Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How does Surprise work in 5e?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="guachi" data-source="post: 6470501" data-attributes="member: 6785802"><p>I'm not the person you are addressing, but it's a discussion forum, right?</p><p></p><p>I posted way back on the first page that I thought the PCs couldn't be surprised (mechanically) if they were approached by obviously hostile bandits. The key being "obviously hostile". I like Celtavians 4 point post a few pages back is about perfect. If the players give some indication they think something is up I'd allow them a Perception check to notice the archers or maybe an Insight check to determine if the bandits on the road have given the situation away.</p><p></p><p>Depending on the outcome of the roll, if any, I'd either grant surprise for the archers or simply have them fire at advantage. Even if they PCs were surprised I'd still roll initiative normally and not grant the bandits any modifiers or anything. Sure, they may know the ambush is coming, but the initiative roll determines how fast they react to things.</p><p></p><p>I'm still trying to come up with a way to determine if someone is surprised by an opponent they can see but don't know is an opponent yet. Because otherwise it makes an Assassin trying to assassinate someone with a melee weapon difficult. Like, impersonate someone and then stab them. Maybe an opposed Deception/Insight check?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="guachi, post: 6470501, member: 6785802"] I'm not the person you are addressing, but it's a discussion forum, right? I posted way back on the first page that I thought the PCs couldn't be surprised (mechanically) if they were approached by obviously hostile bandits. The key being "obviously hostile". I like Celtavians 4 point post a few pages back is about perfect. If the players give some indication they think something is up I'd allow them a Perception check to notice the archers or maybe an Insight check to determine if the bandits on the road have given the situation away. Depending on the outcome of the roll, if any, I'd either grant surprise for the archers or simply have them fire at advantage. Even if they PCs were surprised I'd still roll initiative normally and not grant the bandits any modifiers or anything. Sure, they may know the ambush is coming, but the initiative roll determines how fast they react to things. I'm still trying to come up with a way to determine if someone is surprised by an opponent they can see but don't know is an opponent yet. Because otherwise it makes an Assassin trying to assassinate someone with a melee weapon difficult. Like, impersonate someone and then stab them. Maybe an opposed Deception/Insight check? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How does Surprise work in 5e?
Top