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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hriston" data-source="post: 7687680" data-attributes="member: 6787503">Well now he has. That's the point. It makes no difference to me whether you're satisfied with his ruling or not. I only feel it's curious that then you seemed to be saying you would be, whereas now it seems to make no difference to you. Most of the time a surprised creature becomes aware of a threat as soon as combat is initiated because of the assumption that creatures are aware of their surroundings. Even though they are aware of the attack, they will remain surprised until the end of their first turn. Awareness of a threat does not make you unsurprised. In fact it is the revelation of the previously unknown threat and the unanticipated sudden attack that surprises the creature in the first place. If awareness of a threat negates surprise in your games, I wonder how anyone is ever surprised at all, but we're revisiting old arguments here, aren't we?Only in an extreme corner case that relies on a hidden character with the Skulker feat shooting invisible and silenced arrows, if such items are even available within the normal rules (I've certainly never encountered them), and what's more missing with the attack roll, rendering moot the question of reacting to the attack, is it even conceivable that the target would remain unaware that it was under attack.And what then? If we are to believe that the Skulker's concealment is so complete, that its arrows are so utterly undetectable that the target will sit passively, oblivious to all, as attack after attack whizzes by its head until one finally hits, why not give the Skulker an auto-hit in the first round and be done with it? This way, if the target wins initiative it can react to the hit, and if the Skulker wins s/he attacks with surprise in full accordance with the rules. If that's what you meant by going along with it I misunderstood. I don't do organized play myself so hadn't considered your acceptance of Crawford's ruling would be anything but entirely voluntary.</blockquote>

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