I’ve asked a lot of people about this and the responses have been mixed.
Should people be allowed to enter actual real stealth during RP battles and disappear entirely or should rogues/assassins mainly rely on dirty tactics such as smokebombs, ambushes, distractions, and incapacitations?
Yes it’s real. I can do it irl as well.
I’ve seen it three ways:
It’s probably some kind of magic. I dunno what nonsense that undead rogue in the Thrall and Saurfang cinematic pulled, but it was definitely magical in nature.
I circumvent this by applying my rule set on a case-by-case basis. Which was substituted due to lingering problems with people and stealthers.
If so, i’ll take it IC and allow whatever secrets be divulged, etc, be brought to light by them.
But if they’re just some random that’s following me and a friend and eavesdropping while sitting in a corner? No thank you.
The Forsaken rogues use it in this cinematic:
So I take it as canon, to be honest.
I presume though, for it to be done so absolutely, it’s either magic or some sort of gadget/potion that causes it. Depends on the race honestly.
That said my only rogue is Outlaw spec and cannot ICly stealth.
Depends on the rogue and the rp I suppose, but yeah it’s a thing.
Canonically it is magical in nature. You are cloaking somehow, be it shadow magic or some sort of illusion. That means, however, that those who can see magic, be they mages with such spells cast or demon hunters with their Spectral Sight, can see you, and it does nothing to mask smells, so a worgen or a particularly perceptive orc might be able to smell you.
It can be and in most cases is some sort of shadow magic, but some examples of stealth even in-game are presented as just being good at hiding/making as little noise as possible, as Liotuse said earlier.
Well, it’s in the game, isn’t it? Why wouldn’t you be able to take it IC?
Because of that one cinematic with Thrall and Saurfang, we can reasonably assume that stealth literally exists and it functions as some form of minor invisibility.
That sort of plays into the class idea that rogues are sort of minorly magic, though, which is not something that necessarily fits every character. So, ultimately, the most reasonable answer is “do whichever works for you and your RP group agrees upon.”
Which is sort of a cop out, but y’know, it is what it is.
I let my characters stealth IC typically through magic if their class allows it. Like this beautiful rogue, my mage on occasion, and if I acutalky played them, druid and hunter.
I have struggled with stealth in RP in the past but it’s important to remember that your compatriots can shoot fireballs from their fingers, raise the dead and deploy mind control so it’s really not so bad to reason a way to disappear a little.
For Var, I tend towards an advanced Shadowmeld with shade being a factor and more smoke bombs and the like. Ymmv tho.
With Crimson Vial being a thing, I reckon any rogue not comfortable with being magical could argue that similarly they just keep a suite of minor invisibility potions on them. All part of the assassin, thief, or duelist’s toolset!
The Deathstalkers were trained by Varimathras. But they also do things like pretend to be corpses on the battlefield to get dragged closer to camps without being detected. It’s a combination of clever espionage and shadow magic.
the several occasions where an invisibility spell or shroud of shadows is thrown over us and only magic detecting npcs or hounds are able to spot us
kinda makes me feel like denying it exists is… very wrong?
It depends on the character. If they actually use Shadow magic, then I take it as them concealing themself from plain sight. If they don’t, then it’s more them being sneaky and using smoke bombs if they vanish.
For Rogues, it varies case to case. A lot of talents in various Rogue Trees make allusions to them utilizing magic.
For folks like me with Camouflage, I see it more as a gill suit. I disengage and drop prone.
Everyone talking about Saurfang and Thrall but forgetting about Draka smh
I think it’s kind of up to the player, and it depends on the NPC.
For example, if you tame a cat as a hunter, it comes with stealth. I think it’s safe to assume this is implied to be a cat’s natural stealthiness and not a wild animal casting an invisibility spell on itself. Mechanically it works the same as a rogue’s stealth though. So while cinematic show rogues magically stealthing, the ssame effect is also clearly used as a gameplay mechanic in other cases.
What would be the advantage of a druid shape shifting into a cat in order to stealth when it’s just a spell he casts anyways? If it were not just sneaking around, surely he could cast stealth in humanoid form or even bear form.
I feel like it depends on the character. Some quietly hide behind cover, some twist a bit or shadow magic over themselves, some use potions or wacky gadgets or the McGuffin of the week.
There are several examples of all these options in the game already. Since I haven’t seen it mentioned yet, Lorath says somewhere in A Good War that he uses a bit of shadow magic for his stealth. (I think he also says that most of the effect is also from being actually sneaky, too, so that example shows off a lot of rogue options.)