Right now stealth is broken for a lot of reasons.
It also has problems even if you intend to join combat with a stealthed character, because the combat will proceed automatically once someone triggers combat, and you need to manually get a stealthed character to act.
I think there are some ways the game could improve its handling of stealth in combat.
- Whenever initiative is rolled, it should be rolled for EVERY party member, no matter how far away they are or if they are in stealth.
- If a party member is within 60 feet of any active combat, or upon entering that 60-foot radius, they are FORCED into entering turn-based combat.
- A PC approaching within 30 feet of a hostile character or one on guard requires a stealth check contested against the other character's passive perception.
This should help prevent most of the stealth cheese which lets you freely sneak up behind someone facing away.
