All right, so I was thinking (yes, very dangerous), and actually had a thought.

When I walk through the woods, I can usually hear something coming, but not necesarilly from which direction it is coming. I started thinking about how rangers and druids, beings that supposedly spend their entire lives in the wilderness (or even outlanders, but that might be a bit farfetched) can camo, set traps, etc, but are not necesarily aware of those city folk who wander in the woods.

Perhaps there is a way that each character must make a saving throw in the woods, larger races would have less of a chance, smaller races borne of the woods, or those that fly, have a better chance of making the throw. If they fail, any pc within 2 squares or so are alerted of their presence. This would only work in wooded areas, as the packed dirt roads and noise of a city, would drown out any types of noise made by stepping on a fallen leaf or tripping over a partially exposed root.

"You hear a rustling in the forest." (or some such)

The more adept the character has become with the skill, they may be able to determine the direction of the sound.

"Something rustles in the forest to the X" where X is East, West, North, South, Up or Down.

Something like this may add a touch more realism, and if this does already exist, and I just haven't played a rnager recently enough, please feel free to start with sarcasm

Rith