Cloak of Elvenkind 5e: Stealth Odds, the Hood Rule and What Changed in 2024

A Cloak of Elvenkind is an uncommon wondrous item that requires attunement. While you wear it, you have Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks and creatures have Disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to find you. In the 2014 rules both effects only work with the hood up, pulling it up or down takes an action, and the Perception penalty only covers seeing you. The 2024 version is always on and covers every sense. Any race can wear it. For a scout or rogue it's a strong uncommon pick, because it works on both sides of the roll.

Table of Contents

• •Cloak of Elvenkind Rules Text
• •How the Cloak of Elvenkind Works
• •Cloak of Elvenkind: 2014 vs 2024
• •Is the Cloak of Elvenkind Worth It?
• •Cloak of Elvenkind for DMs
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Cloak of Elvenkind Rules Text

How the Cloak of Elvenkind Works

Two effects, both sides of the roll

Hiding comes down to your Dexterity (Stealth) against someone's Wisdom (Perception). The cloak gives you Advantage on yours and gives them Disadvantage on theirs. Boots of Elvenkind and Pass without Trace only touch your side.

Worked example (2024 rules): a rogue with Stealth +5 takes the Hide action, which needs a DC 15 Stealth check. Without the cloak they succeed on a 10 or higher, 55 percent of the time. With Advantage, the chance of at least one d20 showing 10+ is 1 - 0.45², about 80 percent. Say they roll a 17. That total becomes the DC to find them. A guard with Perception +3 needs a 14 or higher, 35 percent. With Disadvantage, both dice must hit 14, 0.35², about 12 percent.

Passive Perception drops by 5

Both editions say Disadvantage on a check lowers the matching passive score by 5. Since the cloak imposes Disadvantage on Perception checks to find you, a guard with passive Perception 13 notices you as if it were 8. The 2014 version only covers checks "to see you", so a guard listening for footsteps uses their full score.

The 2014 hood

The 2014 cloak only works while the hood is up, and pulling it up or down takes an action. Put it up before you start sneaking, not when the fight starts. Nothing in the text says the hood falls down on its own, so a character can wear it up all day. The 2024 cloak has no hood rule at all.

What it doesn't do

The cloak doesn't let you hide in plain sight. In 2014, you can't hide from a creature that can see you clearly; in 2024, the Hide action needs you to be Heavily Obscured or behind Three-Quarters or Total Cover and out of every enemy's line of sight. The cloak makes the roll better once you're allowed to make it. A successful 2024 Hide gives you the Invisible condition until you make noise, attack, get found or cast a spell with a Verbal component.

Stacking with other stealth

Advantage doesn't stack. Boots of Elvenkind (Advantage on Stealth, no attunement) add nothing to the cloak's Advantage. Pass without Trace adds a flat +10, which does stack with Advantage. The rogue above would have +15 and make the DC 15 Hide on any roll.

Cloak of Elvenkind: 2014 vs 2024

What this means at the table:

• •The 2024 cloak beats hearing too. A 2014 wearer can still be heard by a guard listening at a door. A 2024 wearer imposes Disadvantage on that check as well.
• •No action tax. The 2014 hood costs an action in combat. The 2024 cloak works from the first round, so a rogue can Hide with Cunning Action right away.
• •Broader Stealth. The 2014 Advantage only applies to checks "made to hide". The 2024 version covers any Stealth check, such as creeping across a creaky floor, where the 2014 wording ("made to hide") leaves room for argument.

Is the Cloak of Elvenkind Worth It?

For a rogue, ranger or scout who hides every fight, yes. Advantage on Stealth plus Disadvantage on the search does more for a scout than +1 AC would.

The cost is the cloak slot and an attunement slot. You can wear only one cloak, so it competes with:

The Cloak of the Bat gives the same Stealth Advantage but not the Perception penalty, and its flight only works in dim light or darkness. A rogue who fights mostly in dungeons may prefer the bat.

When it's a trap: a party that never sneaks, or a character in heavy armor. Plate imposes Disadvantage on Stealth, which cancels the cloak's Advantage and leaves a straight roll.

Cloak of Elvenkind for DMs

Where it turns up. With scouts, spies and anyone who lives by not being seen. It's a good item to put on an enemy spy the party is chasing; once they catch her, the cloak is theirs.

What it changes. Infiltration gets reliable. With an 80 percent Hide and a 12 percent chance of being found, a rogue in this cloak can scout most places ahead of the party. Plan for that: guards with high passive Perception, creatures with Blindsight (bats sense their surroundings without sight, so the 2014 cloak doesn't hinder them) or alarms that don't roll at all.

Pricing. 400 GP under the 2024 SRD. The 2014 SRD has no prices. The magic item rarity calculator helps if you're balancing it against other uncommon loot.

Hooks.

• •A courier has been slipping out of the city past the gate guards for weeks. She wears a Cloak of Elvenkind, and her employer wants the party to find out where she goes.
• •The cloak is the prize in a thieves' wager: whoever steals a token from the magistrate's desk first keeps it.

If your scout reports what they saw while sneaking, Loreify records the session so nobody has to remember the guard rotation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a Cloak of Elvenkind do in 5e?

You have Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks, and Wisdom (Perception) checks to find you have Disadvantage. In 2014 both only work with the hood up and the Perception penalty covers sight only; in 2024 they always work and cover every sense.

Does the Cloak of Elvenkind require attunement?

Yes, in both editions. It's uncommon and uses one of your three attunement slots.

Does a Cloak of Elvenkind make you invisible?

No. It improves your Stealth and worsens the enemy's Perception, but you still need cover or heavy obscurement to hide. In 2024, a successful Hide action is what gives you the Invisible condition.

Do Cloak of Elvenkind and Boots of Elvenkind stack?

Only partly. Both grant Advantage on Stealth, and Advantage doesn't stack. The cloak's Disadvantage on Perception checks to find you is the part the boots don't give.

Does a Cloak of Elvenkind affect passive Perception?

Yes. Disadvantage lowers a passive score by 5 in both editions, so a creature with passive Perception 14 notices you at 9. In 2014 that only applies when it's trying to see you.

Item text: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Analysis, rulings and ideas are Loreify's own.