If I were to cast Silence from a hidden position (as a 7th lvl shadow monk) would it start the surprise round? I'm trying to figure out if the following will work.
Preparation
- cast pass without trace -2 ki points
- sneak up to within 30 ft of target
- cast silence on target -2 ki points
Surprise Round
-shoot target with crossbow bolt - action
-shadowstep to target - bonus action
-stunning strike on target - extra attack
This should all happen before the target can react.
I love drow, rogues and Chinese weapons. I mean come on, rope darts are awesome.
My current character is a drow shadow monk, with a "unique" honor code (give him some time, he's working through some stuff). He also sucks on the socialization side of interacting with all other living creatures. which is very fun to RP.
That is ultimately up to your DM. The line between the initiative and exploration phases is intended to facilitate changes in gameplay, not represent a hard checkpoint to exploit.
Non-damaging is not synonymous with "harmless". I consider any spell cast with "combat intent" to be a part of combat. Any spell that targets another creature has the potential to initiate combat.
You might be better off casting Silence on an object (Say, the crossbow bolt.), since that would avoid prematurely establishing a "victim".
You might be better off casting Silence on an object (Say, the crossbow bolt.), since that would avoid prematurely establishing a "victim".
The spell says that I cast it on a point within range, can that be the crossbow bolt?
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I love drow, rogues and Chinese weapons. I mean come on, rope darts are awesome.
My current character is a drow shadow monk, with a "unique" honor code (give him some time, he's working through some stuff). He also sucks on the socialization side of interacting with all other living creatures. which is very fun to RP.
You cast Silence on a point within range, not on an object, so there's no way to move the affected area once it's been cast. (Darkness and Light might have the option of casting on an object that can be moved or covered, but Silence doesn't)
Surprise is something that happens, not a round (or apparently a condition). But otherwise up to the DM to rule if the target would notice Silence and become hostile/alert about it? Then RAW you roll for initiative and carry on.
Always found it slightly odd when players (while talking to a possible enemy) attack someone but then end up going after them in initiative and unless you use Surprise the enemy is standing there and hasn't actually seen anything hostile.
Silence affects everything within a 20-foot radius sphere, not a specific object or creature.
Also, there’s no such thing as a surprise round. Surprised is a condition that affects creatures on their first turn of a combat if they were unaware when combat starts.
Here’s how it would go: you say you want to cast Silence. If your enemy is within its area of effect, then yes, I’d say that starts combat, so I call for initiative rolls. The enemy begins combat surprised.
If you roll higher than they do, then you can get the Silence off before they can react, but that’s your action for the turn. Since they’re surprised, they don’t get to act, but they’re no longer surprised once they’ve skipped their turn. Round two, you can do you your attack, shadow step, etc. But they’re not surprised.
If they roll higher than you do for initiative, they’re still surprised and thus skip their turn. But, they’re simply quicker than you are, so by the time your turn comes up, they’re not surprised and you can’t take advantage of surprise.
If I were to cast Silence from a hidden position (as a 7th lvl shadow monk) would it start the surprise round? I'm trying to figure out if the following will work.
Preparation
- cast pass without trace -2 ki points
- sneak up to within 30 ft of target
- cast silence on target -2 ki points
Surprise Round
-shoot target with crossbow bolt - action
-shadowstep to target - bonus action
-stunning strike on target - extra attack
This should all happen before the target can react.
Generally speaking, everything should start initiative, because initiative is how you keep track of things happening when time is an issue. If you have Pass Without Trace running and want to get within 30 feet of a specific creature, we need to be initiative order already to track who moves when, and how far.
quindraco, Yes... but tracking everything like that is unnecessary and would take a long time. There is no need to roll initiative if I have Pass Without Trace on, it isn't time sensitive (usually). My question is, would casting Silence start initiative? Would the target realize they are in the AOE of a spell? Would the effects of Silence make them think that someone is trying to attack them triggering initiative? the PHB rules initiative as follows.
