Query: Implications of Stealth for Flavour

[Aethereal]

Greetings all,

I play a character who I usually have walk around in stealth mode, as a representation of his general mindset, preternatural grace, and the spiritual attunement of an elf in Mourning (the idea of fading away, becoming attuned to whatever environment he walks in to the degree that he becomes indistinguishable from it).

My question is, does this sound well and good to you and is a cool way to represent what I have in mind? The reason I ask is because it seems the stealth mechanic even with limited to no investment in it could cause issues to some players, as it might seem the character is about to transition, or make him harder to spot. (The harder to spot idea is completely in line with my intent, though.)

So, thoughts?

Hmm, I'll give you a poll as well. Enjoy!

[petey512]

It doesn't really bother me. Not sure why it'd bother anyone else. You nerds.

[Stranger]

I always viewed city stealth as blending in with a crowd.

[Aethereal]

Poll question is:

[SIZE="3"]What do you think of using stealth mode to represent the state of Mourning/naturally blending with the environment?[/SIZE]

[petey512]

aw crap now I have to change my vote.

[Moonlighter]

It's cool with me. I walk around in stealth on my monk all the time, as did I with my Rogue. Not super necessary to justify, but a cool interpretation.

[Paha]

You can play it as you want, but people still may spot / see you stealthing and to them it is what ever they interpret it to be.

[Dillusionist]

If you use stealth with no ranks in stealth chances are you'll probably be seen/heard anyway (and you won't have to shift-click to walk as an elf.)  I suppose if you do evade detection by some miracle you'll come off as some kind of creepy wallflower - which is I guess what mourning elves are. So I think its a cool idea.

I suppose the question is when you're in stealth mode is your PC making a visible effort to be sneaky, and if so can other people tell? (EDIT: Nevermind. DM addressed this!)

[Aethereal]

I usually do emote that he moves with quiet steps, or his motions are fluid and graceful, fading in with the surrounds and such.

And when he's intending to purposefully make himself apparent, the opposite can be expected, with him taking a more distinct pose and gestures.

Good feedback and input so far, thanks all. This is just what I was looking for.

[Dredi]

IN my personal opinion stealth mode is an intentional usage to represent trying to remain hidden, so personally I would be against it, but I would not really complain about its usage

[Witchcraft]

I'm kind of against it. I mean, do what you like, but it's annoying to try to role-play with people who vanish and can't be heard half the time they walk past an occlusion.

I also think this is a good opportunity to remind elf players that "Walk" and "Run" can be mapped separately in NWN, so it is possible to use WASD to walk without entering stealth mode. On my keyboard, I have W mapped to "Run," S mapped to "Walk," and X is mapped to reverse. That configuration made it much less annoying for me to play an elf, and it's become my default layout no matter what race I'm playing.

[Dredi]

There is of course the alternative of holding Shift down when you click to move to activate it, but, yes,WSAD'ing can be a pain