Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 El_Condoro May 07, 2015 0:54:24	There have been, and still are, a few threads about surprise, so I apologise if this question has been covered.   The rule I have the question about is on p.189 of the PHB: "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."   My question is about whether 'that turn' relates to the whole turn ('first turn of the combat') or just the character's turn ('your first turn'). I always thought it was the whole first turn but on a second reading it would seem the word 'your' should be 'the', if it applied to the whole turn.   Could the character cast Shield (a reaction) when attacked later in the first round, for example?
#2 AaronOfBarbaria May 07, 2015 1:05:18	There is no "first turn of combat" - what you are referring to with that phrasing is called a round.   Turns are things that each participant gets - your turn, his turn, their turns - not a measurement of time.   If the character wanting to cast shield has had their turn (and did nothing because they were surprised), before they are attacked, they are able to cast shield. If their turn hasn't come up yet, they cannot.
#3 El_Condoro May 07, 2015 1:22:51	That's my reading, too. Cheers.
#4 Rya.Reisender May 07, 2015 4:34:26	Yes, "Turn" always refers to something related to a single person. "Round" on the other hand refers to the whole number of turns that are done in the same 6 second time frame.