you could sneak up on even the most observant monster, and nail them, if you could do it within that 4 second gap.  However, I know the monster AI tends to ignore its hardcoded perception, and checks its spot/listen when you step into its perception range.

That's just my wild guess at what that all means.

So, like we all suspected, it's really rather impossible to stand behind a tree and spy on anyone for more than a couple minutes unless your stealth rating is so high that they could never succeed.