D&D 5E How do you handle someone who is not surprised but is unaware of any threats?

[Oofta]

No I get that, though it surprises me given a lot of the others things you’ve said about your campaign.

What I was asking was if someone making a totally unexpected attack in the midst of a conversation would have a chance of causing the target to be surprised in the ensuing conflict.

Sorry I didn't understand, but yes. If the group is actually talking to a dybukk that's taken over the body of an NPC and it decides it's bored and is going to attack the group, then people may well be surprised. It would probably be insight vs deception to determine surprise in that particular case instead of perception vs stealth.

I am actually curious how often there is a round where some of the participants in an encounter (on either side) are surprised. A few monsters are built for it, such as gargoyles, but literal ambushes have been rare in my experience.

Will probably vary significantly from campaign to campaign, DM to DM.

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

The way I have been handling it is "you sense something is amiss" with no further details and then let her move take an action, or whatever. Usually she draws a weapon moves to a favorable location and either takes a ready action (I attack the first enemy I see) or she takes a dodge action.

That is exactly how I deal with it. "Something" sets off the character's sense of danger. Even if they don't know what the exact threat is, or where it is coming from, they know that things are bout to kick off and have a chance to prepare.

 

[Hriston]

Without knowing anything about the particulars of the OP’s situation, I would try to avoid saying the party sees the spiders and ettercaps unless they're coming out into the open and closing to melee in the first round. If I were running this, I’d probably want to open with web attacks, so it would be something like, “You see several sprays of sticky fluid shooting out from the dense stand of trees alongside the path which open up into webs as they fly towards you. Roll initiative.”

 

[Unwise]

I would have the initiative rolled at the point that the enemy are mid attack. So the enemy has broken cover to attack, the PC is just so super fast that they are almost interrupting the enemy's round to have theirs.

The NPCs get a few free steps of movement to close, the PC gets the advantage of having some information to act upon.

I also enjoy the Hollywood tropes of seeing a reflection of the attacker in a drinking glass/shield, or noticing that the birds are 'too quiet' at the last moment.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Make the question harder by making the ambushing enemies be invisible and inaudible (let's imagine some form of incorporeal undead that happens to be invisible).

In such a situation, even imagining things happening more or less simultaneously in most battles, you get a situation where it doesn't make as much sense to pre-narrate what a monster is doing, as there likely won't be any visual or auditory clues other than a nasty glow as your life is being stolen from you or such.

Now, there are two ways to handle this. The first is to try really hard to find ways to make sure that can't actually happen. You assume that attacks cannot happen without giving a prior indicator. The second is to acknowledge that attacks can happen without any prior indication, and find a way to describe the surprised or not surprised state given that setup (the spidey-sense idea of something feeling off, tends to almost always be an effective answer with that version).

While I might use the first approach if it is easy to explain, I tend to prefer the second approach if the first approach is tricky, because it always works.

 

[Guest 6801328]

"Your spidey-sense is tingling."

"Wait...like I get the sense that something dangerous is about to happen?"

"No, you detect spiders."

 

[Flamestrike]

Wouldn’t a sudden attack in the midst of a chat make for a surprised enemy?

Potentially.

If the players have no reason to be wary of the creature they're talking to for sure.

Think a doppleganger or dominated friend.

 

[Fenris-77]

The party needs to be surprised by 'something'. You can't have a surprise round without an attack or something to index the start of combat. Just because the one character rolls insanely high for initiative doesn't mean that on their initiative step nothing is happening. I think you're picturing the initial attack happening on the monsters initiative step in that first round, so previous to that, on the Alert initiative step, nothing is happening, but that's not how surprise works at all. If nothing were actually happening you wouldn't have rolled initiative or determined surprise. So something happens to trigger the initiative test - webs from the shadows, a rush to attack, whatever - the details are up to you, but combat has started when that character with Alert goes and they get to react to it.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I would likely give the PCs an Insight check to notice that something was up. I cannot see a completely random person talking one minute and then attacking without something to act as a tell. Now, the bad guy may be skilled in deception to counter the insight check.

Sure, as @Oofta says below, Insight va deception rather than perception vs stealth.
That’s how I run it.

Sorry I didn't understand, but yes. If the group is actually talking to a dybukk that's taken over the body of an NPC and it decides it's bored and is going to attack the group, then people may well be surprised. It would probably be insight vs deception to determine surprise in that particular case instead of perception vs stealth.

I am actually curious how often there is a round where some of the participants in an encounter (on either side) are surprised. A few monsters are built for it, such as gargoyles, but literal ambushes have been rare in my experience.

Will probably vary significantly from campaign to campaign, DM to DM.

In games I run and play in they happen roughly once every few sessions.

Potentially.

If the players have no reason to be wary of the creature they're talking to for sure.

Think a doppleganger or dominated friend.

Why not just a merchant or whatever who has put them at ease?

 

[Flamestrike]

Why not just a merchant or whatever who has put them at ease?

With a successful Deception vs Insight check, and in a setting where hostilities are not expected, yeah for sure.

A freindly Merchant appearing in a Dungeon though...