The minute any creature begins a hostile action against another creature, time stops and we roll for initiative. The shot doesn't go off and get resolved before initiative is rolled. When they come around the corner and the rogue pulls the trigger of their crossbow, time stops and we roll for initiative. The gnolls have a passive perception of 10. Stompy the paladin rolls a predictable 6 while Darkshadow the rogue rolls a 17. The characters spend a bit of time preparing. The gnolls are coming down the cave and the characters know it. Let's say the characters find a situation in which they can try to catch a group of gnolls off-guard in the caves of the underdark. In the second, a bunch of monsters try to surprise the characters. In one, the characters attempt to surprise a bunch of monsters. When does surprise actually come into play? We'll look at two scenarios. I take this to mean that a creature isn't surprised if it detects any potential threat. You can be surprised even if your companions aren't, and you aren't surprised if even one of your foes fails to catch you unawares.

But what happens if you are surprised by one creature and not another? The rules don't say but the official Sage Advice Compendium does. If you are surprised, you can't move or act on your turn and you can't take reactions until your first turn ends. Given the above description, we can almost consider 'surprised' to be a condition. Where it says 'doesn't notice a threat', is that 'any' threat, or 'all' threats? It's that final sentence of the first paragraph. Most of this is completely straight forward except for one part. A member of a group can be surprised even if the other members aren't.

If you're surprised, you can't move or take an action on your first turn of the combat, and you can't take a reaction until that turn ends. Any character or monster that doesn't notice a threat is surprised at the start of the encounter. Otherwise, the DM compares the Dexterity (Stealth) checks of anyone hiding with the passive Wisdom (Perception) score of each creature on the opposing side. If neither side tries to be stealthy, they automatically notice each other. The DM determines who might be surprised. The rules themselves describe surprise thusly: Today we're going to dig deep into surprise, how the rules are intended to work, and some ways we can make it easier to run at the table. New to Sly Flourish? Start Here! Understanding Surprise in D&D 5eĪ few of 5th edition D&D's rules aren't quite as simple and clear as we'd like.

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