There is a surprising amount of ambiguity around surprise and being surprised in Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. It may come as a surprise to many that there is no ‘surprise round’ in D&D 5E. This is partially due to the fact that surprise was handled in various manners in previous editions. But it is also partially due to the variety of ways that combat encounters or other initiative-tracked encounters start. The official rules on surprise are as follows:
If the adventurers encounter a hostile creature or group, the DM determines whether the adventurers or their foes might be surprised when combat erupts.
Player’s Handbook, p. 183
and
The DM determines who might be surprised. If neither side tries to be stealthy, they automatically notice each other. Otherwise, the DM compares the Dexterity (Stealth) checks of anyone hiding with the passive Wisdom (Perception) score of each creature on the opposing side. Any character or monster that doesn’t notice a threat is surprised at the start of the encounter.
Player’s Handbook, p. 189
These rules are simply very limiting in their scope and versatility. It means that the only way you can get surprise is by hiding, and being surprised is restricted to ‘sides’ of an encounter – you never surprise your allies. As a DM, are you really going to make the character roll a stealth check if a character decides to stab someone instead of handing them a dagger? They’re not hiding out of site, they’re not even hiding the dagger, they’re deceiving the person about their intent. What about if your rogue decides to attack someone without consulting the party? Are you not surprised because you aren’t ‘on the opposing side’? I suggest a simple tweaked surprise system that can be applied to every circumstance at the start of any initiative-tracked encounter.
Before we start walking through steps, let’s define ‘Surprised’ as an actual condition. It fits right in with the other conditions, as it is applied to creatures, it has a defined start and ends time, and it applies effects to the target. I personally think it’s ridiculous that 5E doesn’t define it as such.
Surprised (condition)
• A surprised creature cannot take actions or reactions
• A surprised creature cannot move
• The surprised condition ends at the end of the creature’s next turn
First, roll initiative at the moment at least one creature declares that they do something that may be contested on a second-to-second manner. Player(s) or monster(s) declares they fire a shot? Roll initiative. Player declares they grab the vase before the enemy has a chance to? Roll initiative. Important note: Don’t roll initiative when you think a battle might break out, wait until an action is declared. DO NOT resolve the declared action. That action is what that character will do or try to do on its first turn in the initiative. The whole point of initiative is to see if you can get the jump on someone who is trying to do something by being faster than they are.
Third, follow this flow chart to assign the Surprised condition to every creature in the initiative.
Fourth, start combat. It’s that simple.
To see how this would work in practice, let’s consider various scenarios that I believe are not adequately covered by the 5E rules:
1. Our group of adventurers is going to approach the bandit captain in broad daylight, dressed as commoners, and then assassinate him, all synchronized to the chime of the noonday bell. The rogue decides that he’ll hide on a rooftop and shoot instead of approaching.
• Based on the predefined signal, all members of the group declare that they are attacking.
• Initiative is rolled.
• Each of the players is intending to act simultaneously, so none are surprised.
• Every adventurer but the rogue rolls a deception check to hide their intent. The rogue rolls a stealth check to literally hide.
• The bandit captain and any surrounding combatants each check to see of their passive stats beat any of the adventurers’ rolls to see if they are surprised.
2. Our group of adventurers is going to approach the bandit captain in broad daylight, dressed as commoners, and then assassinate him. The group will wait until the rogue attacks to join in.
• The rogue declares an attack.
• Initiative is rolled.
• Only the rogue is intending to act, so only the rogue is not surprised by default.
• The rogue rolls a stealth check.
• Every other creature (adventurers, bandit captain, and surrounding combatants) check to see of their passive perception beats the rogue’s roll to see if they are surprised.
3. The adventurers are having a meeting with the king. Unbeknownst to the group, the rogue is following secret orders to kill the king. The rogue approaches under the guise of kissing the king’s ring but instead declares an attack.
• The rogue declares an attack.
• Initiative is rolled.
• Only the rogue is intending to act, so only the rogue is not surprised by default.
• The rogue rolls a deception check to hide his intent as he approaches.
• Every other creature (adventurers, the king, and surrounding combatants) check to see of their passive insight beat’s the rogue’s roll to see if they are surprised.
I think that this tweak to the surprise rules leads to more realistic situations. Situations where even allies can be sometimes caught off guard by a character’s behavior, where surprise means something more than just a stealthy rogue, and where it’s easily understood by everyone who is surprised.