"Initiative determines the order of turns during combat. When combat starts, every participant makes a Dexterity check to determine their place in the initiative order."
I love drow, rogues and Chinese weapons. I mean come on, rope darts are awesome.
My current character is a drow shadow monk, with a "unique" honor code (give him some time, he's working through some stuff). He also sucks on the socialization side of interacting with all other living creatures. which is very fun to RP.
I don't think you need to be in combat while approaching them. The timing only becomes important if/when the enemy notices something is wrong and starts reacting to it, leading to both parties trying to act at the same time.
But would they notice?
Well, both spells require concentration, so you'd lose your stealth buff from Pass Without Trace as soon as you start casting Silence. And ask yourself this, would you notice if every noise around you suddenly stopped? All of the insects/animals/weather noises? My answer is yes.
They should trigger it immediately as the action is beginning. Either when one party attempts to attack, or when the other party realizes they're getting attacked and try to counterattack and get the jump on their would be ambushers.
It generally isn't the end of the world if they get this timing wrong, it just makes the initial bit of combat potentially weird, or even not-at-all like combat. But it isn't the end of the world most the time.
In the OP example initiative should happen just before silencing your would-be prey. You'll determine if you snuck up close enough without getting noticed, then each party rolls initiative to determine who is fast enough to react first. Will you be fast enough to succeed at your strategy, or will their lightning reflexes save the day and let them get a yell off in time?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Also, there’s no such thing as a surprise round. Surprised is a condition that affects creatures on their first turn of a combat if they were unaware when combat starts.
While it isn't an official term, everyone who says "surprise round" is talking about the first round of combat when unaware combatants have the surprised condition. You say there isn't such a thing then go on to describe exactly what the term refers to.
Here’s how it would go: you say you want to cast Silence. If your enemy is within its area of effect, then yes, I’d say that starts combat, so I call for initiative rolls. The enemy begins combat surprised.
They're only surprised if their passive perception is lower than the abusher's stealth roll. While that is likely because of pass without trace, it isn't guaranteed. They very well might not start off surprised.
If you roll higher than they do, then you can get the Silence off before they can react, but that’s your action for the turn. Since they’re surprised, they don’t get to act, but they’re no longer surprised once they’ve skipped their turn. Round two, you can do you your attack, shadow step, etc. But they’re not surprised.
If they roll higher than you do for initiative, they’re still surprised and thus skip their turn. But, they’re simply quicker than you are, so by the time your turn comes up, they’re not surprised and you can’t take advantage of surprise.
Otherwise your timing is on point, the attempt to cast a spell that includes the target, especially so close, would trigger the start of combat. We just can't forget to check if they detect the ambush or not by comparing stealth v perception. Things could play out very, very poorly if they win both the perception and the initiative. They'd be able to act and also go first.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
I consider combat to start as soon as the players decide to interact with hostile creatures. If you see an enemy ahead, and start sneaking, then I will call for initiative and have you sneak up each turn. If the enemy notices you due to a poor sneak roll, then they will be surprised.
This is one of those situations where it's really useful to have all the players roll 12 or so initiatives at the start of the game, and then randomly pick one when the combat starts so you don't have to pause the game for everyone to roll initiative, which also tells the players that they are entering a combat situation.
I would start initiative when an action takes place that would be perceived as threat.
In this instance, assuming the stealth rolls beat the passive percetion of the targets I would let that go without initiative. The casting of the sience spell however has a verbal component so even if the stealth without pass without trace (which ends at this point) the targets would here a spell being cast (unless it is cast subtly). So I would start initiate when the silence spell is announced to be cast. There are then a couple of ways of dealing with it:
If the rest of the party were unaware silence was about to be cast everyone except the caster is surprised so in the first round of combat only the person casting silence has their action and only bad guys who beat initiative of the caster can react to it (e.g. react quickly enough on hearing the spell being cast to counterspell it)
If the party were aware silence was about to be cast then the rest of the party would not be surprised this might result in someone else going first in initiave I would see this as a quick nod or something to the rest of the party to indicate the start of combat.
