Infiltration     Like long hides, infiltration rules are a non-combat form of stealth. But rather than stationary hiding, infiltration assumes you are attempting to move somewhere while simultaneously avoiding detection. For example, you might be sneaking into a guild headquarters to perform espionage, slipping into a castle to spring your friends out of the dungeon, or sneaking down an Alacrian street while avoiding dangerous techs. Usually this is a long and involved process, possibly stretching across many zones and even many hours. Nobody, your GM included, wants to keep track of the position of every single enemy patrol or hazard, or the range you move every 5 seconds (as in the combat rules). Therefore, unless actual fighting breaks out, these infiltration rules are used.

    The foundation of these rules is the infiltration stealth roll. This is identical to the stealth rolls used in combat and long hides: a d20 on DEX, with a -TN equal to 50% of your WGT, and +TNs from any Abilities that affect stealth rolls. Depending on the length of the infiltration, the number of different circumstances or environments it entails, and/or its importance and potential consequences, the GM may split the attempt into multiple infiltration stealth rolls. Other challenges may also occur between rolls - for example, a locked door, a physical obstacle, an INT roll to notice a new development, an automated trap, or an NPC who can be manipulated with social actions to assist in your efforts. Often, there will be opportunities in planning the infiltration to accept more of these challenges in order to shorten or ease the infiltration rolls themselves; for example, if you are athletic enough to make a difficult climb up the side of a castle wall, it might be a shortcut past most of the patrols.

    Rather than exhaustive mapping of every single feature of the zones being infiltrated, your GM will look at many circumstances of the infiltration and assign Hindrance or Easing to your infiltration stealth roll accordingly. First, they will look at the average encounter range of the infiltration; that is, the range at which you will most often encounter the characters you are trying to sneak past, based on the layout of the area.

Average Encounter Range
 Infiltration example
Engaged
 Cramped corridors, hallways, or walkways; atop castle ramparts; small houses or shops
Short
 Most Alacrian buildings; castle courtyards; warehouses or industrial buildings; large mansions
Medium
 Outdoors in forests or mountains; Alacrian streets; roads
Long
 Outdoors in plains or fields

    If the area being infiltrated is particularly well-patrolled with many guarding characters, the GM may use the next shortest average encounter range. Likewise, if there are few patrols (or if this is a low-security area and they are not literally "patrols"), they might use the next longest range.

    Next, the GM compares the average encounter range to your visible range in High Stealth, as determined by the same chart as combat stealth. If you have a cloaking device (or if the enemy patrols include characters with shadow vision), it applies during this step. Infiltration is not possible if High Stealth is not possible, or if you are blinded, in total darkness, or otherwise unable to see.

Visible Range Chart
Clutter Level High Medium Low No
Light Level Low Medium High Low Medium High Low Medium High Low Medium High
High Stealth Engaged Engaged Short Engaged Short Medium Short Medium Long Medium Long Travel

    The GM compares the average encounter range to your visible range. If you are visible at a range longer than the average encounter range, you automatically fail the infiltration stealth roll by 15. If both ranges are the same, you must add 2 Hindrance to the roll. If you are visible at the next shortest range beyond average encounter range, the roll is unchanged. If you are visible at 2 or more ranges shorter, you automatically succeed in the infiltration. Usually, you will be able to discern these aspects of the environment before attempting the infiltration. If you will be using a greater cloaking device throughout the infiltration in such a way that you would not be visible in combat at engagement range without an INT roll, this counts as 1 range shorter than engaged range.

    If a roll still needs to be made, the GM will instruct you to add Hindrance or Easing, depending on the average TN the patrolling characters have in detection rolls (which is their INT, plus any +TNs from Abilities relevant to detection rolls). They do not need to actually make detection rolls.

Detection TN
 2 or below
 3-5
 6-8
 9-11
 12-14
 15-17
 18 or more
Hindrance/Easing
 2 Easing
 1 Easing
 None
 1 Hindrance
 2 Hindrance
 3 Hindrance
 4 Hindrance
    Though noise is easier to avoid during infiltration as compared to combat stealth, you must also add 1 Hindrance if the environment is unusually noisy to move through, and/or 1 Hindrance if Adlet or animals are among the patrols (unless you have a device that can silence your movement). Low noise armor removes the Hindrance from animals/Adlet, while High noise armor adds 1 Hindrance and doubles any Hindrance added from animals/Adlet.

