How Does ‘Surprise’ Work? D&D 5e Rules Explained

Featured art for D&D 5e surprise is “An ambush on a thalmor agent” by Janonna-art. Creative Commons License.
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One of the most difficult concepts to explain is how D&D 5e handles surprises. No matter how many times I explain it to my friends, they still ask how it works the next time surprise is used in-game. Why is it so difficult to understand? I think surprise has been misinterpreted for several reasons: the PHB does a poor job explaining it, misinformation is confusing players, and the rules have room for interpretation. In addition, the rules aren’t found in one place, and they overlap with stealth rules.

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Quick Clarifications

I will get into the nitty-gritty rules for Surprise in D&D 5e, but I can give some quick answers first. I hope I can save you time if you don’t want to know everything about Surprise and you need a quick answer.

Test your knowledge of D&D 5e’s Surprise rules before I review them by taking this three-question quiz below (the green one).

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In D&D 5e, does Surprise give advantage?

By the rules, 5e Surprise is based on an attacker being unseen and a target being unsuspecting. Being unseen allows an attacker to attack with advantage. Surprise does not directly allow advantage on an attack, but being unseen does.

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Is Surprised a condition in D&D 5e?

Technically no, but you can think of it as a condition in the first round of combat that goes away after a creature cannot act on its first turn. That’s really all that Surprise means in D&D 5e, though peripheral rules complicate things.

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There Is No ‘Surprise Round’

Let’s get this out of the way: there is no such thing as a ‘surprise round’ in D&D 5e. The ‘surprise round’ concept may be a relic of past editions or other TTRPG systems, but it may also be an organic effort of the D&D community to understand 5e’s surprise rules. When a player referees to a surprise round, it’s a reference to the first round of combat if any character is surprised for that round. I believe D&D 5e should’ve created a ‘Surprised’ condition, just like Frightened or Charmed. This would’ve made it clear that there isn’t a surprise round but a condition that deprives a creature of its actions and movement during its first turn in combat (and reactions before its turn).

Here is what happens to a creature when when it is surprised (p.189 of PHB):

• Surprised creatures cannot move or take actions (bonus actions included) on their first turn during combat.
• A Surprised creature cannot use reactions in combat until its first turn has ended.
• Surprised creatures are attacked with advantage because ambush attackers are assumed to be unseen.
  • Yes, that’s right. Surprising an enemy doesn’t give you advantage to attack them, but being an unseen attacker does. This is based on chapter nine of the PHB regarding ‘Unseen Attackers and Targets‘ on page 194.
• Surprised creatures cease to be surprised when their first turn in the combat order ends.

With the quick clarifications out of the way, let’s get lost in the weeds regarding Surprise rules in D&D 5e.

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D&D 5e Rules of Surprise

Hiding is integral to surprising enemies. By the rules as written, you need to be hidden if you want to surprise anyone. The gist of the hiding concept is to roll Stealth contested by the Perception checks of those who would detect you. You can’t hide from a creature that sees or hears you. Once combat begins, it’s difficult to hide from a creature because it will be alert to danger. Leaving a hiding place to strike will typically reveal your position, but DMs may be generous. Creatures who are not actively searching for threats may still spot them with Passive Perception. Gaining advantage on Perception checks will grant +5 to Passive Perception. You can’t cause a creature to be surprised and lose a turn in the middle of combat, but you can hide from them, so you become an unseen attacker (expounded on later).

Visibility can be impaired by obscuring factors like fog or thick foliage. The Silence spell can impair hearing. Characters can be deafened or blinded. Spotting a creature, object, or other noteworthy feature that isn’t obvious will be more difficult if vision is limited. This is expounded upon in chapter eight of the PHB.

The ‘Activity While Traveling’ section of the PHB (p.182) in chapter eight has a subsection for ‘Stealth.’ It says you can travel at a slow pace to stealthily surprise or circumvent groups of monsters you encounter during travel (as long as you’re not in the open). The subsection refers back to chapter seven for rules about hiding.

The traveling section includes rules regarding marching orders for adventuring parties. Noticing threats is easier for party members in the front rank of the marching order. DMs may decide that only adventurers in the marching order’s back rank will notice enemies tailing and shadowing the party. In either case, passive Wisdom (Perception) is the skill check of choice in the PHB for avoiding surprise while traveling. Passive Perception is penalized by five if the group is traveling at a fast pace.

The last bit of this travel section that refers to surprise is ‘Surprising Foes.’ It says the DM decides whether the party or the monsters are surprised, and that decision is made when combat erupts. I’ll discuss when and how combat erupts later in this article.

Chapter nine of the PHB outlines combat rules and further explains rules for surprise. On p.189, surprise is said to occur if one or both groups are being stealthy and undetected. It’s noteworthy that both sides could potentially have individuals who are surprised when combat begins if both groups are attempting Stealth and some of the individual Passive Perceptions are beaten.

Page 189 says the first job of the DM when combat begins is to determine which creatures are surprised. The DM can do this by comparing the Stealth rolls of any aggressor against the Passive Perceptions of those approached. This process of determining surprise can slow the game’s flow, so I recommend that DMs have all characters’ Passive Perceptions written down where they can easily be referenced. This is less necessary for gaming groups that don’t frequently attempt Stealth with the intent to ambush.

Since a creature ceases to be surprised after its first turn in combat, you’ll want to have significant bonuses to initiative rolls so you can have two turns before the creature can act. If you roll lower than a surprised creature, you only get one turn in combat before them. Rolling high means you’ll have two turns before they can do anything. Only your first attack against a surprised creature will have advantage because you leave your hidden position whether you hit or miss, succeed or fail at your offensive action. You’ll also reveal yourself if you’re out in the open, which is why many skulking characters will use ranged weapons to attack.

