Some armor types (scale, chain, splint, plate) confer a disadvantage to stealth actions in 5e. How does this interact with the Naturally Stealthy racial feature of Lightfoot Halflings? Does it penalize them as it would if the racial feature wasn't present?
[RPG] Lightfoot Halflings — is their natural stealth penalized by armors that normally confer a disadvantage to stealth
dnd-5e
Related Solutions
It seems the problem you're trying to solve, is how to get consistent Advantage on attacks, without provoking opportunity attacks. This depends on a number of things.
What is the boss's reach? If the boss's reach is longer than 5 ft, then you will not provoke an opportunity attack to move behind your Dragonborn friend, if he is within 5 ft of the boss.
Must you use melee attacks? Using ranged weapons in a different location would be much safer, keeping you farther from the Boss, protecting you from Area of Effect spells or abilities, and giving you Advantage consistently without having to worry about disengaging.
You're also making a few assumptions:
- Hiding means you are completely undetectable. This is false. He can't currently see you, and you have advantage to hit the boss, but for an intelligent creature, it's pretty obvious you're behind the Dragonborn somewhere, and he can still move around your friend to spot you. Additionally, barring the Skulker feat, attacking will reveal you. Also, simply stepping out from behind the Dragonborn will reveal you if the Boss is looking in your direction. (Also note there are no facing rules in fifth edition by default, so this is subject to GM rulings) Note this makes hiding in melee rather impractical without specialized abilities.
- Nimbleness means you can stand in another creature's space. You may pass through another creature's space, but you may never end your turn in another creature's space, unless they are multiple size categories larger than you.
As it stands, the Rogue does not have enough actions to Disengage, Hide, AND Attack in one turn, so he would either provoke an opportunity attack, or not be able to attack. The alternative that would allow Advantage attacks every turn, is to use a ranged weapon, and hide at a distance.
Note, if all you're concerned with is getting your sneak attack bonus, all that is required is either having advantage or an allied creature is within 5 ft of your target. Keep in mind that applies to ranged or melee attacks: so as long as the Dragonborn is next to the boss, the Rogue will still get sneak attack against it.
Unseen Attackers and Targets (Fifth Edition SRD)
Combatants often try to escape their foes’ notice by hiding, casting the invisibility spell, or lurking in darkness.
When you attack a target that you can’t see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. This is true whether you’re guessing the target’s location or you’re targeting a creature you can hear but not see. If the target isn’t in the location you targeted, you automatically miss, but the GM typically just says that the attack missed, not whether you guessed the target’s location correctly.
When a creature can’t see you, you have advantage on attack rolls against it. If you are hidden—both unseen and unheard—when you make an attack, you give away your location when the attack hits or misses.
RAW: Somewhere between levels 5 and 11
Six levels is a lot of variance, so let's see what we can discern. Looking over the expected results from the treasure tables in chapter 7 of the dmg and the "starting gear" table for adventures not starting at level one, a character (or party, depending on loot-sharing) should be able to obtain plate mail by around level 7; A level 5 party may be able to afford this by pooling their resources.
The tables are all somewhat imprecise, but we know that at level 5, you start with about 600GP and at level 11, you start with about 5600GP. Note that ~600GP is consistent with expected loot from CR-appropriate monsters during levels 1-4.
IF we assume that the scaling is actually linear and not tiered (meaning that a smooth-ish line can be drawn from each level's expected loot, rather than a 5th level character having 500 more gp than a 4th level character) and we use the two points mentioned above (level 5 with 600 gp and level 11 with 5600 gp), then we can find a distribution. (though, if such a graph were to exist, it would probably not be linear, but I digress)
5000GP over 6 levels is ~850 gp per level.
That gives us:
level 5 with 600GP
level 6 with 1450GP (just shy of full plate)
level 7 with 2300GP
level 8 with 3150GP
level 9 with 4000GP
level 10 with 4850GP
level 11 with 5700GP (close enough)
from which we can derive.....
Best Answer
Not exactly.
These are two separate and distinct mechanics.
The first is the lightfoot halfling racial trait, this provides them with the ability to hide behind creatures that are larger than them (like their buddies).
The second mechanic is the armor rules.
This only provides disadvantage on Dexterity (stealth) checks.
So a lightfoot halfling in specific armors can attempt to hide behind their allies, but is at disadvantage on the stealth check to do so.