Simple is Usually Best

I've been working on a set of retro-inspired (not a "clone" set per se) fantasy tabletop rpg rules and I needed to have some way on the tabletop to indicate that a character who can hide and sneak is doing so successfully ... to use an old-school term, is "in shadows."  Finally dawned on me how to do this simply.  I just took one of the larger round wooden pre-cut bases and painted it black.  During play, when a character successfully is stealthy, I put the figure for the character who is stealthy on top of the black circle.  Let's everyone know that character is "in shadows" and cannot be seen by enemies.

The fighter and the magic-user engage the otyugh to its front, while the thief sneaks around for a backstab.  The large black base that he is standing on indicates that he was successful in his stealth attempt and will be able to backstab the otyugh next round.

Close up shot.  Yep, simple is usually best.  Also beats the heck out of doing a completely new figure painted in some way to represent that he is stealthy (sort of like what I did for Frodo in painting an "invisible" version of the Frodo miniature). 

These pictures also have one of my new room tiles in them as well.  Also simple.  I decided that 1) the floors in a dungeon should be pretty dark, so I need to allow more of the black of the foam or the darkest color (in this case dark brown) to show through with less of the light color showing through to make it look appropriately dark, and 2) by keeping the color on the tile fairly muted, it allows the figures to stand out more and people will pay more attention to them, which is what I want.