Surprise: This is typically a combat encounter that tests the party’s ability to react
quickly to an unanticipated situation. Surprises usually are difficult to avoid
because the player characters don’t know where or when they are going to occur.
Surprises should be used very sparingly; player frustration sets in quickly if
the heroes are constantly getting ambushed. When planning a surprise
encounter, consider a few things the player characters might do to uncover the surprise
before they blunder into it. For example, if an ogre mage and its band of
mercenary trolls await the PCs around a bend in a forest road, an alert party might
spot the group’s gargoyle scouts hiding in the trees and signaling to their
comrades.
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