Ambush attacker is surprised?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Peter V. Dell'Orto

It seems pretty clear the mechanisms are there for when there isn't a clear case and the GM wants to leave it up to a die roll.

That seems to be the intent and certainly how Sean has treated it in posts and other books, but it's wasn't especially clear to me in 3e (where the rules were mostly the same). I can see how the OP is confused.