    Finally, you make your d20 infiltration stealth roll. Because infiltrating is such a long process, Willpower cannot be used to gain a reactive +TN. If you succeed, you have snuck past the guarding characters; there may still be further infiltration rolls (as determined by the GM), and there will likely be more rolls when you attempt to leave.

    If you fail the infiltration stealth roll, the GM will compare the amount you failed by to the following chart to determine what happens next:

Failed by:
 Result
1
 You are not detected, but are trapped by an unaware patrol. You may re-attempt the infiltration stealth roll after they move on, but have lost time.
2
 You are about to be detected, but have an opportunity to avoid the patrol with clever thinking. Repeat the infiltration stealth roll with the same Easing/Hindrance and TN modifiers, but as a roll on INT instead of DEX. If you fail by any amount, you are detected. If not, the infiltration succeeds.
3
 You must enter a long hide to avoid being detected by a patrol. You have time to do so, but the patrol gets a chance to detect you using the Passing Searches section in the Long Hides rules. If undetected, you may re-attempt the infiltration stealth roll.
4
 A randomly selected enemy character must make a blind d20 detection roll. If they succeed, you are detected. If they fail, you may re-attempt the stealth infiltration roll.
5
 You must enter a long hide as a process action to avoid being detected by a patrol. You have 2d4 turns to do so. If you hide in time, the patrol passes by, and you may re-attempt the infiltration stealth roll.
6 As 5, but the patrol gets a chance to detect you using the Passing Searches rules.
7
 You are detected by an isolated patrol, but you have an opportunity to jump them. If you begin combat and incapacitate the patrol quietly during the first round, you may re-attempt the infiltration stealth roll (though you may want to take a moment to hide the bodies). Otherwise, they make your presence known as they continue the fight.
8-11
 You are detected.
12-14
 You are detected in the early stages of your infiltration.
15+
 You are detected almost instantly, before making any progress. If you were infiltrating past sentients in a civilized area and this was your first roll, you were likely spotted before you were trespassing or otherwise breaking the law. They may still increase security upon seeing your suspicious behavior.
    Whenever you are detected during an infiltration attempt, it is presumed that the detecting patrol is at a distance of your visible range, or the average encounter range (whichever is shorter). If not stated otherwise in the chart above, you are somewhere in the middle of your infiltration attempt, and your presence is immediately made known. You are still in High Stealth when detected. If you are sneaking past sentients, the consequences will differ depending on where you were found, what the local laws and customs are, or who you were infiltrating; combat may be avoided in many cases, particularly if you are adept at social actions and/or willing to be detained. If you are sneaking past unbound techs, they will simply attack you immediately.

    Infiltration is ineffective against darkeye, clairvoyance, thermal vision, arcane sense, or any other sense that would override High Stealth or automatically detect you. However, since such senses are rare, the GM may still let you attempt the infiltration. For example, if there is only a single guard with a thermal vision device and you are infiltrating a large castle, the GM may simply decide there is a 1 in 4 chance of that guard seeing you, regardless of the result of your infiltration roll.

    Time is usually not as important as stealth during an infiltration, and it may not matter to you how long it takes. In some cases, such as long travel-like infiltrations or situations where a distraction is temporarily making the attempt easier, time may become relevant. In that case, it is simply assumed that you are moving 20% as quickly as a character of your SPD would if they simply walked in at a normal pace. The percentage is halved for every time you must re-attempt the infiltration stealth roll (due to failure by 12 or less, as shown above), or doubled if you succeed by 10 on the first roll.

Multi-Character Infiltration    If multiple characters are attempting to infiltrate, all must roll separately. If they are doing so at the same time and along the same route (such as while grouped-up), all must succeed in order for the infiltration to succeed. If at least one character fails, all fail, but only the highest "failed by" result is used to determine the consequences for the whole party. If that result calls for the roll to be re-attempted, all characters must again roll separately.