Pathfinder 1E Do Traps (almost always) Surprise?

[Starfox]

In both 3E, 3.5 and Pathfinder, the definition of surprise is that you know they are there and they don't know you are there. You obviously don't know about a trap until it is spotted, but (as stated in the OP), can a trap know you are there?

Whether you are in combat readiness or not is not a factor in surprise. I guess the assumption is that you always are. DnD is after all written with dungeon exploring as the default setting - hardly a place to slack.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I dont think that they would surprise and i'm in agreement with what people have said. But to add a twist, do people like making traps more obvious so that in addition to just making a roll the PC can try to figure out how to avoid the trap? So not just have spinning blades swipe out and damage a player, but have them spinning a in a pattern that could be navigated be someone nimble enough?

I'm a huge fan of this kind of trap. I don't like "gotcha hit point/wand charge/healing surge tax" traps. Of course, that traps works a lot better if there's kobolds shooting at you, giving you little time to think