Again, here is what happens to surprised creatures:

• Surprised creatures cannot move or take actions (bonus actions included) on their first turn during combat.
• A Surprised creature cannot use reactions in combat until its first turn has ended.
• Surprised creatures are attacked with advantage because attackers are assumed to be unseen.
  • Yes, that’s right. Surprising an enemy doesn’t give you advantage to attack them, but being an unseen attacker does. This is based on chapter nine of the PHB regarding ‘Unseen Attackers and Targets‘ on page 194.
• Surprised creatures cease to be surprised when their first turn in the combat order ends.

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Surprise without Stealth? (Not 5e RAW)

By the book, visibility and audibility are more important for determining whether a creature is hidden and surprising an enemy. I believe surprise has its place outside of stealthy ambushes. This is how I run the game, so it’s my opinion:

If a party isn’t being ‘stealthy’ in an approach, the party may still get the drop on enemies in another manner. It’s more important to me that the party gets the drop on their enemies while those enemies are unaware of what’s about to hit them. Enemies can be unaware of a threat even if they see and hear the adventurers. Breaking down a door like a SWAT team could surely surprise a room’s occupants who were not expecting a fight. No Stealth is necessary. Another situation might involve Sleight of Hand to place contact poison on an enemy’s torso (more on poisons on p.257 of the DMG). A persuasive character or a performer may captivate a crowd, so it’s caught unaware by the Barbarian casually making her way through the crowd to teach them a lesson.

The surprise is predicated being an unforeseen threat. If potentially surprised creatures are not on their guard, unaware of imminent threats, they may be surprised. They may see the player’s character, but they don’t perceive a threat. Political campaigns may be full of such instances. I will allow the party to score surprises on enemies if these conditions are met!

I don’t recommend allowing players to declare they spring an attack in mid-conversation and expect to surprise anyone. The surprise must be earned. If they’re going to whip out a dagger in the middle of a crowded ballroom, they’ll need to roll dice in some capacity to achieve surprise. This is an excellent way to reward creativity, but be careful not to make surprising enemies too common or easy.

Remember, surprising enemies with an attack that is seen may result in enemies being surprised, but you’ll only roll attacks with advantage if you are unseen and unheard. Once more, this is just my own ruling for games I run. You’ll probably roll attacks without advantage in these non-stealthy cases. The main prize will be to cause enemies to lose their first turns in combat while they’re surprised.

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When to Roll Initiative in 5e

Since surprise is determined as combat begins, but before initiative is rolled, let’s discuss how to know when combat starts. Combat begins when a character makes a hostile action. Does the hostile action need to be perceived? I believe the answer is yes. If a character is hidden and uses an imperceptible ability, it should not trigger combat, in my opinion.

One example of an ability that is technically hostile but wouldn’t necessarily kick combat off is the Cleric of the Grave Domain’s Channel Divinity: Path to the Grave. This ability only requires the Cleric to point at an enemy. There is no visual effect that occurs. The enemy doesn’t perceive that they have been cursed.

Sorcerers with Subtle Spell Metamagic can conceal spellcasting to be imperceptible. Spells like Charm Person are not overtly hostile in nature, especially if none can perceive the subtle spellcasting. It would be lame to trigger combat in these scenarios. As soon as you roll initiative, players enter kill mode like robots in Itchy and Scratchy Land. Combat should not begin, and initiative should not be rolled until the DM is sure two parties are coming to blows.

I’m trying to say that DMs should try to accommodate players’ creativity instead of springing initiative too soon. This will also allow surprises to be properly set up by players instead of wasted on actions that weren’t meant to trigger a fight. I believe this will keep games fair and realistic, honestly.

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The ‘False Appearance’ Feature

Some monsters have the False Appearance feature, making them indistinguishable from their environment or an object. In order to Hide, a creature must technically be out of the line of sight of a detecting creature. False Appearance allows a Roper, for example, to Hide in plain sight since it appears to be a rock. Most creatures couldn’t stand in the middle of a room and attempt to Hide, so False Appearance overcomes that limitation.

I can imagine some DMs ruling that the creature with False Appearance could not be detected, but that’s not in line with how Stealth and Hiding work in the game. I would need an ability to specifically say that it can’t be detected by Perception or something. After all, an invisible creature holding still could be treated as a “False Appearance” with the appearance being that they appear to be an unoccupied space, but we know invisible creatures are not exempt from Passive Perception.

Here’s a healthy discussion on the topic if you want more perspectives on it.

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Clear as Mud?

Determining surprise is nuanced in D&D 5e; I believe this is the biggest reason that the rules are confusing to people. They don’t always make sense, and they depend heavily on DM interpretation. Regardless, I hope I made D&D 5e’s surprise rules digestible for you. By the book, you sneak up on someone who doesn’t notice you, and the surprise causes them to be a sitting duck until after their first turn in combat. I promise it makes sense if you let go of old misconceptions from other systems and editions of TTRPGs. Surprise rules are easier to understand when you separate the surprised creature’s loss of a turn from the advantage gained when a hidden creature attacks.

I believe a creature can be surprised without the player characters being hidden (there’s that DM interpretation I mentioned). The surprised creature would lose a turn without being attacked with advantage because the attacker isn’t hidden. It’s ultimately up to a DM to decide how surprise will function in your game. Inform your DM if you plan to make surprise a keystone of your adventuring party’s antics. I’m sure your DM will work with you to make these rules clear while enabling your character concepts.

Do you have persisting questions about surprise that I need to cover? Cast Sending in the comments section below to let me know, even if you just need clarification on something. I’m happy to help readers with their games or receive feedback on how I can improve my writing/advice.

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