D&D 5E How do you handle someone who is not surprised but is unaware of any threats?

[auburn2]

One of the characters I am DMing for has an insane +11 to initiative and the alert feat which prevents surprise.

So how do you handle it when she does not see and is not aware of any adversaries, is not surprised because of the feat but goes first in a round?

For example at the last gaming session there were some ettercaps and giant spiders that snuck up on the party as they were searching the woods. No one in the party noticed them. In normal circumstances this is easy - everyone is surprised. The problem here is she can't be surprised but the round starts with her (she got a 27 initiative on this particular battle). So I have everyone roll initiative and ask her what she is doing since she goes first.

The way I have been handling it is "you sense something is amiss" with no further details and then let her move take an action, or whatever. Usually she draws a weapon moves to a favorable location and either takes a ready action (I attack the first enemy I see) or she takes a dodge action.

 

[Hriston]

You have to describe the fictional circumstances around why combat is starting. Presumably the spiders and ettercaps are attacking the party, so describe the commencement of the attack, tell everyone else they're surprised, ask for an Initiative roll, and then ask the Alert character what they do before the spider and ettercap attacks are resolved. Keep in mind that the locations of the hidden creatures need not be revealed until their attacks hit or miss. More specific information would be needed for me to tell you what to describe.

 

[Oofta]

They hear that ever-so-slight noise of a twig snap or smell something off in the light breeze or see the shadow of someone behind the wall.

Or just "you're spidey-sense is tingling" and it's basically a supernatural instinct.

 

[Xetheral]

There are a variety of ways to address this situation, and vehement disagreement over what works best.

I would recommend that you ask the player whether she prefers to go first in such circumstances, even without any knowledge of what is about to happen. If she prefers it the way it is, great! In that case you don't need to make any changes. If she is frustrated and feels that going first is wasted if she doesn't have enough information to act, then you can discuss possible changes.

Commonly suggested approaches on this and other forums include:

1. Narrate the ambushing actions before initiate is rolled or the ambushing actions are resolved. This approach gives everyone full information about what is going to happen, at the cost of locking the ambushers into their declared actions. If any of those actions become impossible you may end up with some causality issues (e.g. the ambusher dies before actually shooting the arrow the high-initiative character was reacting to.)
2. Automatically have all hidden creatures become non-hidden when initiative is rolled. This approach limits the benefit of hiding to achieving surprise in the first place, and is a nerf to stealth-based characters who have to re-hide after combat begins. (Note: I've only seen this approach advocated on GiantITP, not on Enworld.)
3. When only one character wants to take a combat action, rule that they automatically win initiative and take the first action in the first round. Everyone else rolls initiative and acts subsequently. So in your example, whichever character is leading the ambush acts first, then the high initiative PC who got the 27 goes second and has a much better idea of what is going on. The basis for this approach is that initiative is used to resolve who goes first when the outcome is uncertain, but if only one character is trying to go first there is no uncertainty to resolve. This approach can make ambushes somewhat more deadly if the lead ambusher has a powerful alpha strike.

Personally I use option #3, but what works best will vary from table to table.

 

[iserith]

You have to describe the fictional circumstances around why combat is starting. Presumably the spiders and ettercaps are attacking the party, so describe the commencement of the attack, tell everyone else they're surprised, ask for an Initiative roll, and then ask the Alert character what they do before the spider and ettercap attacks are resolved. Keep in mind that the locations of the hidden creatures need not be revealed until their attacks hit or miss. More specific information would be needed for me to tell you what to describe.

This. First step of how to play is the DM describes the environment. Something about the environment indicates an attack is in progress. Now the players describe what they want to do, when they're able to act.

 

[Mistwell]

One of the characters I am DMing for has an insane +11 to initiative and the alert feat which prevents surprise.

So how do you handle it when she does not see and is not aware of any adversaries, is not surprised because of the feat but goes first in a round?

Your spider sense is tingling. You don't know what's wrong, but you know something is wrong.

 

[Flamestrike]

Hey look, this thread again!

For example at the last gaming session there were some ettercaps and giant spiders that snuck up on the party as they were searching the woods. No one in the party noticed them. In normal circumstances this is easy - everyone is surprised. The problem here is she can't be surprised but the round starts with her (she got a 27 initiative on this particular battle). So I have everyone roll initiative and ask her what she is doing since she goes first.

The way I have been handling it is "you sense something is amiss" with no further details and then let her move take an action, or whatever. Usually she draws a weapon moves to a favorable location and either takes a ready action (I attack the first enemy I see) or she takes a dodge action.

What were the Ettercaps doing that triggered combat? Narrate that commencing in a way that is consistent and makes sense, and THEN call for initiative.

Example:

You (as DM): As you search the woods, you suddenly hear high pitched chittering coming from all around you. You think you can see movement in the woods, but you cant pinpoint it. You are all surprised, aside from you [player of Rogue with Alert feat]. Roll initiative.
Player of Rogue with Alert feat [not surprised, rolls high enough to go first]: Can I see the monsters?
You: No, they're currently hidden from you. You cant pinpoint them. The sound seems to be coming from all around. You can try and pinppoint them with the Search action if you like?
Player of Rogue: Ok I'll jump behind a tree and take the Dodge action/ I'll take the Search action to find them and then move to the tree and Hide with my cunning action as a bonus action/ I'll pull out a potion and drink it etc etc etc

 

[GMMichael]

So how do you handle it when she does not see and is not aware of any adversaries, is not surprised because of the feat but goes first in a round?

Start by figuring out how "not aware of any adversaries" equals "not surprised." ( Because they sound like opposites to me.) Or stop using " surprised" when in D&D you actually mean "misses first round." Then things might make more sense.

 

[NotAYakk]

Or "you saw something out of the corner of your eye in that (waves over psrt of the battle mat) area of the brush."

Or "you hear a twig snap and a muffled curse".

"You hear the twang of bowstrings" (and you get to act before they hit).

"In the rustling of the leaves you hear a whisper; danger."

"You see a squirrel-hawk stop its pursuit of a rabbit-turtle; it saw something."

 

[doctorbadwolf]

One of the characters I am DMing for has an insane +11 to initiative and the alert feat which prevents surprise.

So how do you handle it when she does not see and is not aware of any adversaries, is not surprised because of the feat but goes first in a round?

For example at the last gaming session there were some ettercaps and giant spiders that snuck up on the party as they were searching the woods. No one in the party noticed them. In normal circumstances this is easy - everyone is surprised. The problem here is she can't be surprised but the round starts with her (she got a 27 initiative on this particular battle). So I have everyone roll initiative and ask her what she is doing since she goes first.

The way I have been handling it is "you sense something is amiss" with no further details and then let her move take an action, or whatever. Usually she draws a weapon moves to a favorable location and either takes a ready action (I attack the first enemy I see) or she takes a dodge action.

Alert doesn’t mean you know there is danger before it strikes. It just means that you are able to respond to ambush without hesitation.