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.
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.