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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 6695499" data-attributes="member: 29398">I often use the surprise roll to *tell me* who's aware/alert/ready and-or who isn't in situations when an encounter is inevitable.&nbsp; Way quicker and easier than a bunch of perception checks.What if nobody's trying to be stealthy.&nbsp; One group walks around a corner while another group approaches the same corner going the other way.&nbsp; Both groups *could* be surprised, or just one, or neither; and in any situation this needs to be determined before initiative gets rolled.(included word is mine)No, you still have two systems in 5e as you're ignoring the perception checks (and stealth checks, where appropriate) before initiative starts.&nbsp; Also, in 5e as written you've got the absurd possibility of a person/group/whatever being taken by surprise in the fiction yet still able to act first in the mechanical resolution due to initiative luck, which is flat-out wrong.By the way, 1e initiative as written is a hopeless mess; and friends steer friends away from it.&nbsp; 1e surprise mechanics, however, are nice, simple, and worth keeping.Lan-&quot;surprise!&quot;-efan</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 6695499, member: 29398"] I often use the surprise roll to *tell me* who's aware/alert/ready and-or who isn't in situations when an encounter is inevitable. Way quicker and easier than a bunch of perception checks. What if nobody's trying to be stealthy. One group walks around a corner while another group approaches the same corner going the other way. Both groups *could* be surprised, or just one, or neither; and in any situation this needs to be determined before initiative gets rolled. (included word is mine) No, you still have two systems in 5e as you're ignoring the perception checks (and stealth checks, where appropriate) before initiative starts. Also, in 5e as written you've got the absurd possibility of a person/group/whatever being taken by surprise in the fiction yet still able to act first in the mechanical resolution due to initiative luck, which is flat-out wrong. By the way, 1e initiative as written is a hopeless mess; and friends steer friends away from it. 1e surprise mechanics, however, are nice, simple, and worth keeping. Lan-"surprise!"-efan [/QUOTE]

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