Encounters

The Surprise Roll

Sometimes an encounter, either random or planned by the DM, catches one of the two groups involved totally off guard. This is called surprise and is determined by rolling 1d6 for each side (or only one side if the DM has decided that one of the sides cannot be surprised, for some reason). Generally, if the die roll is a 1 or 2, that group or character is surprised (for effects, see the "Effects of Surprise" section).

The DM decides when a check for surprise must be made.

Although there is a single roll for each side, the surprise roll can be modified for each character by Dexterity, race, class, cleverness, and situation. Modifiers can affect either your character's chance of being surprised or his chance of surprising others.

Modifiers to Surprise rolls

Modifiers to surprise rolls include, but are not limited to the following:

Class:

Rangers surprise (q.v.) opponents 50% of the time (d6, score 1 through 3) and are themselves surprised only 16 1/3% of the time (d6, score 1).

At 1st level of experience, a monk is as likely to be surprised as any other character, i.e. 33 1/3%. This chance goes down to 32% at 2nd level, and it thereafter goes down 2% per level, so there is only a 30% chance of surprising a 3rd level monk, 28% chance at 4th level, 26% chance at 5th level, etc. For that reason, monks will always roll their own surprise dice, using % dice. See the Monk Abilities table for the exact % scores to determine if the monk is surprised.

A plus to your die roll reduces the odds that you are surprised; a minus increases those odds. Likewise, a minus to the enemy's die roll means that the modifier is in your favor, while a plus means that things are going his way. Characters with high Dexterity are virtually unsurpriseable, caught off guard only in unusual situations.

A party includes Robert the Ranger, Harry the Halfling, Matty the Monk, and Theo the thief, who has an 18 dexterity. They turn the corner and encounter a group of goblins. The party rolls a 2, indicating that they are surprised. The goblins roll a 3, which would normally mean they were not surprised. However, Robert is only surprised on a 1, and he surprises on 1-3, so Robert effectively surprises the goblins, gaining a round's action(s). Theo adds +3 to the roll, and so is also not surprised; the goblins do NOT get the drop on him either.
On their next encounter, Harry is scouting 90' ahead of the party, and glimpses another group of goblins. This time, he rolls a 3, and the goblins roll a 4. In this case, the goblins are surprised.

There are many other factors that may affect the roll. The DM will determine which of these factors might apply:

Other Modifiers to Surprise rolls

Other Party is:	Group's Modifier
Silenced	-2
Invisible	-2
Distinctive odor (smoke, powerful stench, etc.)	+2
Every 10 members	+1
Camouflaged	-1 to -3
PC Party is:
Fleeing	-2
In poor light	-1
In darkness	-4
Panicked	-2
Anticipating attack*	+2
Suspicious*	+2
Conditions are:
Rainy	-1
Heavy fog	-2
Extremely still	+2

* A party anticipates attack when they have good cause to suspect immediate danger and know the likely general direction of an attack. A suspicious party is one that has grounds to believe another group might try to make a hostile move against them.

It is important to bear in mind that surprise and ambush are two different things. Surprise works as explained above. An ambush is prepared by one group to make an unexpected attack on another group and works only if the DM decides the other group cannot detect the ambush. A properly set ambush gives the attackers the opportunity to use spells and normal attacks before the other side reacts. If the ambush succeeds, the ambushing group gets its initial attack and the other group must roll for surprise in the next round, so the ambushing group may get two rounds of attacks before the other group can reply.

Effects of Surprise

Characters and monsters that are surprised all suffer the same penalty. They are caught off guard and thus cannot react quickly. The surprising group/individual can execute one round's worth of attacks with melee, missile, or magic.

Thus, a ranger on the unsurprised side could fire his long bow twice (two attacks per round) before his opponents could even hope to react. A fighter able to attack twice per round could attempt both hits before any initiative dice are rolled. A wizard could unleash a magic missile or a bolt from his wand of lightning before the enemy knew he was there. Of course, what applies to player characters also applies to monsters, so that the leopard in the earlier example could claw and bite before the characters even knew what was happening.

Spells take their normal length of time to cast, so if the casting time of the spell used is less than one round, it will be completed within the surprise round.

The second effect of surprise is that the surprised characters lose all AC bonuses for high Dexterity during that round of surprise. The surprised characters are dumbfounded by the attack. Instead of ducking and countering, they're just standing there rather flat-footed (maybe even with dumb expressions on their faces). Since they don't grasp the situation, they cannot avoid the hazards and dangers very well.

Surprise can also be used to avoid an encounter. Unsurprised characters can attempt to flee from a surprised group before the other group reacts. Of course, this is not always successful, since escape is greatly dependent upon the movement rates of the different creatures.

If both groups manage to surprise each other, the effects of surprise are cancelled.

For example, Rath runs around the corner straight into some lounging guardsmen. Taken by surprise, he stops suddenly and frantically looks for someplace else to run. The guardsmen in turn look up rather stupidly, trying to figure out why this dwarf just raced around the corner. The surprise passes. Rath spots another alley and the guards decide that since he's running, Rath must be a criminal. Initiative rolls are now made to see who acts first.

