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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arial Black" data-source="post: 6682979" data-attributes="member: 6799649">The DM determines surprise. How he determines surprise is entirely up to him. He can just rule, by fiat, that a creature is surprised in these circumstances.However, the DM usually uses opposed rolls (or a roll versus a score) to determine surprise. The nature of adventuring usually means that as soon as you see a creature you assume you are enemies and attack, therefore if you see him before he sees you, you could surprise him. This is modelled by an opposed Stealth/Perception check.But that is not always the case. Just because you see another living creature doesn't mean you'll each try to kill the other. Going shopping would be a nightmare!In a situation where the presence of a creature is obvious but their hostile intent is not, then Stealth/Perception doesn't do the job. In such a case, Deception/Insight is the answer. Can you detect, through body language or whatever, that the person you think of as a friend/lover is about to attack you? The better your Insight, the better your chance to realise their hostile intent. The better their Deception, the better they fool you.'Surprised' = 'not noticed a threat'. In this case, seeing your 'lover' doesn't mean you recognise a threat, therefore a sudden attack from 'her' may well be a threat you didn't notice and may well cause you to be 'surprised'.That being said, the moment your 'lover' stabs you in the guts, you absolutely do notice a threat! You still reacted slowly, so you still don't get to act on your turn, but after that first attack hits you, subsequent attacks do not auto-crit. Unless the DM rules that you somehow didn't notice the 80 points of damage and the dagger in your gut!</blockquote>

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