If silent is cast subtly then once the spell has taken effect I would rule unless the area is completely silent (unlikely there is likely to be a breeze, sound of dripping water, talking even their own breathing for those with high passive perception) that the targets are aware that the area has suddenly become silent. I would start initiative at that point and those that fail to notice the party (without pass without trace) are surprised.
If I were to cast Silence from a hidden position (as a 7th lvl shadow monk) would it start the surprise round? I'm trying to figure out if the following will work.
Preparation
- cast pass without trace -2 ki points
- sneak up to within 30 ft of target
- cast silence on target -2 ki points
Surprise Round
-shoot target with crossbow bolt - action
-shadowstep to target - bonus action
-stunning strike on target - extra attack
This should all happen before the target can react.
I would start initiative as soon as a target notices any relevant factor that they could react to.
So, would the target have noticed the silence?
That might depend both on the environmental context and DM interpretation. Was the target within the background noise of a night's watch in the jungles of Chult or were they in a quiet, cloistered chamber in Candlekeep?
1. Would the target have interpreted the (complete) reduction in noise as something suspicious? 2. Would they have looked in the direction of your monk?
1. They might make a general response such as a form of preparation. 2. They might take a more directly relevant form of action.
Luckily your monk probably has a better initiative modifier than the probable spellcaster you're trying to target.
The first issue is that both spells are concentration. Pass without trace will drop the moment you Begin casting Silence, so you no longer benefit from the +10 to stealth checks, and that makes it far more likely that you will be noticed depending on the passive perception or an active perception check if they are alert or on guard etc.
The second issue is that the Silence spell requires a spoken component, meaning unless you have the ability to cast it silently such as the sorcerer subtle spell metamagic then you are speaking out loud. Whether that will get you noticed will depend on the environment and the DM's call. If you are in the middle of nowhere or sneaking up on a guard post then highly likely, in a really noisy marketplace area or dock probably not. Either way I would give them a perception check with an appropriate DC, your stealth result would be irrelevant.
Third issue - Silence stops all sound, so if they are speaking / humming / singing to themselves or someone else then they suddenly won't hear their voice. If they are in said noisy market or dock then suddenly all the noise simply stops, even in a rural environment there is normally plenty of noise such as wind, birdsong, animals, rain or water flowing in streams, tree branches and leaves rustling etc. Unless they are somehow already incapacitated then they will almost definitely notice that.
That would be your 'surprise round' assuming they didn't hear you casting the silence spell. Either way, initiative is rolled when you cast silence, it may not cause direct damage but it is still a hostile act. It is also your full action, so no firing a crossbow. Then in round 2 you get to shadow step - assuming there are suitable nearby shadows to use. They were surprised during their first round only so they can now take reactions such as cast shield. You won't get advantage on your attacks as they are no longer surprised.
Also, there’s no such thing as a surprise round. Surprised is a condition that affects creatures on their first turn of a combat if they were unaware when combat starts.
While it isn't an official term, everyone who says "surprise round" is talking about the first round of combat when unaware combatants have the surprised condition. You say there isn't such a thing then go on to describe exactly what the term refers to.
On the contrary, most people who say "surprise round" do not actually understand how surprise works in 5e, and the content of the original post strongly suggests that this poster doesn't either, which is why I explained.
Here’s how it would go: you say you want to cast Silence. If your enemy is within its area of effect, then yes, I’d say that starts combat, so I call for initiative rolls. The enemy begins combat surprised.
They're only surprised if their passive perception is lower than the abusher's stealth roll. While that is likely because of pass without trace, it isn't guaranteed. They very well might not start off surprised.
The OP says the character starts off "hidden," so stealth and perception have already been compared and stealth won.
