D&D 5E (2024) How do you handle surprised but won initiative?

[Distracted DM]

I've definitely run surprise 5e14 RAW, and I've house-ruled it on the fly, and I've basically said "ok you, the fighter, get advantage on initiative because you were the one that decided to draw steel first."

I think I actually like 5e14 RAW the best, because yeah it really does reward ambush play. It rewards strategic and tactical thinking. It is, yes, very powerful. I don't think there's anything wrong with that if you want to make scouting and such intelligence-gathering and planning more immediately incentivized. Yes, by scouting you can see that it's a red fire drake in the next room ... so you can save a round warding vs. fire. OR you can lure the thing into an ambush and get a free round of attacks on it. That's going to be more immediately valuable to a party's reckoning than a little extra prep time.

 

[BigMac75]

Reading all this made me think that there may be options for the surprised people who win initiative that simply limits their actions. I know it would not be RAW but letting someone run 20' and attack while a leopard is mid-air coming out of the tree does not seem realistic. However, snapping off a shot with a loaded crossbow, or even knocking and firing an arrow for an experienced archer (or getting off a Fire Bolt or Eldritch Blast) seems more realistic.

For those that win initiative over the surprise-attacker:

• Would it be too much to only allow bonus actions or reactions in response to a surprise attack?
• Or allowing attacks if an enemy is in range but not allowing any movement till the surprise attack itself resolves?
• Or maybe reducing the number of attacks available by 1 for those that win initiative (to take into account superior fighting prowess that is apparent in those that have multiple attacks per round)?

I think that even if these things might seem to penalize the characters that win initiative (since they cannot do as much as their slower colleagues) it is actually letting them do something before the surprise attack resolves, which is what is actually important. However, it is also still giving a realistic benefit for surprise.

 

[Artamo]

Thing is, you weren't just speaking about your own game play in the post to which I replied, you were speaking of modern gaming trends - some of which I find very sad indeed - as a whole.

And while I've no right to criticize your own game play, I think (or at least bloody well hope) I'm free to criticize overall trends and developments.

You asked me a direct question, I didn’t engage you. Comment all you want about trends but when someone gives you an answer, which by the way is likely always going to be a opinion, not some sort of gospel truth, perhaps be more specific about what it is you are directing your commentary towards.

 

[Plaguescarred]

5.5 Surprise is all about maximizing the chances of ambushers acting before surprised foes.

As DM i give Advvantage to ambusher's Initiative, Disadvvantage to surprised creature and may use Initiative scores as suggested in the Dungeon Master Guide instead of rolling Initiative for following result;

Ambusher 15 + DEX mod

Surprised 5 + DEX mod

Surprise. If a combatant is surprised by combat starting, that combatant has Disadvantage on their Initiative roll. For example, if an ambusher starts combat while hidden from a foe who is unaware that combat is starting, that foe is surprised.

Surprise. If you’re Invisible when you roll Initiative, you have Advantage on the roll.

Rolling Initiative. In any situation where a character’s actions initiate combat, you can give the acting character Advantage on their Initiative roll.

Advantage and Disadvantage. If a creature has Advantage on Initiative rolls, increase its Initiative score by 5. If it has Disadvantage on those rolls, decrease that score by 5.

Initiative Scores for Characters. You can get to the action of combat more quickly by using Initiative scores instead of rolling. You might decide to use Initiative scores just for characters, just for monsters, or for both. A character’s Initiative score is typically 10 plus all modifiers to the character’s Initiative roll (including their Dexterity modifier and any special modifiers).

Ties. If a tie occurs, the DM decides the order among tied monsters, and the players decide the order among tied characters. The DM decides the order if the tie is between a monster and a player character.