D&D 5E LMoP - Goblin Ambush - Stealth and Surprise

[Rya.Reisender]

[MENTION=6801585]Rya.Reisender[/MENTION]

So as you describe above, would their be any possible way for the halfing rogue have advantage (and if so, would it be cancelled out by anything) in this specific encounter?

As Springheel already explained, surprise and getting advantage from hiding are two different things. Hiding, as said, is a combat action, so you do that during combat.

The rogue for example could run behind the wagon and hide from the two goblins on the other side. Or the rogue could run into the trees/bushes at the side of the road and hide there.

However, this is not a good idea at level 1, because hiding costs an action. At level 2 onwards, Rogues can however hide as a bonus action, so it becomes something they'd want to try every turn.

 

[happyhermit]

...
The way it was written, implied to me that they've been traveling for a day and a half or so, and the Goblin Ambush section should be imagined as its own "encounter map" as it were. Once there, the goblins have already seen you. Therefore, they can't be surprised. .

Yup, once you round the corner you are only 50ft from the goblins ambush, they are aware of you by sight or sound so aren't going to be surprised.

And as for this, the problem was that it was a group I didn't know well. Part of the house rules, that they agreed to, were that if there was a disagreement about a rule, the DM would make a final ruling and the game would move on, and we would discuss it out of session (which is why I'm here now, because this will inevitably come up again)..

Wait, is the house rule that it will be discussed out of session, because RAW and RAI the GM just makes the call, end of story. It's great to have everyone on the same page, but everyone should do their best to roll with it.

Although this was agreed to, another player was essentially controlling the other player's halfling and telling them to "stealth, roll for stealth, ok now hide!" sort of thing. The not-halfling-rogue player, would not continue playing "unless 'they' got to stealth and a bonus hide action" because "he couldn't have fun if we weren't playing by the rules." (He, too, had never played, and his understanding of these things was coming solely from watching Roll20 DND sessions--he had never read the PHB at all). So as a new DM it put me on the spot very suddenly and in a really awkward position, where everyone would have been happy to move on--except one player. So I am trying to learn this rule properly/in a way that I can apply it unambiguously to the players. "The characters cannot surprise the goblins BECAUSE...." would have been super helpful from the book.

Honestly, if a player says something like that the best thing to tell them is to walk or play the game you are running, I understand that can be difficult for a variety of reasons, especially for a new GM. Telling another player what to do (unsolicited) is almost always a problematic thing, there are exceptions such as with close friends and joking around but mostly it sucks. It, and many things can often be mitigated by telling them to "keep it in character", but problem players can still cause issues.

GMing is hard, more often due to inter-personal issues than anything, but it can be a lot of fun. It sounds corny but the most important thing is to have fun.

 

[Charles Rampant]

The not-halfling-rogue player, would not continue playing "unless 'they' got to stealth and a bonus hide action" because "he couldn't have fun if we weren't playing by the rules." (He, too, had never played, and his understanding of these things was coming solely from watching Roll20 DND sessions--he had never read the PHB at all).

I'm sorry, but someone who has not even read the PHB and decides to be a rules lawyer is someone that you should keep an eye on. The main benefit of a rules lawyer in the group is that you can ask them what the rules are; one that doesn't know the rules is just bossy.