I think it's common for people to forget that spellcasting is obviously apparent unless something says that it isn't. The Vocal element of a spell must be spoken, at the very least, at speaking volume. The Somatic component of spellcasting isn't just a quick flick of the wrist, it's large gestures that would be obstructed by carrying objects or would be greatly impeded by wearing armor you're not proficient with.
This is ultimately up to the DM. However, personally, I don't allow spells that are being used for combat (like silence in this case) to be cast out of initiative.
How I run it is the following.
1) Monk casts pass without trace which is concentration.
2) Monk attempts to sneak within 30' of the target. Monk is successful - failure would result in initiative being rolled and no surprise.
3) Monk wants to cast a silence spell to affect another possibly hostile creature - roll initiative.
Unless something else happens that would alert the creature involved - I advance the initiative to the monk who is taking the action and start the round with that initiative. Surprise if it is deemed to exist - starts with the monk initiative and ends once the initiative gets back to their turn.
If I was running it - the monk can't cast the silence spell out of initiative so they can't attack during the surprise round since they are casting the spell.
This makes sense to me since as soon as the silence lands - the target is aware they are under attack and there is NO further surprise - so the monk can't both cast the silence spell that initiates combat AND get a series of attacks with the target still surprised. If someone else cast the silence then it might work if the target happened to be surprised and the monks initiative was before the surprised creature.
Also, there’s no such thing as a surprise round. Surprised is a condition that affects creatures on their first turn of a combat if they were unaware when combat starts.
While it isn't an official term, everyone who says "surprise round" is talking about the first round of combat when unaware combatants have the surprised condition. You say there isn't such a thing then go on to describe exactly what the term refers to.
On the contrary, most people who say "surprise round" do not actually understand how surprise works in 5e, and the content of the original post strongly suggests that this poster doesn't either, which is why I explained.
Maybe once upon a time when 5e was new this was a common misunderstanding, not so much these days. Most of the responders in this topic who have used the phrase have used it in reference to exactly what happens. IDK, I've given up trying to correct people on this it just is what people say. It is like trying to fight the tide coming in. By all means though, fight the gravitational pull of the moon against the ocean if you enjoy it!
Here’s how it would go: you say you want to cast Silence. If your enemy is within its area of effect, then yes, I’d say that starts combat, so I call for initiative rolls. The enemy begins combat surprised.
They're only surprised if their passive perception is lower than the abusher's stealth roll. While that is likely because of pass without trace, it isn't guaranteed. They very well might not start off surprised.
The OP says the character starts off "hidden," so stealth and perception have already been compared and stealth won.
Someone else mentioned this and I realized I'd forgotten about this too: Casting Silence drops the effect of Pass Without trace. So they'd need to reevaluate stealth v perception. Really, you reevaluate stealth v perception at the start of combat regardless.
That's just the order in which combat is initiated. Even if nothing did change you still check. Why?
COMBAT STEP-BY-STEP
1. Determine surprise. The DM determines whether anyone involved in the combat encounter is surprised. 2. Establish positions. The DM decides where all the characters and monsters are located. Given the adventurers' marching order or their stated positions in the room or other location, the DM figures out where the adversaries are — how far away and in what direction. 3. Roll initiative. Everyone involved in the combat encounter rolls initiative, determining the order of combatants' turns. 4. Take turns. Each participant in the battle takes a turn in initiative order. 5. Begin the next round. When everyone involved in the combat has had a turn, the round ends. Repeat step 4 until the fighting stops.
Step 1 is why. That section reads:
The DM determines who might be surprised. If neither side tries to be stealthy, they automatically notice each other. Otherwise, the DM compares the Dexterity (Stealth) checks of anyone hiding with the passive Wisdom (Perception) score of each creature on the opposing side.Any character or monster that doesn't notice a threat is surprised at the start of the encounter.
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.
So if you're starting the wheels of combat turning, you always start with this step.
