Hi, sorry if this has been mentioned before, I did a search for "surprise attack" but couldn't find the answer.
I know if you get surprised you can't react that round, however, if an enemy surprises you, moves within 5-10 feet of you and attacks you and stays there, then after their turn ends (ending of surprise round and now start of regular action round) are you able to take an attack of opportunity (using polearm master feat) since they did initially move within your range and stayed there? Or since the movement into your reach occurred while you were surprised, its as if you never saw them actually move and they just "appeared" there?
Oppurtunity attacks are trigger effects, if you cant make the attack initially when the oppurtunity comes, (in this case due to being surprised) you cant do it later.
To think about it in the in game way: Oppurtunity attacks are when your opponents are running away, and turn their backs, giving you a perfect striking oppurtunity. Once they've regained their positioning, you failed at your chance to hit them in time.
In the first round of combat some people might be surprised.
The rules say:
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 you can use your reaction for an OA on any turn in the first round after you've had your turn; but only when the correct circumstances trigger an OA like BoringBard said.
Note that your initiative might be higher than some of your enemies, so you would gain your reaction before their turns in the first round.
Oppurtunity attacks are trigger effects, if you cant make the attack initially when the oppurtunity comes, (in this case due to being surprised) you cant do it later.
To think about it in the in game way: Oppurtunity attacks are when your opponents are running away, and turn their backs, giving you a perfect striking oppurtunity. Once they've regained their positioning, you failed at your chance to hit them in time.
ahh k that makes sense, kinda figured that but thought i'd double check. Polearm always gets a bit more confusing when AoO occurs coming to and going away from you.
Basically, if the guy rushes you and gets inside your reach, you are now in a knife fight and out of luck.
Hm. That seems like a good idea for a feat for knife users. You rush in, grapple and then grant a penalty to their attacks as follows: -5 for any reach weapons, -4 for any attacks Heavy weapons, -3 for a versatile, -2 for a one handed, and no penalty for a light weapon, natural weapon or any unarmed attacks.
In the first round of combat some people might be surprised.
The rules say:
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 you can use your reaction for an OA on any turn in the first round after you've had your turn; but only when the correct circumstances trigger an OA like BoringBard said.
Note that your initiative might be higher than some of your enemies, so you would gain your reaction before their turns in the first round.
Ohh, so if an encounter occurs, we roll initiative and I end up first lets say, then the creatures, then rest PC's and its a surprise, I can technically use a reaction since my turn would have been first and ended with no action, then the creatures go and provoke an opportunity attack against me by getting in my range? Ohh geeze ok I never knew that, that is good info to have!
ahh k that makes sense, kinda figured that but thought i'd double check. Polearm always gets a bit more confusing when AoO occurs coming to and going away from you.
Not really. The direction of movement changed, the timing and other rules are the same as OAs.
In the first round of combat some people might be surprised.
The rules say:
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 you can use your reaction for an OA on any turn in the first round after you've had your turn; but only when the correct circumstances trigger an OA like BoringBard said.
Note that your initiative might be higher than some of your enemies, so you would gain your reaction before their turns in the first round.
Ohh, so if an encounter occurs, we roll initiative and I end up first lets say, then the creatures, then rest PC's and its a surprise, I can technically use a reaction since my turn would have been first and ended with no action, then the creatures go and provoke an opportunity attack against me by getting in my range? Ohh geeze ok I never knew that, that is good info to have!
Yup, that is correct. One thing to note is that this is the strict Rules as Written way of handling surprise. A particular DM might run it differently though so it is always good to talk to your DM about any questions or issues you may have at the table.
Yeah rolling high enough initiative can let you use your reaction during the first round even though you started the round as surprised. (because you aren't surprised as soon as your 1st turn ends).
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Hi, sorry if this has been mentioned before, I did a search for "surprise attack" but couldn't find the answer.
I know if you get surprised you can't react that round, however, if an enemy surprises you, moves within 5-10 feet of you and attacks you and stays there, then after their turn ends (ending of surprise round and now start of regular action round) are you able to take an attack of opportunity (using polearm master feat) since they did initially move within your range and stayed there? Or since the movement into your reach occurred while you were surprised, its as if you never saw them actually move and they just "appeared" there?
Thanks
Oppurtunity attacks are trigger effects, if you cant make the attack initially when the oppurtunity comes, (in this case due to being surprised) you cant do it later.
To think about it in the in game way: Oppurtunity attacks are when your opponents are running away, and turn their backs, giving you a perfect striking oppurtunity. Once they've regained their positioning, you failed at your chance to hit them in time.
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HERE.There aren't surprise rounds.
In the first round of combat some people might be surprised.
The rules say:
So you can use your reaction for an OA on any turn in the first round after you've had your turn; but only when the correct circumstances trigger an OA like BoringBard said.
Note that your initiative might be higher than some of your enemies, so you would gain your reaction before their turns in the first round.
ahh k that makes sense, kinda figured that but thought i'd double check. Polearm always gets a bit more confusing when AoO occurs coming to and going away from you.
Basically, if the guy rushes you and gets inside your reach, you are now in a knife fight and out of luck.
Hm. That seems like a good idea for a feat for knife users. You rush in, grapple and then grant a penalty to their attacks as follows: -5 for any reach weapons, -4 for any attacks Heavy weapons, -3 for a versatile, -2 for a one handed, and no penalty for a light weapon, natural weapon or any unarmed attacks.
Ohh, so if an encounter occurs, we roll initiative and I end up first lets say, then the creatures, then rest PC's and its a surprise, I can technically use a reaction since my turn would have been first and ended with no action, then the creatures go and provoke an opportunity attack against me by getting in my range? Ohh geeze ok I never knew that, that is good info to have!
Not really. The direction of movement changed, the timing and other rules are the same as OAs.
Yup, that is correct. One thing to note is that this is the strict Rules as Written way of handling surprise. A particular DM might run it differently though so it is always good to talk to your DM about any questions or issues you may have at the table.
Yeah rolling high enough initiative can let you use your reaction during the first round even though you started the round as surprised. (because you aren't surprised as soon as your 1st turn ends).
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.