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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arial Black" data-source="post: 6685876" data-attributes="member: 6799649">A Petrified creature cannot move or take an action.Therefore, the implication of this is that if you can move or take an action then you are not petrified.And, if 'being unable to move or take an action' EQUALS 'surprised', by the same logic it also equals Petrified.Therefore, 'surprised' EQUALS Petrified.Have you noticed that something is wrong?'Speeding' gets you a fine, but getting fined is not equal to speeding.On p189, under the heading 'Surprise', there are a lot of words, but actually only three actual rules:-* the DM determines who might be surprised* any character or monster that doesn't notice a threat is surprised* if you're surprised, you can't move or take an action on your first turn of the combat, and you can't take a reaction until that turn endsThe first rule tells us who determines surprise.The second rule defines surprise.The third rule shows a consequence of being surprised.We can do the same with the speeding example:-* the government decides what the speed limit on any particular stretch of road might be* anyone driving a vehicle over that limit is defined as 'speeding'* if you are 'speeding', you will get a fine'Driving over the speed limit' defines 'speeding'. 'Not noticing a threat' defines 'surprise'.'Getting a fine for speeding' does not define 'speeding', and the moment you pay the fine is unrelated to your speed at the moment you pay it.'Being unable to move or take an action' does not define 'surprised', and the moment you can act is unrelated to you noticing a threat.Not noticing a threat.This is like saying your car slows down as soon as you pay the speeding fine, but you are actually driving over the speed limit for every moment until the fine is paid.There is absolutely no rule that links the moment you pay the penalty for being surprised as the moment you stop being surprised.If you are in combat (that is, if you have rolled initiative and now have Turns) you absolutely must use Actions In Combat in order to Do Stuff. If you are not in combat then there are no turns, no Actions In Combat.When you are in combat, this doesn't mean that everyone else is. The moment you are threatened, whether you notice it or not, is the moment you start being 'in combat', start having Turns and begin having to use Actions In Combat to Do Stuff.If you do notice that threat, then you start using your Actions In Combat as soon as your turn comes round, just like everyone else. If you don't notice a threat then you are caught flat-footed (for want of a better phrase); caught off-guard, on your heels, certainly not instantly acting as if you are in combat, because the whole combat came as a *ahem* surprise!Although the section is written from the POV of the beginning of the encounter (fair enough; every encounter has a beginning and you need to know what to do), and the DM must therefore determine surprise at the start of the encounter, 'surprise' is not limited to the start of the encounter.How do we know this? Because one of the effects of being surprised is that you cannot act on your first turn. Not the first turn of the encounter, but the first turn that you will have in the encounter.Usually, this first turn will be in round 1, just like everybody else, so it usually doesn't make a difference. But it is perfectly possible that your first turn is not the first turn of the encounter. You could have been engrossed in a grimoire, not in combat, not having an initiative score, not having a turn and not requiring Actions In Combat to Do Stuff, while unknown to you there has been a fight raging for several rounds. When they finally burst in to your room, you may or may not be surprised. You roll initiative and are now 'in combat', whether you've noticed it or not.Even though this is round 6 and not the 'start of the encounter', you can still be surprised. If you are, you cannot act on your first turn. This shows that you certainly can be surprised, even after the 'encounter' has already started.Agreed, but your initiative score does not help you actually notice a threat. Conceptually, you can only react to a threat once you notice a threat, and having the reactions of The Flash does not give you the senses of Daredevil.Being able to use reactions does not give you the ability to target creatures or attacks that you don't know about. Shield doesn't manipulate time; it doesn't conceptually let you get hit, take horrible amounts of damage, cast the spell, go back in time(!) and change the past so that you never got hit! Conceptually, you throw up a mystical shield at the last moment to protect yourself from an attack that would hit you if you don't. This requires you to be aware of the attack.If the wizard was being shot from hiding, was surprised, but rolled a higher initiative than his attacker, he cannot throw up a shield to block an attack he knows nothing about.That isn't always the case though. In the example given above where an already raging combat bursts into the wizards chamber, whether or not the wizard is surprised depends on whether or not he notices the threat. Does he notice the door creaking? Did he hear the clash of swords? These things depend on his Perception, not his initiative. If he is surprised, then he remains surprised until he does notice the threat. He still cannot act on his first turn, but if the attackers burst through the door and attack him (while otherwise being visible), then he is not surprised as soon as he notices them, which may or may not be before his reactions kick in.If he rolled a higher initiative, then he can cast shield to protect himself from the axe he sees coming. If he rolled lower, then he's not fast enough even though he can see the axe. Because initiative models reaction speed, not 'noticing a threat'.However, if an unseen or heard Assassin shot a poisoned blowgun dart through the open window where the wizard studies his grimoire with his back to the window, his initiative score/reaction speed will not let him notice the threat, therefore he cannot intercept the attack by casting shield because he is still unaware of that attack.</blockquote>

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