And. In this case, the monk doesn't have his +10 anymore.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
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If I were to cast Silence from a hidden position (as a 7th lvl shadow monk) would it start the surprise round? I'm trying to figure out if the following will work.
Preparation
- cast pass without trace -2 ki points
- sneak up to within 30 ft of target
- cast silence on target -2 ki points
Surprise Round
-shoot target with crossbow bolt - action
-shadowstep to target - bonus action
-stunning strike on target - extra attack
This should all happen before the target can react.
I love drow, rogues and Chinese weapons. I mean come on, rope darts are awesome.
My current character is a drow shadow monk, with a "unique" honor code (give him some time, he's working through some stuff). He also sucks on the socialization side of interacting with all other living creatures. which is very fun to RP.
That is ultimately up to your DM. The line between the initiative and exploration phases is intended to facilitate changes in gameplay, not represent a hard checkpoint to exploit.
Non-damaging is not synonymous with "harmless". I consider any spell cast with "combat intent" to be a part of combat. Any spell that targets another creature has the potential to initiate combat.
You might be better off casting Silence on an object (Say, the crossbow bolt.), since that would avoid prematurely establishing a "victim".
The spell says that I cast it on a point within range, can that be the crossbow bolt?
I love drow, rogues and Chinese weapons. I mean come on, rope darts are awesome.
My current character is a drow shadow monk, with a "unique" honor code (give him some time, he's working through some stuff). He also sucks on the socialization side of interacting with all other living creatures. which is very fun to RP.
You cast Silence on a point within range, not on an object, so there's no way to move the affected area once it's been cast. (Darkness and Light might have the option of casting on an object that can be moved or covered, but Silence doesn't)
Surprise is something that happens, not a round (or apparently a condition). But otherwise up to the DM to rule if the target would notice Silence and become hostile/alert about it? Then RAW you roll for initiative and carry on.
Always found it slightly odd when players (while talking to a possible enemy) attack someone but then end up going after them in initiative and unless you use Surprise the enemy is standing there and hasn't actually seen anything hostile.
Silence affects everything within a 20-foot radius sphere, not a specific object or creature.
Also, there’s no such thing as a surprise round. Surprised is a condition that affects creatures on their first turn of a combat if they were unaware when combat starts.
Here’s how it would go: you say you want to cast Silence. If your enemy is within its area of effect, then yes, I’d say that starts combat, so I call for initiative rolls. The enemy begins combat surprised.
If you roll higher than they do, then you can get the Silence off before they can react, but that’s your action for the turn. Since they’re surprised, they don’t get to act, but they’re no longer surprised once they’ve skipped their turn. Round two, you can do you your attack, shadow step, etc. But they’re not surprised.
If they roll higher than you do for initiative, they’re still surprised and thus skip their turn. But, they’re simply quicker than you are, so by the time your turn comes up, they’re not surprised and you can’t take advantage of surprise.
Oops. I speed read a shortened version of the spell and got it confused with another. Disregard the object bit.
Generally speaking, everything should start initiative, because initiative is how you keep track of things happening when time is an issue. If you have Pass Without Trace running and want to get within 30 feet of a specific creature, we need to be initiative order already to track who moves when, and how far.
quindraco, Yes... but tracking everything like that is unnecessary and would take a long time. There is no need to roll initiative if I have Pass Without Trace on, it isn't time sensitive (usually). My question is, would casting Silence start initiative? Would the target realize they are in the AOE of a spell? Would the effects of Silence make them think that someone is trying to attack them triggering initiative? the PHB rules initiative as follows.
"Initiative determines the order of turns during combat. When combat starts, every participant makes a Dexterity check to determine their place in the initiative order."
I love drow, rogues and Chinese weapons. I mean come on, rope darts are awesome.
My current character is a drow shadow monk, with a "unique" honor code (give him some time, he's working through some stuff). He also sucks on the socialization side of interacting with all other living creatures. which is very fun to RP.
