Recent content by Azrothan

If the kobold is there to distract the adventurers, roll for deception and see if they fall for it? Does it make sense for you "in the fiction" that the dragon would surprise the party if it appeared in the first round, but not when making the same appearance in the second round? Because that's...

The DM is the one that prepares the encounters and what everyone (apart from the players) is doing and how they fight. If some creature just happens to surprise someone - that's fine. But if they usually fight by attempting to surprise - they know what it takes to get it done. So if the dragon...

Because a lot of people seem to be forgetting that you can already get a bonus for being an unseen attacker: Yes, one of your goblins managed to go undetected - but the other 4 were spotted. That goblin will still get a benefit for not having been spotted (unseen attacker), although not the...

Rather than looking at house ruling surprise, look at the actual encounters you're preparing. In the case above, is the kobold meant to stall the party? And if so, is it obvious it's stalling? Why is the kobold there at all? And why wasn't it hiding? Do you want the dragon to surprise the party...

Should I ever bring a third+ side into a fight in the first round of combat that also tried to be sneaky about it, I would explain to the players that they are surprised by the fact that both sides of the (almost) ongoing encounter are startled by this sudden appearance. As long as I follow the...

The interpretation/argument is based on the terms used: "a threat", not by claiming that (not A) = (not B). Any character or monster that doesn't notice [one side] is surprised at the start of the encounter. Any character or monster that doesn't notice [one individual] is surprised at the start...

Because they're already alert from having noticed a threat (each other)? Edit: I'll have to dig into the rules about a third side in this encounter, as I failed to read what you had written properly... :blush: If you want to surprise the PC's: Attack with the trolls before the goblins and PCs...

Since I interpret the rules as having noticed any part of the opposing side as not being surprised, I wouldn't rule it like the hidden PC getting a surprise round. At the same time, it doesn't sound unreasonable if you wanted to go with that. For me, this situation sounds like it's basically...

Using the Lucky feat in this way uses 2 luck points though? Here you spend 1 luck point to roll an additional d20. And here you can choose to spend a second luck point (after that additional d20 roll) in order to choose which result to use. Or am I just crazy? :)

It's a saving throw, so everything that applies to a standard saving throw should apply to death saving throws.

So how does Vrax determine what is breaking the rules when it comes to throwing a rock? Must the rock have a certain weight, material, size and/or shape? Must the rock be tossed with a single one of her hands? Are tools against the rules? What about magical gear? Are you not allowed to cast...

Vrax or other wizard true polymorphs a willing target to a rock (after 1h it's permanent), then tosses the rock while casting fly on it?

Who's talking about changing rules? It specifically says notice "a threat". You can interpret "a threat" to be any part of one side. You can also interpret "a threat" to mean one side (because the rule specifically mentions a side gaining surprise over the other and a side trying to be stealthy...

If you instead interpret "a threat" as a side in the battle, the rule is simple (it mentions sides trying to be stealthy and one side gaining surprise over the other). It also makes perfect sense, as we have the hidden attacker rule to cover all those attacks from stealth/invisibility from...

Surprise is a powerful tool and is basically working as intended as written. In order to surprise members of the party the visible/noticed threat needs to attempt to be sneaky. Otherwise the ambushers just have the hidden attacker advantage. Perhaps spice my thoughts up with a deception roll for...