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Message: <blockquote data-quote="-=Xar=-" data-source="post: 6581390" data-attributes="member: 26829">Well yes, the rules are pretty clear on what happens once surprise is declared.When the barbarian is the only party involved things are easily taken care of. But ambiguity arises once there are other party members or NPC's involved as the surprise condition is a shared state on the first round of combat.There is a vagueness about the extent of this power. Like is it limited to a certain range? It would be obvious that the barbarians power would activate if his party would get ambushed 20' away by spiders, as it happened in our last session. But what about the party's scout being attacked while he is 100-200' away? Just a short sprint for the mobile barbarian, certainly he could start running before the rest of the party realizes what's happening. But what about 800' then, the mage about to be shot by elven snipers, feeling their intention possibly even before they notched an arrow and had the chance to take a shot?What's the influence of line of sight or obstacles, between him, his party and/or the attackers? Does that make a difference? What if the party is close by but around a bend? I think the barbarian might feel that danger, being part of the upcoming encounter. But what if the barbarian is unaware about the fact that his party member is nearby, like the invisible scout sneaking along? Could he feel the looming danger from an unknown source to its just as unknown target? According the rules, yes, as he will probably take part of the ensuing encounter. And things get wacky if the PC about to ambushed is in a wholly different room, maybe even several rooms or corridors away...But perception checks don't seem to matter anyway, barbarians have godlike awareness as even impossible difficult checks succeed automatically; barbarians can feel the intentions of undetectable enemies lurking on the astral and ethereal plane about to attack, often even before these have manifested themselves. So range doesn't seem to matter, nor line of sight, the barbarian knows.Things get truly ugly if this power would extend to NPC's. Could the barbarian feel it coming if the NPC he is talking to on the street is about to get stabbed by a thug with a hidden blade? Or should I say 'sorry, you weren't meant to be part of this encounter'? Who makes that decision anyway? What if it would happen to a random passer-by, or someone 100' away? Why would it work in the case of another party member but not in case of an NPC? Or is it only meant for fights and people the barbarian cares about? Is that an implicit or explicit decision? In other words: is it a static decision made by the DM (no, you don't care enough about your neighbor to feel something brewing) or an active decision on part of the barbarian? And how can the barbarian make such a decision anyway, knowing nothing about the source of the danger nor the intended target? What if the barbarian isn't even aware yet of the presence of Uncle Ben who is about to be attacked, like in the example with the party's scout? Or maybe it is someone he has never seen before, about to be stabbed by an assassin in a house nearby (but one he might want to save nonetheless just to feel heroic)?Question, questions. So it seems that while the rules aim for simplicity and are clearly defined for a part, they are also so ambiguous, subjective and inherently overpowered that it forces me, the DM, to constantly make arbitrary and often contradictory rulings in lieu of the player, leading to endless discussions. And while it might seem a nitpick to some, a fast-moving barbarian easily dishing out 60-70 damage per round can really make an impact on the unfolding of encounters.</blockquote>

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