Surprise

Surprise

When a combat starts, if you are not aware of your opponents and they are aware of you, you are surprised. In most cases, this is due to one side having the time to set up an ambush against the other side. However, sometimes one side will stumble into an encounter with the other side and are simply too distracted to notice that an encounter has begun.

Setting Up An Ambush

Setting up an ambush, whether you are the GM running a group of monsters, or the player characters, requires at least 1 minute of preparation. It is also generally best if you know with some certainty that the other group (monsters or PC's) will pass through the area in which you are setting up an ambush. This is best accomplished by setting up where the environment naturally converges into a choke point, or playing upon the routines of the other party.

The ambushing party (the attackers) must choose a square on the battlefield that is the focal point of their ambush. All members of the ambushing side must set up within a 50 foot spread of all other ambushing members (no two ambushers can be more than fifty feet apart), and that spread must also include the focal square of the ambush.

At the point the ambush is sprung, each creature in the group being ambushed may roll a Perception check to notice the ambush at the last second. (See "Determining Awareness", below.)

Assuming the ambushing party has sufficient time to prepare, one member of that party rolls a d20. On a result of 10 or greater, the ambush preparations are good enough to cause a surprise round to occur. A roll of 9 or less means that some aspect of the preparations were inadequate to disguise the ambush from casual view, and the approaching targets will see through the attempt without a need for perception checks. In such a case, no surprise round occurs.

Modifiers to Ambush Check:

• More Prep Time: For each additional minute of preparation, the ambushing party gains a +1 circumstance bonus to the d20 check, to a maximum of +4, if you have 5 or more full minutes to prepare.
• Skilled Ambushers: Some monsters and character classes are better at preparing ambushes, and receive a bonus to the check. This bonus is usually only +1, but can sometimes be higher. Refer to the specific monster entries or character classes for details.

• Some creatures are also capable of setting up an ambush in less than 1 full minute of preparation time, while others are capable of increasing the base DC of a successfully prepared ambush. However, these abilities do not influence the ambush check result.

• Good Hiding Places: If the ambushing area has sufficient hiding places for all creatures such that each creature has cover from the approaching prey, and all ambushing creatures are remaining as still as possible, and taking no actions other than watching for the approaching victims, they gain a +1 bonus to the check. If any creature has half or more of their body exposed (partial cover), or if any creature is required to squeeze to have cover, this bonus does not apply.
• Invisibility: If all creatures in the ambushing party are invisible, they gain a +1 bonus to the check.

This ambush check is made in place of individual stealth checks for each creature. Players and monsters may still make stealth checks if they wish, but their degree of success is irrelevant to whether or not a surprise round occurs.

Ruining the Ambush

If any creature in the ambushing party speaks out loud, or moves from their space, the ambush is ruined and must be set up again, requiring an additional minute of preparation. Successful ambushes require discipline, and can prove quite difficult for highly chaotic creatures.

Why can't we all just run around a corner and hide?

It is easy to think that, by running around a corner, and having all members of the group enter a Stealth stance, or hide behind cover, you might be able to surprise enemy creatures who are following you, or are approaching the area. However, such creatures would be aware not only that the hiding creatures must be nearby, but would be on their guard against the rather obvious ambush to follow. As a result, no surprise round is possible.

However, attacking a creature from stealth does grant a +4 circumstance bonus to-hit with your attack. That's not nothing.

Accidental Encounters

It is also possible to surprise creatures when they are so distracted by something else that they stumble into an encounter without the proper awareness that a fight is occurring. This is quite rare, since most monsters and heroes are hyper-aware of their surroundings, and are on the lookout for danger. However, some activities require so much attention that making Passive Perception checks are not possible. If no members of a group are capable of making Passive Perception checks, they are always surprised by an encounter with enemy creatures, even if the enemy creatures made no preparations for an ambush.

If even one member of a distracted group is keeping an eye out, and not participating in the distracting action, they can warn their allies prior to any accidental encounters occurring. As a result, such a group would only be surprised if they encounter enemy creatures who have set up a proper ambush.

The Surprise Round

Assuming an ambush check is successful, or an accidental encounter has occurred, a surprise round happens, regardless of how many creatures are aware of the encounter.

A surprise round consists of a single standard action for each creature which is aware of the encounter, resolved in initiative order. Any creature which failed to notice that the encounter is occurring loses their standard action during the surprise round. As with any encounter, any creature which has not yet acted during the encounter (including those who cannot act during the surprise round) are Flat-Footed until they take their first action.

Creatures may use this standard action however they wish, though Charge actions are the most common tactic. Note that charge actions always break stealth before the charge attack is resolved. Assuming your target hasn't yet acted, they are still Flat-Footed to the attack, so this is usually no great loss.

Creatures may also use their standard action during a surprise round to take the Total Defense action, even though this normally a full-round action.

Surprise rounds count as a special round for purposes of how action points may be used. The round immediately following a surprise round is still considered "round 1". Action points used during the surprise round may use any ability that is normally available in the first round of combat, even though it isn't technically round 1 yet.

Determining Awareness

Each creature in the group being ambushed must roll a Perception check to notice the ambush at the last second. This is a free action that is made against a Challenging DC for the CR (or level) of the ambushing creatures. Note that some creatures (or character classes) may possess a special ability that increases this DC to a Hard DC or (rarely) even an Impossible DC for their CR (or level).

If any creature among the group being ambushed was making Spot checks (active perception) each round (requiring a move action), they reduce the required DC by one step (typically from Challenging to Average for the CR or level of the ambushing creatures).

All creatures in the group that set up the ambush automatically succeed on the perception check to notice when the surprise round begins. In addition, they are assumed to be making Spot checks each round, once the ambush has been set up. This may allow them to spot any invisible and/or stealthed creatures among their targets prior to the encounter beginning. GM's may wish to make a single such Spot check for all of the creatures in the ambushing group, rather than one per creature, to simplify things, though they may roll for each creature, if they prefer.

Creatures which fail this check are surprised, and lose the standard action normally gained during the surprise round. They remain Flat-Footed until they are able to act in the encounter. Creatures which succeed on the check are not surprised, and may take their standard action during the surprise round, resolved in initiative order.

Note that, just because a creature is aware that an ambush is occurring does not mean that they penetrate any stealth checks, or notice any invisible creatures. They are simply aware that enemy creatures are present. However, in most cases, the ambushing creatures will break their stealth (and/or invisibility) very soon after the ambush is triggered, so it may not be relevant.

In the event that a creature among the group being ambushed notices the ambush and is higher in the initiative order than all of the ambushing creatures, they are in the peculiar position of not having any targets to attack. Such creatures may take the Total Defense action (as a standard action instead of a full-round action, due to it being a surprise round), ready an action, or hold their action. They may also declare they are Fighting Defensively and also hold or ready an action, gaining the bonus for fighting defensively immediately, though they must remember to apply the penalty for doing so when their action comes up. They may also wish to use their standard action to make an active perception check, to attempt to penetrate any stealth or invisibility among the ambushing creatures. They could then relay any information they learn to their allies. In any case, because they have now acted (even if they ready or hold their action), they are no longer Flat-Footed against attacks.