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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