[4e] Reactive Stealth

[Nahat Anoj]

Can anyone help me grok one of the gnome abilities, Reactive Stealth? Here are some situations I wondering about.

1) A gnome is walking through a bunch of bushes (thereby having concealment) and encounters a goblin. Neither party is surprised. The goblin's initiative is greater than the gnome's. Does the gnome's Reactive Stealth kick in before or after the goblin's initiative?

2) The gnome (still walking along in the bushes) encounters the goblin, but the goblin was hiding in the bushes and catches the gnome by surprise. Can Reactive Stealth kick in before the goblin sees the gnome?

3) This last one is more of a "What would you do?" than an actual rules question. Let's say the gnome is a warlock, walking along in an open field. Would you allow the gnome to have concealment as a result of his Shadow Walk power before the encounter even starts? This assumes the Gnome walked at least 3 squares (which isn't too unreasonable).

[Gaffa]

Reactive Stealth activates at the same time as the Initative roll. Thus, if the gnome has cover/concealment when they roll Initiative, at the same time it makes a Stealth roll to stay hidden. This is before anyone actually has a turn in the battle yet.

All that matters is: was the gnome in cover/concealment against any potential foes before Initiative was rolled? If so, the gnome gets a free Stealth roll to stay hidden. So long as the gnome's concealment against your goblin still held when Initiatives are rolled off, the gnome can use Reactive Stealth.

[Danger Mouse]

3) This last one is more of a "What would you do?" than an actual rules question. Let's say the gnome is a warlock, walking along in an open field. Would you allow the gnome to have concealment as a result of his Shadow Walk power before the encounter even starts? This assumes the Gnome walked at least 3 squares (which isn't too unreasonable).

I don't think there's any firm ruling on this, but I interpret Shadow Walk as something the warlock does in combat, not something he has going all the time.

[Ferrinus]

I also interpret Shadow Walk as something a warlock consciously does. That said, a warlock striding through enemy territory would certainly be doing it.

I'd let a gnome warlock use Reactive Stealth to hide within his Shadow Walk, but I'd also make it clear to him that enemies he encounters are going to have seen at least a glimpse of him before he hid himself and so while he will enjoy the benefits of Total Concealment from them, they're not going to have to play any guessing games about what square he's in.

[Nahat Anoj]

I also interpret Shadow Walk as something a warlock consciously does. That said, a warlock striding through enemy territory would certainly be doing it.
I actually kind of like the image of warlock's always being cloaked in shadows when they move, even out of combat ... I'm debating about whether or not I will let them "turn it off," so to speak. :)

Thanks for these insights, everyone. If there are any more, keep them coming.