I don't think you need to be in combat while approaching them. The timing only becomes important if/when the enemy notices something is wrong and starts reacting to it, leading to both parties trying to act at the same time.
But would they notice?
Well, both spells require concentration, so you'd lose your stealth buff from Pass Without Trace as soon as you start casting Silence. And ask yourself this, would you notice if every noise around you suddenly stopped? All of the insects/animals/weather noises? My answer is yes.
The DM decides what triggers initiative.
They should trigger it immediately as the action is beginning. Either when one party attempts to attack, or when the other party realizes they're getting attacked and try to counterattack and get the jump on their would be ambushers.
It generally isn't the end of the world if they get this timing wrong, it just makes the initial bit of combat potentially weird, or even not-at-all like combat. But it isn't the end of the world most the time.
In the OP example initiative should happen just before silencing your would-be prey. You'll determine if you snuck up close enough without getting noticed, then each party rolls initiative to determine who is fast enough to react first. Will you be fast enough to succeed at your strategy, or will their lightning reflexes save the day and let them get a yell off in time?
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
While it isn't an official term, everyone who says "surprise round" is talking about the first round of combat when unaware combatants have the surprised condition. You say there isn't such a thing then go on to describe exactly what the term refers to.
They're only surprised if their passive perception is lower than the abusher's stealth roll. While that is likely because of pass without trace, it isn't guaranteed. They very well might not start off surprised.
Otherwise your timing is on point, the attempt to cast a spell that includes the target, especially so close, would trigger the start of combat. We just can't forget to check if they detect the ambush or not by comparing stealth v perception. Things could play out very, very poorly if they win both the perception and the initiative. They'd be able to act and also go first.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
I consider combat to start as soon as the players decide to interact with hostile creatures. If you see an enemy ahead, and start sneaking, then I will call for initiative and have you sneak up each turn. If the enemy notices you due to a poor sneak roll, then they will be surprised.
This is one of those situations where it's really useful to have all the players roll 12 or so initiatives at the start of the game, and then randomly pick one when the combat starts so you don't have to pause the game for everyone to roll initiative, which also tells the players that they are entering a combat situation.
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I would start initiative when an action takes place that would be perceived as threat.
In this instance, assuming the stealth rolls beat the passive percetion of the targets I would let that go without initiative. The casting of the sience spell however has a verbal component so even if the stealth without pass without trace (which ends at this point) the targets would here a spell being cast (unless it is cast subtly). So I would start initiate when the silence spell is announced to be cast. There are then a couple of ways of dealing with it:
If the rest of the party were unaware silence was about to be cast everyone except the caster is surprised so in the first round of combat only the person casting silence has their action and only bad guys who beat initiative of the caster can react to it (e.g. react quickly enough on hearing the spell being cast to counterspell it)
If the party were aware silence was about to be cast then the rest of the party would not be surprised this might result in someone else going first in initiave I would see this as a quick nod or something to the rest of the party to indicate the start of combat.
If silent is cast subtly then once the spell has taken effect I would rule unless the area is completely silent (unlikely there is likely to be a breeze, sound of dripping water, talking even their own breathing for those with high passive perception) that the targets are aware that the area has suddenly become silent. I would start initiative at that point and those that fail to notice the party (without pass without trace) are surprised.
I would start initiative as soon as a target notices any relevant factor that they could react to.
So, would the target have noticed the silence?
That might depend both on the environmental context and DM interpretation. Was the target within the background noise of a night's watch in the jungles of Chult or were they in a quiet, cloistered chamber in Candlekeep?
1. Would the target have interpreted the (complete) reduction in noise as something suspicious?
2. Would they have looked in the direction of your monk?
1. They might make a general response such as a form of preparation.
2. They might take a more directly relevant form of action.
Luckily your monk probably has a better initiative modifier than the probable spellcaster you're trying to target.
