How do you surprise your players?

[SkidAce]

Fair enough, but if you you keep shouting "ni!" at my table, I *WILL* kill you--------------r character.

Understood, I will not say it......wait...I.....

 

[Schmoe]

I actually did mean surprise the players. As soon as one calls for an initiative roll, the surprise is sort of lost. I feel it would be more theatrical if the ambush began *before* the players roll for initiative thus surprising the players (whether or not the characters are surprised).

...

This is the sort of thing I was thinking of. How would you run "floor collapses"? Do you announce "you hear a rumbling sound" and have the players roll for initiative? What about the harmless NPC vendor that suddenly tries to suck their blood? "The NPC turns towards you with a gleam in his eye: roll for initiative" or is it more of a "The NPC bites your neck" sort of thing? This is where I get stuck and the narrative is lost for me. Players that roll high initiative are stuck wondering what the gleam in his eye means and effectively lose their turn. Or they simply attack because they know initiative means combat...

I use Insight (Sense Motive in 3E) as a sort of Perception check in social situations. For the example above with the bloodsucking NPC, I would run it as follows.

Surprised
Me: "The vendor brings over a collection of pots and pans for you to look at, saying how his pans are all quality wares with a full money-back guarantee. Bob, make a DC 12 Insight check"

Bob: "9, I failed."

Me: "As you bend closer to look at the pots, the vendor suddenly drops his collection with a crash and lunges at your neck. You see vicious fangs as he curls back his lips. Bob, you're surprised. **rolls an 18 to hit** He sinks his teeth into your neck for 8 points of damage one level of exhaustion. Everyone, roll for initiative."

Not Surprised
Me: "The vendor brings over a collection of pots and pans for you to look at, saying how his pans are all quality wares with a full money-back guarantee. Bob, make a DC 12 Insight check"

Bob: "14, I made it."

Me: "As you bend closer to look at the pots, the vendor suddenly drops his collection with a crash and lunges at your neck. You see vicious fangs as he curls back his lips. Everyone, roll for initiative."

 

[Imaculata]

In a recent session, the players were boarding a pirate ship, and noticed that one of the cabin doors had hatches next to it. They then proceeded to loudly discuss their plan about throwing grenades into the room via the hatches.

And that is when enemy pirates, waiting in ambush, did just that.

At first the players presumed that the DM had simply used their idea. But of course the hatches were there just for that planned ambush. I simply telegraphed the threat first.

 

[toucanbuzz]

Reference basic rules (PHB p189). If no one is trying to be stealthy, ignore surprise. Otherwise, make an opposed skill check (generally Perception vs. Stealth).

Now, if you have 20 goblins, this can become cumbersome. Could one goblin step on a branch while the other 19 are quiet as mice? Sure. Does this mean you roll 20 times to see if this happens? In principle, yes. If that doesn't work for you, consider a home-brew rule where you assume everyone but 5 goblins rolled a 10 and just roll for those 5 (or whatever arbitrary number seems fair]. Otherwise, RAW you're left to try a "group check" (if half succeed it works) and that doesn't work too well because (1) you're still rolling a ton of dice and (2) you have different Difficulty Checks of the players to beat.

If even 1 goblin is noticed by a player, s/he isn't surprised (and vice versa if the players are sneaking around).

How do you manage PCs that roll higher initiative than the monsters doing the ambush?

Surprised creatures cannot take any actions during the first round, including reactions. They still get an initiative roll, which is needed in case there's a round-by-round effect you need to track that occurs on the creature's turns.

How would you manage a character that has the alert feat or similar "can't be surprised" effect?

As written. If they're conscious, they can't be surprised. The player forfeited an ability score boost and all its benefits for this situational Feat, so don't screw them over by finding ways to take it away. In my games, it's generally uncommon that enemies set up ambushes or are trying to sneak around, so this Feat doesn't get many chances to shine for the player.

Narrative

Good suggestions already. If you have media, cue battle music. Consider individual narrative for players who are surprised and not surprised. Barbarian, you sense something wrong in the woods. The insects have gone silent. Your weapon is out by instinct, your body moving reflexively even as you register your companions hesitating. Druid and Wizard, you were chatting about the worst taverns in Dogtown when Barbarian's axe came out, and you haven't yet registered what's going on until the arrows start flying.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I actually did mean surprise the players. As soon as one calls for an initiative roll, the surprise is sort of lost. I feel it would be more theatrical if the ambush began *before* the players roll for initiative thus surprising the players (whether or not the characters are surprised).

There's no reason not to go there. Describe the resolutions of the enemy's surprise-round actions to the players all at once, /then/ describe the situation as they can see it, and when one of them declares an action, then, finally, call for initiative.

All you lose is the possibility of a PC using a reaction if they won initiative. No big loss, reactions get anoying, anyway.

This is the sort of thing I was thinking of. How would you run "floor collapses"? Do you announce "you hear a rumbling sound" and have the players roll for initiative? ...

"Rocks fall, everybody dies." Because, sometimes the Old Ways are the best....

;P

 

[BookBarbarian]

Geeze. You're far more committed than I am. I just randomly shout out "Boo!" at some point point during the game session.

I find if I randomly shout the F-Word, or C-Word as loud as I can it really surprises people. My players, my Doctor, my boss... my former boss.

 

[Horwath]