[RPG] Can a lightfoot halfling use the ability to hide behind a larger creature while otherwise being observed

dnd-5ehalflingracial-traitsstealth

Lightfoot halflings have the Naturally Stealthy trait:

You can attempt to hide even when you are obscured only by a creature that is at least one size larger than you.

Can a lightfoot halfling use this trait to hide behind a larger creature while otherwise being observed? Or does the general restriction against hiding while being observed preclude the lightfoot halfling's ability to hide behind a larger creature?

Must the halfling be unobserved before moving behind a larger creature, or does moving behind the larger creature now meet the "unobserved" requirement?

Best Answer

Yes, they can.

In 5e, any character is able to Hide as soon as they move into an 'obscured' area - even if they were observed during the movement on the way to that area. The only bit that matters is that they end their movement with something substantial breaking line of sight between them and the observer, and have enough remaining actions to Hide.

In the case of the Lightfoot Halfing, they are allowed to treat a space behind a larger creature as 'obscured', hence can move behind such a creature and Hide even if they were observed before / during that action. The only caveat would be that the larger creature must be blocking line of sight to the observer(s) at the time that the Hide action was taken.