Stealth

Tap Ctrl and the world dims. Everyone nearby shows what they can see.

Sneaking

Tap Ctrl (press and release within half a second). You crouch, grow faint and move at half pace for no stamina. Tap again to stand. Sprinting, mounting, starting a conversation or changing form ends it; attacking and dodging do not.

The stealth view

Every watcher within 24 tiles shows a cone of what it sees, cut short by walls, trunks and rocks, with a small eye over its head that fills as it notices you. Moon blue is calm; amber is wary; red is seen; orange is searching. A label above your bars sums it up: Hidden, Suspected, Almost seen, Seen or Alarm.

What gives you away

• Facing. Behind someone, outside their cone, you are never seen.
• Distance. The nearer, the faster; within about a tile and a half it is almost instant.
• What you are doing. Standing still counts least, then sneaking, walking, sprinting. Heavy armour adds to it.
• Light. Night roughly halves how far you are seen. A lamp, fire, lit window or your own torch lights you up; a tree's canopy shades you.
• Cover. Tall grass, bushes, hedges and tall crops make you count a quarter.
• Noise. Sneaking steps carry about a tile, walking four, sprinting eight; fights carry further. Walls muffle sound. Hounds hear twice as far.

When they see you

Predators attack, skittish beasts flee, curious ones come closer. In a public street townsfolk only stare, unless you are out of place: on private ground, indoors at night where you do not live, near a body, or when the town already wants you. Then guards shout and come, and townsfolk act by temperament. A caller needs a moment to draw breath: stop them in that moment and no alarm goes up. The call tells others where you were, not where you are.

Sneak strikes

While sneaking, a blow on anyone who has not seen you does double damage: melee, bows, crossbows, slings and thrown weapons count; spells do not. Some gear and arts raise it further. A sneak kill is quiet.

The reel

Anyone who survives a sneak strike reels: it shakes in place, cannot move, fight or call out, and your next blows are sneak strikes too, each keeping it reeling a little longer. Dragons never reel.

Bodies and witnesses

A body lies for three minutes. Anyone whose cone sweeps it screams and the town searches. Only someone whose eye was full during the act is a witness. A killing seen in public costs your standing with the town. Every hero sneaks for themselves in co-op, but the same guards watch you all. Next: the Ministry of Assassination.