Surprise (combat)

Surprise is a circumstance that might occur between parties at the moment of contacting one another, indicating the possibility that one or both parties might be taken aback by the unexpected occurrence. Combatants that are surprised are effectively stunned and unable to take action until the surprise has passed. When a party "achieves surprise," it means that the party not surprised is in a position to take advantage of their surprised opponents.

When one party is surprised and the other is not, then surprise supplants the need to roll initiative. When both parties are surprised, no one is able to take action immediately and initiative must be rolled to see which party recovers from surprise first.

Conditions

Surprise occurs when there is a legitimate chance for individuals to be taken unawares. This most commonly occurs when a party has not seen or heard others, and therefore has no foreknowledge of the other's presence. Being ambushed (particularly when the party feels safe), moving around a corner without carefully looking first, rushing through a door and the distraction of making or breaking camp; conversing with others so than enemies may approach unheard; being in a state of wearyness, drunkedness or sleep; and expecting one thing and getting another.

In the case of the latter, surprise might occur when the party has determined the presence of orcs beyond a door. Feeling certain of this, they kick the door open — only to find that the orcs include a large, unexpected ogre. Naturally, this would be a time to roll surprise. On the other hand, if there were only orcs, then the party would not roll surprise upon kicking in the door — though the orcs would.

Rolling Surprise

Surprise is therefore rolled when there is a reasonable chance that one set of combatants or the other is likely to be surprised. Surprise is rolled on a d6. One player for the party is designated by the DM to roll a surprise die for the whole player party. The DM then rolls a surprise die for all combatants opposed to the party. The two dice are then compared.

Surprise normally occurs when the die comes up a 1 or a 2. This is usually written as being surprised "2 in 6."

In some circumstances, however, an individual character may have a greater ability to avoid surprise than others. The Monk character, for example, reduces the chance of surprise with levels gained. Other characters, such as the ranger in the wilderness or the thief and assassin in an urban setting, may only be surprised on a 1 (depending on their abilities or the circumstances involved). The same is true of many creatures. Moreover, some creatures will surprise more often than usual, on a 3 in 6 or a 4 in 6, including elven or halfling characters that are acting alone. Finally, creatures with a sufficient dexterity receive a modifier to the die rolled (+1 for a 16 dexterity, +2 for a 17 dexterity and +3 for an 18 or better dexterity) or receives an adjustment from some other source (luck, spell, magic item, etc.). See the example under Initiative.

Comparing the dice can therefore be a complicated issue. Usually, however, the matter is settled when neither side rolls a sufficiently low number to be surprised. If it happens that either side is surprised, however, due to a lack of modifiers or because the creature faced has a high chance of causing surprise, then the surprised group of combatants are considered to be stunned for one round.

Note that if some members of either group of combatants have a sufficient adjustment to the die to indicate that they, personally, are notsurprised, then they are free to act in the next round, even if their companions are not. This means that they may be the only actual combatants free to attack - in which case, they would automatically win initiative, since everyone else is stunned.

It is possible for both sets of combatants (or all three sets of combatants, if the case arises) to be completely surprised, and for no one to be able to take any action. In that case, normal initiative would then be resolved to see which combatants attack first. Further, if individuals on opposing sides are not surprised while their companions on both sides are, then initiative would be rolled to resolve which of the unsurprised combatants would attack first.

STANDING GUARD: It must be understood that combatants who are standing guard or moving forward with a conscious awareness of potential threat are not required to roll surprise when encountering the enemy.

See Attacking in Combat