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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 5017394" data-attributes="member: 82106">Sure it does. Surprise is not possible against an alert enemy who is aware of the potential of an attack. In 4e surprise is entirely a DM mediated factor. It doesn't rely on any particular die rolls (though the DM is certainly free to arbitrate it with dice). The predator is invisible and Arnie doesn't make a high enough perception check to sense him, surprise. Etc. Whenever you get the jump on someone, you get a free action before they can do anything. Makes sense to me. It is quite possible that when you surprise a monster it will be ahead of you in the initiative order. So yes, you could get one action and then the monster could be next to take its turn as the next round starts. If you want to be really effective at getting the jump on someone, then you should buff up your initiative and high dex characters are always going to have a bit of an advantage here.There could certainly be situations where there is even more too it than that. Like the example of a sleeping character being attacked. Even after he's attacked he's not automatically awake and alert. If the first attack on him misses he's going to need to make a perception check to wake up and get into the fight. It could easily be a round or two before that happens.</blockquote>