D&D 2014

A band of adventurers sneaks up on a bandit camp, springing from the trees to attack them. A gelatinous cube glides down a dungeon passage, unnoticed by the adventurers until the cube engulfs one of them. In these situations, one side of the battle gains surprise over the other.

The DM determines who might be surprised. If neither side tries to be stealthy, they automatically notice each other. Otherwise, the DM compares the Dexterity (Stealth) checks of anyone hiding with the passive Wisdom (Perception) score of each creature on the opposing side. Any character or monster that doesn’t notice a threat is surprised at the start of the encounter.

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.

D&D5e 2024

Disadvantage on Initiative Rolls

If a combatant is surprised by combat starting, that combatant has Disadvantage on their Initiative roll. For example, if an ambusher starts combat while hidden from a foe who is unaware that combat is starting, that foe is surprised.

My Thoughts

As a DM I feel the 2024 Surprise rule would be fairly quick and simple. However, there is something nice about being able to take actions and move without the other party having a chance to retaliate for one full round.

FoundryVTT Initiative

Players

When rolling Initiative in Foundry, players can click on the word Initiative (for Legacy 5e Character Sheet) or click their Initiative modifier (in Default 5e Character Sheet). This also adds the character into the Combat Encounters. If the DM has already add the character to Combat Encounters, players can go into Combat Encounters tab (top left), and click the dice next to their PC’s name.

Both bringing up the Initiative Roll dialog box which players can then click Disadvantage if they’re being surprised (2024).

DM

The DM selects multiple targets to add to the Combat Encounter. They do this by left clicking on tokens and clicking the swords and shield “Toggle Combat State” to add them to the Combat Encounter. The DM can click on any dice that shows within the Combat Encounter. This rolls that creature’s initiative (NPC and PC). They can also select Disadvantage (2024). There is also a Roll All and Roll NPCs button to quickly roll everyone’s Normal Initiative (cannot make advantage/disadvantage).