Encounter Distance

Once your character or party has an encounter and it has been determined whether or not anyone was surprised, your DM will tell you the range of the encounter--the distance separating you from the other group. Many factors affect encounter distance. These include the openness of the terrain, the weather conditions, whether surprise occurred, and the time of day, to name a few. Although you do not know the exact distance until your DM tells you, surprise, darkness, or close terrain (woods, city streets, or narrow dungeons) usually results in shorter encounter distances, while open ground (deserts, plains, or moors), good light, or advance warning results in greater encounter distances (see Vision and Light).

Encounter Reactions

The spectrum of reactions in an encounter can range widely. The other side might have any of these reactions:
Flight:            Avoidance, panic, terror, or surrender.
Friendly:        Kind, helpful, conciliatory, or simply non-aggressive.
Indifferent:    Neutral, bored, businesslike, unconcerned, unimpressed, or simply oblivious.
Cautious:        Suspicious, wary, dubious, paranoid, guarded, untrusting, or mildly conciliatory.
Threatening:  Boastful, bravado, blustering, intimidating, short-tempered, or bluffing.
Hostile:           Irritable, hot-tempered, aggressive, or violent.

Encounter Options

Once an encounter occurs, there is no set sequence for what happens next. It all depends on just what your characters have encountered and what they choose to do. That's the excitement of a role-playing game--once you meet something, almost anything could happen. There are some fairly common results of encounters, however.

Evasion: Sometimes all you want is for your characters to avoid, escape, or otherwise get away from whatever it is you've met. Usually this is because you realize your group is seriously outmatched. Perhaps returning badly hurt from an adventure, your group spots a red dragon soaring overhead. You know it can turn your party to toast if it wants. Rather than take that risk, your group hides, waiting for it to pass. Or, topping a ridge, you see the army of Frazznargth the Impious, a noted warlord. There are 5,000 of them and six of you. Retreat seems like the better part of valor, so you turn your horses and ride.

Sometimes you want to avoid an encounter simply because it will take too much time. While riding with an urgent message for his lord, your character rides into a group of wandering pilgrims. Paying them no mind, he lashes his horse and gallops past.

Evading or avoiding an encounter is not always successful. Some monsters pursue; others do not. In the examples above, Frazznargth the Impious (being a prudent commander) orders a mounted patrol to chase the characters and bring them in for questioning. The pilgrims, on the other hand, shout a few oaths as your galloping horse splashes mud on them and then continue on their way. Your character's success at evading capture will depend on movement rates, determination of pursuit, terrain, and just a little luck. Sometimes when he really should be caught, your character gets lucky. At other times, well, he just has to stand his ground.

Talk: Your character doesn't run from encounters all the time, and attacking everything you meet eventually leads to problems. Sometimes the best thing to do is talk, whether it's casual conversation, hardball negotiation, jovial rumor-swapping, or intimidating threats. In fact, talking is often better than fighting. To solve the problems your DM has created for your character, you need information. Asking the right questions, developing contacts, and putting out the word are all useful ways to use an encounter. Not everything you meet, human or otherwise, is out to kill your character. Help often appears in the most surprising forms. Thus it often pays to take the time to talk to creatures.

Fight: Of course, there are times when you don't want to or can't run away. (Running all the time is not that heroic.) And there are times when you know talking is not a good idea. Sooner or later, your character will have to fight. The real trick is knowing when to fight and when to talk or run. If you attack every creature you meet, the first thing that will happen is that nobody will want to meet with your character. Your character will also manage to kill or chase off everyone who might want to help him. Finally, sooner or later your DM is going to get tired of this and send an incredibly powerful group of monsters after your character. Given the fact that you've been killing everything in sight, he's justified in doing this.

So it is important always to know who you are attacking and why. As with the best police in the world today, the trick is to figure out who are the bad guys and who are the good guys. Make mistakes and you pay. You may kill an NPC who has a vital clue, or unintentionally anger a baron far more powerful than yourself. NPCs will be reluctant to associate with your character, and the law will find fewer and fewer reasons to protect him. It is always best to look on combat as a last resort.

Wait: Sometimes when you encounter another group, you don't know what you should do. You don't want to attack them in case they are friendly, but you don't want to say anything to provoke them. What you can do is wait and see how they react. Waiting is a perfectly sensible option. However, there is the risk that in waiting, you lose the advantage should the other side suddenly decide to attack. Waiting for a reaction so that you can decide what to do causes a +1 penalty to the first initiative roll for your group, if the other side attacks.

Of course, in any given encounter, there may be many other options open to your character. The only limit is your imagination (and common sense). Charging a band of orcs to break through their lines and flee may work. Talking them down with an elaborate bluff about the army coming up behind you might scare them off. Clever use of spells could end the encounter in sudden and unexpected ways. The point is, this is a role-playing game and the options are as varied as you wish to make them.