(Please feel free to rephrase the title to be more fitting if need be)
Since the Unearthed Arcana re-balancing and revision of the Ranger, I have decided to play test a Hunter Conclave Ranger. We are starting at level 10 which gives me access to quite a few abilities. After a deep breakdown of this class, it seems to be heavily Stealth/Tracking oriented.
What I would like is an explanation of the mechanics surrounding making a Stealth check to Hide from enemies, and how those mechanics work with the following traits, feats, and abilities:
- Revised Hide in Plain Sight
- Revised Vanish
- Sneak Attack
- Skulker
- Mask of the Wild
From what I have read in UA, Mask of the Wild is specific to natural causes while Skulker is any light concealment. As long as I am lightly obscured or more, up to being completely Concealed by Cover, I can attempt to Hide. Vanish lets me do so as a bonus action, and Hide in Plain Sight allows me to Hide even better as long as I do not move (giving a -10 penalty to locate me with Perception checks). Putting all of these together, I would say I'm using a bonus action to Hide — which then lets me roll Stealth giving me a certain number that is contested by Perception. If I then make a ranged attack while Hidden (which also means I am 'unseen'?) then I get advantage on the attack, granting me sneak attack.
Best Answer
Your hypothesis is mostly correct.
Hide in Plain Sight allows you to impose a -10 penalty to any roll made to detect you if you are successful in using the Hide action, as long as you remain motionless.
Vanish allows you to take the Hide action as a bonus action.
The Wood Elf racial trait Mask of the Wild allows you to take the Hide action even when only lightly obscured by natural phenomena.
Skulker allows you to take the Hide action when you are lightly obscured universally, so Mask of the Wild would become redundant, missing a ranged attack would not reveal your position and dim light would impose no disadvantage on your Wisdom (Perception).
I assume that the Sneak Attack comes from a multiclass into a Rogue.
Thus, you are mostly correct in your hypothesis: given your scenario, you may use your bonus action to take the Hide action. If you have remained motionless on that turn and further elect to not move for the rest of the turn, any creature attempting to detect you will have a -10 penalty imposed to its roll. RAI (rules as intended) I assume that bringing an arrow to bear violates being motionless. You may then make a ranged attack which will not reveal your position to the creature(s) you are attacking and/or hidden from, and if the creature(s) cannot see you due to you succeeding on being hidden from them (a successful Hide action), you will trigger the Rogue feature Sneak Attack due to having advantage on the attack. Once again, the -10 penalty to detect you is lost the moment you aim the bow and draw the arrow back.