Apr 28, 2019 by [ "James R. Miller"
]
Categories:
rpgs
Tags:
5e
stealth
rules
how-i_run
surprise
dnd
This article will discuss how I like to adjudicate stealth and surprise in 5E.
In many 5E games, I’ve found stealth and surprise rounds are rarely handled correctly by the DM; often, we see this in the form of either the PCs or the monsters getting an unfair (per RAW) “alpha strike” on the opposing party. This causes encounter imbalance and can make the game either too easy or too difficult. It also serves as an imbalance in the DEX (stealth) and WIS (Perception) skill system, creating unintended consequences in making one or the other too weak or too strong.
This will discuss how I think we should be running stealth in 5E; however, I also recognize that many DMs (me included) have taken the easy way out and said, “you all get a surprise round” at one point or another in running the game.
I want to make two big points that should help clear up determining stealth and surprise:
“Surprised” is a condition in 5E; there is no concept of a surprise round anymore. Now, if every single opposing monster ends up with the “surprised” condition, then you earned a de facto surprise round. But we don’t call it that anymore.
This is something I see wrong all the time; the PC’s stealth roll equals the monster’s passive perception, and the DM rewards the PC. That was wrong; the stealth roll has to exceed the passive perception score for the PC to “win”. Think of it this way, the stealth roll is setting a “DC”, and then the passive perception roll is like rolling a “save”. Since a save that equals a DC succeeds, the DC needs to exceed the save.
For example, even if your rogue’s stealth roll is astronomical, but your cleric’s is a 1, the monster’s likely aren’t going to be surprised since they notice the cleric. This doesn’t mean that the rogue is unhidden or won’t get some sort of other advantage from his high stealth roll. It simply means that the monster won’t have the surprised condition for the first round of combat. I think many DM mistakes come from failing to separate, say, giving Advantage on an attack roll when unseen (a fair boon) or giving an automatic surprise round (acting twice in a row is worth way more than Advantage on a dice roll).
This scenario is an ambush of one side; think the Lost Mine of Phandelver first encounter where 4 Goblins are hiding in the underbrush at a choke point in the road. The PCs are advancing with a horse-drawn wagon and are sticking out like a sore thumb. There’s no question that the goblins have noticed the PCs; so, the point of this exchange is to determine what sort of advantage1 the goblins, if any, will get against the PCs due to their hiding.
DM: Ok, PCs, you’re approaching a choke in the road about 100’ ahead; and there are some dead horses in the choke point.
Fighter: I hop down from the wagon and move forward, sword drawn, to investigate the horses. (Rest of party draws weapons but hangs back with wagon)
DM: As you approach within 30’, you can see that there are multiple black arrows sticking out of the horse; as best you can tell they are crudely made. Suddenly, you hear a scream as 4 goblins pop up out of the underbrush, two rushing at you Fighter with scimitar’s drawn, and two pulling back more crude arrows on shortbows. Let’s resolve stealth and surprise. (Rolls stealth for Goblins, got a 13) Ok, PCs, does anyone have a passive perception of 13 or higher?
Fighter: I don’t; I only have a 12.
Other Party Members: For sake of streamlining, we all have at least a 13 or higher passive perception.
DM: Ok, Fighter, you lose your turn in the first round. Everyone else, you’re not surprised.
The DM then asks for initiative rolls and the combat moves forward as normal with Fighter sitting out Round 1.
When the Monsters are uniform or have the same stealth checks, I roll a single time for all the monsters with the rationale that whichever monster rolled lowest would be the roll to set how difficult it was for the PCs to notice the monsters. With PCs rolling stealth checks, I use the lowest check in the group to compare to the monster’s passive perception to determine whether or not the monsters are surprised.
If I have two different kinds of monsters, say, goblins and bugbears, I would roll one check for the goblins, one check for the bugbears, and then use the lowest roll from the two.
You might say that the goblins should get a little bit more of an advantage in this scenario since they were hidden, well, you are right! But I wouldn’t give them that advantage in the form of surprise rounds, I would give them that advantage in the form of the ranged goblins getting Advantage on their attack roll on the first attack since they were unseen. I might also give them a small bonus (like +2) on their initiative rolls or even give the goblins Advantage on their initiative rolls to give them a better chance to act first. However, letting the monsters (or the PCs) in a combat get back-to-back turns without a chance of the surprised side from responding is an incredibly harsh measure and should be used sparingly.
This is one that comes up all the time in my games. The party clears a room, and then sneaks over to the next door, wanting to try and get the jump on whatever is in the next room.
I found an article on StackExchange that was right on point and it’s worth reading to get some perspective on the issue.
Here’s the question from the article:
Scenario: My group makes a ruckus looking through barrels, and alerts the guards in the next room of intruders. The guards ready themselves by hiding on either side of the door. They have no stealth bonus. The group approaches the door and makes a perception check to listen to the other side, rolls a 20, so I say that they think they hear a quick shuffling and a faint “shhh” noise.
What happens next?
In my case, the group slowly and quietly opened the door without walking through it, and didn’t see anything, so they stepped inside.
Can the guard swing his sword right away? Would it be a surprise round? Should I get them to roll initiative and maybe be able to dodge (move away from) the sword strike?
I want to make the game fluid and realistic, but don’t want to bend and break rules all over the place. What should happen here, and how do other DM’s carry out such a scenario?
Here is what I think happens, but I’d appreciate any input. Because both PCs and NPCs are on alert, there is no surprise round. Once the character walks into the room, combat “technically” starts and thus initiatives are rolled. If the PC out rolls the NPC, they can run backwards, or run past the guard further into the room. If the NPC wins initiative, it makes its attack on the PC. Correct?
The conclusion from the article is that neither side is surprised; the guards heard the PCs making a ruckus, and the PCs heard the guards say “shhhh”. Just roll initiative as normal and forget about anyone being surprised.
An entire surprise round where the whole party (or monsters) gets to act for “free” should be an extraordinary advantage for the party. There are other more subtle ways to give smaller boons to the stealthy party. And always remember that if a party member or monster detects at least a single creature from the other side, then they are not surprised. So you would compare the lowest stealth roll from the other side when determining surprise.
Small ‘a’ advantage; not Advantage per the rules. ↩︎