Some D&D Builds Got Huge Nerfs In The New Player’s Handbook, But There’s A Silver Lining

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Among the rule changes in the , a certain condition has received a major downgrade. Surprise, once one of the most powerful tools in a player or DM's belt to quickly turn the tide of battle to favor one side considerably, has lost its bite. As such, builds that rely on ambushing enemies and getting surprise attacks have gone down in strength.

Admittedly, surprise, as it worked in earlier versions of 5e, was probably too powerful, in addition to commonly being misunderstood. The new clarifications, which are already available in the free version of the new rules on D&D Beyond, are simpler and less impactful on the flow of combat. Some players, tired of being ambushed on the road by monsters, may see this as a good thing. Others may already be mourning the loss of their surprise attack strategies that will no longer be viable.

As it worked previously, surprise could be used to essentially give one side of a fight an extra round. Contrary to popular misconception, however, there was no such thing as a «surprise round.» Rather, creatures that are caught unaware or off guard when a fight starts receive multiple penalties from this condition. They get no action or movement on their turn, and they cannot take reactions until the end of their first turn when the surprised condition ends. In addition, attack rolls against surprised creatures have an advantage.

Creatures still roll initiative at the start of combat, even if surprised. There's a chance they could roll higher than the creatures ambushing them. In that case, they still wouldn't get to do anything on their turn, but they could take reactions later in the round, and attacks against them would no longer have an advantage.

This is a lot, and certain builds can use surprise to obliterate their opponents. Gloomstalker rangers and assassin rogues, in particular, get attack and damage bonuses on the first round of combat and against creatures who haven't gone yet in the initiative. And even without those subclasses,