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<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 9260563" data-attributes="member: 2629">The availability of surprise rounds is almost entirely up to the DM.&nbsp; When I played an assassin early in the 5E era and set up the PC to be an assassin, the DM with which I was playing didn't make it hard for me to set up surprise rounds.&nbsp; I had the high initiative bonus and almost always went before at least one enemy.&nbsp; I definitely got that surprise round full assassinate against something 75% of the time at least ... although sometimes I was settling for a non-optimal target.It was a Wood Elf Assassin who took Sharpshooter at 4th to allow very long distance assassination attempts. Combined with high Perception to be aware of enemies and great stealth capabilities - and, as mentioned, a DM that did not metagame to nerf abilities - it was not hard.&nbsp; We dis a modified LMoP for the first 5 levels or so, and then played in a homebrew campaign that went to a fantasy Venice, the Underdark, and an 'Asteroid' Githyanki base in the Astral Plane.&nbsp; I felt the PC was underpowered as a rogue without serious support from an ally (I had a wizard casting haste on me every combat eventually so that I could Haste attack to sneak attack and then ready a bow shot for another turn and get that second sneak each round).&nbsp; However, I did make consistent use of Assassinate.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 9260563, member: 2629"] The availability of surprise rounds is almost entirely up to the DM. When I played an assassin early in the 5E era and set up the PC to be an assassin, the DM with which I was playing didn't make it hard for me to set up surprise rounds. I had the high initiative bonus and almost always went before at least one enemy. I definitely got that surprise round full assassinate against [I]something[/I] 75% of the time at least ... although sometimes I was settling for a non-optimal target. It was a Wood Elf Assassin who took Sharpshooter at 4th to allow very long distance assassination attempts. Combined with high Perception to be aware of enemies and great stealth capabilities - and, as mentioned, a DM that did not metagame to nerf abilities - it was not hard. We dis a modified LMoP for the first 5 levels or so, and then played in a homebrew campaign that went to a fantasy Venice, the Underdark, and an 'Asteroid' Githyanki base in the Astral Plane. I felt the PC was underpowered as a rogue without serious support from an ally (I had a wizard casting haste on me every combat eventually so that I could Haste attack to sneak attack and then ready a bow shot for another turn and get that second sneak each round). However, I did make consistent use of Assassinate. [/QUOTE]

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