Stealth

One of the biggest issues with stealth in tabletop games such as D&D or PTU is its binary state: Often, you roll some kind of sneaking skill versus a target's awareness skill and you either are spotted or are not. While it gets the job done, it gives the majority of control to the DM, usually leading to an exercise where the player has to "guess" what the DM's stealth parameters are, which naturally differ from table to table. It also fails to represent real-life or genre-appropriate stealth, in that a single point of failure usually results in combat music starting. Scenarios such as "a guard can hear you but not see you" are usually relegated to roleplaying rather than a objective, cohesive system.

The system below is intended to take a "system" that does not work and replace it with one that does.

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The first thing to be changed is the stealth paradigm itself - Stealth is no longer that someone knows you are there and is trying to find you, but instead stealth is what YOU do to prevent others from finding out you are there until they do. The basic idea is that you roll the Stealth skill, your opponents roll the Perception skill, and you choose to perform actions that give the opponent increasing bonuses until their Perception exceeds your Stealth. The "stealther" (the person initiating stealth) never knows the Perception result of the person they are performing actions against.

Every action you take could result in being caught, but managing your risk can result in skillfully sneaking up behind an enemy before taking them out, or simply avoiding them altogether.

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Range

For the purposes of Stealth, there are five ranges: Adjacent, Tight, Middle, Far, and Outside Far. These ranges are defined in the Range table below.
NOTE: If no path around exists, 2 meter thick Blocking Terrain that cannot be seen through adds one Range to any detector, with additional 2 meter thick Blocking Terrain (whether separate or contiguous) adding another range category. If a path around does exist, that path adds to the distance. This means that a PC sneaking on the other side of a 6 meter thick stone wall would count as being in the Outside Far range instead of Tight range.

Beginning Stealth

When you want to approach and do something without people noticing you, declare that you are begin acting stealthily and roll a Stealth Check. Your roll and any bonuses to Stealth result in your "Stealth Value". A specific stealth session ends either when the PC stops trying to be stealthy (such as using Extended Actions, attacking/using Combat Maneuvers, or recalling/releasing a Pokemon) or when enemies start yelling about their presence and the combat music starts.
Enemies, based on the current circumstances, should roll and have a "Perception Value" which is the result of a Perception Check, before any circumstantial modifiers based on the creature they are trying to detect. Circumstantial modifiers based on the creature making a Perception Check still apply as detailed below. This Perception Value is further modified each round based on which, if any of the stealthing creatures have circumstantial modifiers with respect to the creature, creating a separate detection value for each creature using stealth. Modifiers are presented in groups, in all cases, only the largest absolute value bonus of that group applies.

Stealth Ranges

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Stealth Range	Distance
Adjacent	1 meter or less
Tight	1-12 meters
Middle	12-60 meters
Far	60-240 meters
Outside Far	240+ meters

If, at the onset of stealth, the PCs are Outside Far Range with respect to any detectors, then they are automatically not detected. If on the other hand, they are Far Range or closer, check to see if the Perception Value exceeds the Stealth Value, if it does so, they are detected. If they are detected, then provide the detecting enemies with a surprise round, and proceed to "In Conflict Uncertainty."

Circumstantial Modifiers

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Modifiers to Perception Value based on the spotting creature.	Modifiers to Perception Value based on the stealthing creature.
-3 if detector is focused on another subject.	+0 Within Far Range
-6 if detector is concentrating on another task or a minor Illusion.	+1 Within Middle Range
-10 if detector is asleep or otherwise in a state of extreme nonsensory perception or concentrating on a major Illusion.	+3 Within Tight Range
+3 if the detector has the Tracker capability.	+5 Within Adjacent Range
+6 if the detector has the Aura Reader capability.	-2 for every size category the stealther is smaller than than the detector.
+9 if the detector has the Blindsense capability.	+2 for every size category the stealther is larger than the detector.
Detectors with Tremorsense automatically detect anyone within 5 meters of them who is touching the ground.	-5 if the stealther has a minor impediment to a primary sense of the enemy, such as being behind Rough Terrain, using the Blender/Stealth capabilities, sneaking through fog, being on the ceiling above them, etc.
Detectors with X-Ray Vision negate up to 6 meters of Blocking Terrain depending on the material.	-10 if the stealther has major impediment to a primary sense of the enemy, such as using the Dead Silent or Invisibility capabilities
Detectors with Lifesense automatically detect any non-Ghost-type creatures within X meters of them, where X is the level of the creature.

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Stealth Actions

The list of actions that can be taken from stealth is below. There is no possibility to pass time without taking actions, if the stealther wishes to wait, then they must choose the waiting action for the appropriate time period listed below. When a stealther chooses to perform an action from below, the associated bonus is provided to all detectors within at least Far range until they leave Far range for that detectors Perception Value against them. Successive actions provide cumulative bonuses that stack with each other without end.

• If after resolving any non attack action, the Perception Value of an detector would exceed the Stealth Value of the corresponding stealther, then the detector may take a Standard Action as a surprise action, at any point before or during that action. After that, you should probably asking for Initiative.
• If after resolving an attack action but before resolving the attack, the Perception Value of a detector would exceed the Stealth Value of the corresponding stealther, you should ask for Initiative.
• If after resolving an attack action and the attack, the Perception Value of a detector would exceed the Stealth Value of the corresponding stealther, you should resolve the action, the attack, and then ask for Initiative.

Bonuses Accrued to Detector for Actions Taken By Stealther:

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Bonus	Action
+0	Moving
+1	1 Minute of waiting
+3	10 Minutes of waiting
+6	1 Hour of waiting
+10	8 Hours of waiting
+15	1 Day of Waiting
+21	1 Week of Waiting
+2	Whispering to a creature within 2 meters (Bonus only applies to creatures in Tight range)
+5	Moving an object in the detector's zone that predated your arrival
+10	Significantly effecting the environment in a highly noticeable manner for the detector (Such as finding a blood splatter or a new hole in the wall)
+2	Making an attack action
+15	Detector is the subject of an attack roll and survives.

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In Conflict Uncertainty

Once a creature knows you are around, the nature of identification changes. If you have been detected out of your stealth, then if you are not behind Rough Terrain or are visible, the sighted creature knows your exact location down to the square. If you are behind Rough Terrain or are using the Blender or Invisibility capabilities, the sighted creature is aware of your general presence in their zone of control, and you roll a Stealth Check which is opposed by their Perception check. Failing by 24 or more gives them no specific information about your location. Failing by 12 gives them a 180 degree field in which you are located (roll 1d2 if you are diagonal on the grid). Failing by 6 gives them a 90 degree arc. Failing by 3 gives them a a 90 degree arc distance and they know you are within 1d4 meters of your square. Hitting exactly the DC gives them the square.

The Perception roll receives a -6 penalty if you are behind Rough Terrain or are using the Blender or Invisibility capabilities. If you are using the Dead Silent and Invisibility capabilities, the penalty is increased to -12.

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Shamelessly adapted from a D&D 3e Stealth overhaul.