Progress Clock for Party Stealth

A progress clock is a circle divided into three or more segments (see examples at right). Draw a progress clock when you need to track the ongoing effort of the party to avoid detection on a stealth mission.

Sneaking into the constables watch tower? Make a clock to track the alert level of the patrolling guards. When the PCs fail on a Dexterity (Stealth) check, fill in segments on the clock until the alarm is raised. At first, guards or patrols would be using their passive Perception, but after one or more segments on the clock are filled in, they move to actively rolling Wisdom (Perception) checks. When the clock is full, the DM proceeds with combat or the necessary consequences for failing a stealth check.

Generally, the more difficult the mission, the less segments in the progress clock, because the pursuers are alerted more quickly for each failed check.

An easily infiltrated area would have a 6-segment clock. An area with mild security is a 5-segment clock. Moderate security is a 4-segment clock, and high security is a 3-segment clock. A fortress that is nigh impossible to sneak into would have a 1-segment clock, meaning as soon as anyone participating fails a check - the enemies are immediately alerted.

You could also use dice to represent the clocks, with as many segments as sides. Using this method you can increase the number on the dice clock by two for critical failures and decrease it by one for critical successes.