Back into the combat immediatley

[Audrik]

C'mon - the guy you thought was down who gets up and gets in the surprise strike is _classic_. The DM totally shouldn't be pissed at that

I agree. This is definitely on the list of classic moves. This game should be about fun moreso than mechanics. And I promise you, give the Rogue CA in this situation and he'll have plenty of fun.

Besides, what's a better definition of "Sneak Attack": "Stick you with something sharp when you know I'm behind you" or "stick you with something sharp when you think you just dropped me"?

 

[DM_Blake]

C'mon - the guy you thought was down who gets up and gets in the surprise strike is _classic_. The DM totally shouldn't be pissed at that

Maybe.

But, they guy you thought was down who has a friendly cleric run over and shout some fervent prayers to a god that result in a flashy glow of divine energy that magically seals the downed guys wounds so that he then gets up and gets in the surprise strike might be a bit harder to swallow.

I mean, a T-Rex or a gelatinous cube might not see it coming (limited intelligence, no understanding of magic or healing), but it would be hard to justify anything as smart as an orc thinking the down guy was gonna stay down after seeing that very obvious healing taking place within 5 feet of where he's standing.

 

[Audrik]

Still, just because the orc knows what happened, and that the rogue is back in the fight, doesn't mean he can react quickly enough to prevent a sneak attack. How many times have you seen something coming and had just enough time to think "Son of a ..."? In fact, with flanking, the CA is partly BECAUSE the orc knows the rogue is there.

 

[KarinsDad]

The DM shouldn't be pissed off regardless. It's not DM versus PCs!

While this should generally be true, one should remember that DMs are people too. Many DMs put hard work into a game and sometimes, it feels good for a DM's NPCs to be doing well, just in time for some obscure or not so obscure rule to change the tide of battle. Sure, the DM should not be as emotionally involved with his NPCs as the players are with their PCs, but sometimes, it's not easy for all people to segregate this in their mind in the excitement of the moment. Competition is a base human drive, one that is not always so easily turned off like a light switch.