How useful is Listen?

[Frances]

I know the Listen skill can be used for RP purposes, but is there any mechanical advantage to the skill?  Does it help you find anything, identify cast spells, spot (not using the Spot skill) hidden creatures, etc.?

Just curious.

[Lord Dark]

I think Listen is also used to spot creatures and PCs, that's why you have Move Silent. If you dump all your skill points into hide and neglect your move silent, then you're prone to being discovered.

[jrizz]

Very true. My ranger used to get heard way more then seen

But I have yet to encounter a bad guy (outside of quests) that use sneak. Most of the bad guys use HIPS instead.

Listen is a VERY useful quest skill and can sometimes be a life saver.

[Hellblazer]

Even with hips. If the spot/listen beats the hide/ms of your rogue or shadow dancer, you will be spotted. Learned it at my expense.

[Filatus]

Spot and listen are for a large part the same. Spot vs Hide and Listen vs Move Silently.

The big difference is that with spot you can't locate invisible creatures. With a succesful listen check you can detect someone who is invisible. So mechanically, I would say it is better than Spot. But Spot is one of the most used skill checks on quests though.

[Alatriel]

Alatriel has a hide of about 83, but a ms that's somewhere in the 50's I think.  Aerimor, however, has true hearing.  He always hears Alatriel to the point that I had to ask people if she actually disappeared or if I was bugged.  Because I never disappeared on hubby's screen.  I figure Aerimor's hearing got better as Alatriel got better at hiding.  He was paranoid.

[Aerimor]

As someone that has an 80+ listen I can say it's fun RP, it is very useful against sneakers and worthless against invisibility.  A guy in full plate on a warhorse charging 5 feet from you will be unnoticed no matter your listen.  Conversely, as said, you get your opposed roll against hider/sneaker/HiPSer.

I think I remember thunderclaps(deafness) nullifying the need to make saves verseus or damage from Power Word kill/stun or something?  Maybe it was only from the Scald wail but I think it was a spell.  I think Raz thunderclapped something once and then used another spell on them while they were deaf and them not being able to 'hear' it and thus not forced to make a save.


And Aerimor is not paranoid, anymore,.... but someone has to keep a tab on Alatriel and make sure she is subtly, without her knowledge, reigned in and pointed in a non-destructive path.  Food for thought: that ring on her finger...just might be a tracking device.

[jrizz]

So a low(ish) MS PC with HIPS can be spotted by a PC with a high listen?

[gilshem ironstone]

Yes. HiPS only allows to re-engage stealth mode in range if an
enemy. It does not provide any additional concealment. But you can continually re-engage until the listener fails their check
I think.

[Dorganath]

Correct.

HiPS only makes you better at getting into Stealth. It doesn't make you any more hidden or more silent. Once in Stealth, someone with HiPS and H/MS of 20 each is just as detectable as someone without HiPS and the same H/MS skill level.

Side note: "Stealth" is an NWN construct, not a D&D one.  NWN effectively activates both skills at the same time, whereas D&D treats them somewhat separately.  Then again, the idea that one can be "hidden" while standing in the open right in front of someone is also an NWN construct....but that's another topic completely.