How should hide work?

[Beethoven]

I don't think this is really feasible because it would mean an overhaul of the entire hide/sneak system, but this is my convoluted, complicated idea about how I think hide should work if we could just wave a magick wand and make it so. I think hide is super gamey. This is pretty awkwardly drafted, but hopefully it makes sense.

---
Sneaky person's side:

hide (master)

>hide [Hide is now a status. It is considered 'on' whether or not you are successfully hiding. The hide status means only that you are attempting to hide.]

You search for a place to hide...
You find a hiding place.

>draw sword
You draw an obsidian longsword.
Your unsubtle action calls attention to your hiding place. [Anyone present will immediately see you.]

Searching person's side:

The sneaky man draws an obsidian longsword.
The sneaky man's unsubtle action draws attention to his hiding place!

>l

The sneaky man is standing here - he is attempting to hide.

The unaware woman has arrived from the north. [She doesn't see the sneaky man because he didn't fail his check in front of her]

>point sneaky unaware [or room]

You point out the sneaky man's hiding place to the unaware woman. [Now the unaware woman will see the sneaky man.]

-----

Sneaky person's side:

hide (apprentice)

>hide

You search for a place to hide... [this has a chance of echoing to room upon failure]
You can't manage to find a good hiding place. [fail]

You search for a place to hide...
You find a hiding place. [critical fail]

Searching person's side:

>n

The sneaky man is standing here - he is attempting to hide. [his failure makes him visible to everyone, and people can also tell he was trying to hide, but codedly he is still attempting, so he may find a better hiding place in the next room when sneaking in a direction]

-----

Sneaky person's side:

hide (master)

>hide

You search for a place to hide...
You find a hiding place.

>sneak

You slow down and start moving carefully.

>n

You quietly slip from one hiding place to another. [success]

------

Sneaky person's side:

hide (journeyman)
sneak (apprentice)

>hide

You search for a place to hide...
You find a hiding place. [success]

>sneak

You slow down and start moving carefully.

>n [sneak and hide check]

You can't manage to find a new hiding place. [fail]

>hide

You search for a place to hide...
You find a hiding place. [success]

>s

You slip from one hiding place to another. [critical fail, others can see him and see that he is trying to hide, but he is still codedly attempting to hide and may succeed upon moving to another room.]

-------

Searching person

scan (journeyman)

>scan [works more like hunt]

You begin searching the area... [Others see an echo similar to this. There is a significant delay to prevent spamming this command and to allow sneakies to try to get away during a search]

- Possible results:

You don't think anyone is trying to hide here. [Either there is no one here or you rolled too low.]
You think there might be someone trying to hide here, but you can't figure out where. [You rolled slightly too low. You have to scan again, giving them another opportunity to escape. An occasional false positive might be encountered.]
Searching the area, you manage to find the sneaky man's hiding place! [The sneaky man is revealed to you, and you can then point him out to anyone else present]
Searching the area, you manage to uncover some hiding places! [You discovered multiple sneakies and must 'look' to see who they are.]

[Case]

I do agree at least that scan should not be an always on thing, or that scanning PCs should be visible somehow (like watching ones can be detected).

I also think sunslits need to weaken scan to help boost wilderness hide and stop sunslits being an always on.

[nauta]

I also think sunslits need to weaken scan to help boost wilderness hide and stop sunslits being an always on.

If sunslits are on in an indoors room, you should tag the PC with the drunk code.

Code Select Expand


Struggling with a pair of grey bone sunslits over your eyes, you carefully walk east.
You attempt to walk, but trip and fall on your face.


[Beethoven]

Sorry for all the incomprehensible text, but I guess my point is that my biggest problem with hide is that once you do something to break hide, or fail a hide or sneak check or whatever, you are no longer even attempting to hide, and it's a very real possibility that you don't even know it.

[nauta]

Sorry for all the incomprehensible text, but I guess my point is that my biggest problem with hide is that once you do something to break hide, or fail a hide or sneak check or whatever, you are no longer even attempting to hide, and it's a very real possibility that you don't even know it.

Or the other way around: You might be attempting to hide and not know it.  (It used to be the case that you would remain hidden even after you fell from a rooftop and passed out.)

[Beethoven]

Sorry for all the incomprehensible text, but I guess my point is that my biggest problem with hide is that once you do something to break hide, or fail a hide or sneak check or whatever, you are no longer even attempting to hide, and it's a very real possibility that you don't even know it.

Or the other way around: You might be attempting to hide and not know it.  (It used to be the case that you would remain hidden even after you fell from a rooftop and passed out.)

Yes, that too.

[Molten Heart]

.