The first issue is that both spells are concentration. Pass without trace will drop the moment you Begin casting Silence, so you no longer benefit from the +10 to stealth checks, and that makes it far more likely that you will be noticed depending on the passive perception or an active perception check if they are alert or on guard etc.
The second issue is that the Silence spell requires a spoken component, meaning unless you have the ability to cast it silently such as the sorcerer subtle spell metamagic then you are speaking out loud. Whether that will get you noticed will depend on the environment and the DM's call. If you are in the middle of nowhere or sneaking up on a guard post then highly likely, in a really noisy marketplace area or dock probably not. Either way I would give them a perception check with an appropriate DC, your stealth result would be irrelevant.
Third issue - Silence stops all sound, so if they are speaking / humming / singing to themselves or someone else then they suddenly won't hear their voice. If they are in said noisy market or dock then suddenly all the noise simply stops, even in a rural environment there is normally plenty of noise such as wind, birdsong, animals, rain or water flowing in streams, tree branches and leaves rustling etc. Unless they are somehow already incapacitated then they will almost definitely notice that.
That would be your 'surprise round' assuming they didn't hear you casting the silence spell. Either way, initiative is rolled when you cast silence, it may not cause direct damage but it is still a hostile act. It is also your full action, so no firing a crossbow. Then in round 2 you get to shadow step - assuming there are suitable nearby shadows to use. They were surprised during their first round only so they can now take reactions such as cast shield. You won't get advantage on your attacks as they are no longer surprised.
On the contrary, most people who say "surprise round" do not actually understand how surprise works in 5e, and the content of the original post strongly suggests that this poster doesn't either, which is why I explained.
The OP says the character starts off "hidden," so stealth and perception have already been compared and stealth won.
I think it's common for people to forget that spellcasting is obviously apparent unless something says that it isn't. The Vocal element of a spell must be spoken, at the very least, at speaking volume. The Somatic component of spellcasting isn't just a quick flick of the wrist, it's large gestures that would be obstructed by carrying objects or would be greatly impeded by wearing armor you're not proficient with.
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This is ultimately up to the DM. However, personally, I don't allow spells that are being used for combat (like silence in this case) to be cast out of initiative.
How I run it is the following.
1) Monk casts pass without trace which is concentration.
2) Monk attempts to sneak within 30' of the target. Monk is successful - failure would result in initiative being rolled and no surprise.
3) Monk wants to cast a silence spell to affect another possibly hostile creature - roll initiative.
Unless something else happens that would alert the creature involved - I advance the initiative to the monk who is taking the action and start the round with that initiative. Surprise if it is deemed to exist - starts with the monk initiative and ends once the initiative gets back to their turn.
If I was running it - the monk can't cast the silence spell out of initiative so they can't attack during the surprise round since they are casting the spell.
This makes sense to me since as soon as the silence lands - the target is aware they are under attack and there is NO further surprise - so the monk can't both cast the silence spell that initiates combat AND get a series of attacks with the target still surprised. If someone else cast the silence then it might work if the target happened to be surprised and the monks initiative was before the surprised creature.
Maybe once upon a time when 5e was new this was a common misunderstanding, not so much these days. Most of the responders in this topic who have used the phrase have used it in reference to exactly what happens. IDK, I've given up trying to correct people on this it just is what people say. It is like trying to fight the tide coming in. By all means though, fight the gravitational pull of the moon against the ocean if you enjoy it!
Someone else mentioned this and I realized I'd forgotten about this too: Casting Silence drops the effect of Pass Without trace. So they'd need to reevaluate stealth v perception. Really, you reevaluate stealth v perception at the start of combat regardless.
That's just the order in which combat is initiated. Even if nothing did change you still check. Why?
Step 1 is why. That section reads:
So if you're starting the wheels of combat turning, you always start with this step.
And. In this case, the monk doesn't have his +10 anymore.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.