Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 daedel Aug 09, 2014 13:07:42	I am "surprised" to find out that surprise doesn't concede automatically advantage to the attack. I know that if the pc's go stealth and ambush their enemies those attacks gain advantage, but I am thinking about other situations in which the party surprises the enemies but are not hiidden. For example, they break a door because they know they are enemies unaware of them in the other room, or in the the middle of a diplomatic conversation one pc (or npc) suddendly draws a sword and attacks. Would you consider giving advantage under those circumstances?
#2 AaronOfBarbaria Aug 09, 2014 16:16:23	No, I would not give out advantage in those circumstances. My reasons are thus:   Giving everyone advantage in those situations reduces the "this is a cool feature" quality of the Assassin sub-classes abiilty to have advantage against enemies that have not acted yet during a combat - which is most commonly true when the party has surprised their enemies. Surprise causing the creature's first turn to be skipped (except that they can take reactions if any appropriate triggers take place after their turn in initiative order) is already enough of a drawback - it can mean the difference between a tough fight and a cakewalk, in my experience. Providing advantage automatically for surprise is more likely to benefit the monsters than it is the players, and I have a natural distaste for rules that do that to a potent degree (and by potent I mean giving a monster that already hits like a mac truck a greater chance to hit and a nearly doubled likelihood to score a critical hit without the monster doing anything except not be expected by the party).
#3 Jarodeth Aug 09, 2014 22:57:58	I'd rule completely the opposite with a resounding "yes".  If someone truly is not expecting to be lept out upon that is EXACTLY the kind of pre-planning and intelligent play that should be rewarded with advantage.  And a true advantage it is throughout the history of combat.
(Reply to #2) hallows1999	AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
#5 Sherman Aug 09, 2014 23:47:15	I think the distinction you're looking for is "Surprised" vs. "Unawares". D&D has a long history of surprise meaning a group of orc guards playing knucklebones at their post and having a party smash down a door and rush them. That's a far cry from someone sneaking up and knifing an orc at the table where they go from rolling knucklebones to spurting blood. Unprepared to fight vs. completely caught off guard. It's a little subtle, but it's really a huge difference.