Ambush attacker is surprised?

[The Benj]

Originally Posted by Peter V. Dell'Orto

I see what you're saying, but:

When you achieve or deal with total surprise is up to the GM.

When you roll for partial surprise is also up to the GM.

So it stands to reason that if you want either, you need to do something the GM determines would let you achieve that. Stealth would work in a lot of cases. Tactics in others. Acting for the old "walk up casually" bit. Influence skills in others, if you're trying to lull someone into a false sense of security. Invisibility/Mage-Stealth/No-Smell is a great way to do it. Some of these might be opposed rolls, some of them might not be, depending on the circumstances.

It's really too broad to nail down into a single roll, or even set of guidelines beyond a GM's judgment call. Once it comes down to knowing one or both sides can be surprised, you roll that d6 with modifiers.

Maybe I'm being too flip, but this is something that's never come up as a problem or question in my games. I just determine when it does or might occur based on circumstances and then roll or not roll as it matters.

It's not something with which I've had any problems either, I'm just saying maybe people could be confused by not having more guidance for the GM.