When a rogue assassin pulls off a successful assassination, gaining advantage on their attack because the creature s/he is attacking has not had its turn yet, does this mean the attack also becomes a sneak attack - as sneak attacks are given to the rogue whenever s/he has an advantage?
"Starting at 3rd level, you are at your deadliest when you get the drop on your enemies. 1) You have advantage on attack rolls against any creature that hasn’t taken a turn in the combat yet. 2) In addition, any hit you score against a creature that is surprised is a critical hit."
So first off, yes - if you have advantage because your target hasn't had its turn yet, your attack is a sneak attack.
Second, because "successful assassination" raises a red flag in my mind, a little bit more on how the Assassinate ability works as written (ignore if you know this already). 1 and 2 above are, in 5E, completely separate triggers. There is no surprise round. A creature can not have had a turn and be surprised, can have had a turn and be surprised, can have had a turn and not be surprised and can have not had a turn and not be surprised.
"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. A member of a group can be surprised even if the other members aren't." That's all surprise does.
You surprise a creature by not being noticed at the start of an encounter. You act before a creature has had its turn by having a higher initiative. One has no bearing on the other. As soon as a creature's initiative comes up, it gets its turn. If it's surprised it pretty much can't do anything with that turn, but it does get it. In other words, you have advantage on your attack in the first round if you have the higher initiative and you don't have advantage (at least not from the Assassinate ability) if you have the lower initiative; and during the second round Assassinate can't give advantage.
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When a rogue assassin pulls off a successful assassination, gaining advantage on their attack because the creature s/he is attacking has not had its turn yet, does this mean the attack also becomes a sneak attack - as sneak attacks are given to the rogue whenever s/he has an advantage?
"Starting at 3rd level, you are at your deadliest when you get the drop on your enemies. 1) You have advantage on attack rolls against any creature that hasn’t taken a turn in the combat yet. 2) In addition, any hit you score against a creature that is surprised is a critical hit."
So first off, yes - if you have advantage because your target hasn't had its turn yet, your attack is a sneak attack.
Second, because "successful assassination" raises a red flag in my mind, a little bit more on how the Assassinate ability works as written (ignore if you know this already). 1 and 2 above are, in 5E, completely separate triggers. There is no surprise round. A creature can not have had a turn and be surprised, can have had a turn and be surprised, can have had a turn and not be surprised and can have not had a turn and not be surprised.
"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. A member of a group can be surprised even if the other members aren't." That's all surprise does.
You surprise a creature by not being noticed at the start of an encounter. You act before a creature has had its turn by having a higher initiative. One has no bearing on the other. As soon as a creature's initiative comes up, it gets its turn. If it's surprised it pretty much can't do anything with that turn, but it does get it. In other words, you have advantage on your attack in the first round if you have the higher initiative and you don't have advantage (at least not from the Assassinate ability) if you have the lower initiative; and during the second round Assassinate can't give advantage.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Agree. It's as I thought then.