Initiative

Template:Up to date Initiative determines the order of turns during combat.

Rolling Initiative

When combat begins, every participating combatant rolls D4 + Dexterity Modifier to determine their position in the initiative order. Participants act in order from highest to lowest Initiative. If two participants roll the same Initiative result, the one with a higher Dexterity Score goes first, though characters controlled by the same player with the same Initiative effectively act simultaneously.

External sources of Initiative

There are multiple external sources that one can utilize to grant a character a numeric bonus to their Initiative roll. These sources may affect NPCs.

External sources of Initiative

Source	Value	Type	Subtype
Alert	+5	Feat	-
Elixir of Vigilance	+5	Consumable	Elixir
Hellrider Longbow	+3	Weapon	Longbow
Sentinel Shield	+3	Shield	-
Assassin of Bhaal Cowl	+2	Headwear	-
Mask of Soul Perception	+2	Headwear	-
Soulbreaker Greatsword	+2	Weapon	Greatsword
Bhaalist Armour	+2	Armor	Light Armor
Elegant Studded Leather	+2	Armor	Light Armor
Elven Chain	+2	Armor	Medium Armor
Flame Enamelled Armour	+2	Armor	Medium Armor
Ambusher	+1	Weapon	Shortsword
Bow of Awareness	+1	Weapon	Shortbow
Fistbreaker Helm	+1	Headwear	-
Halberd of Vigilance	+1	Weapon	Halberd
Stalker Gloves	+1	Handwear	-
Studded Leather Armour +2	+1	Armor	Light Armor
Hide Armour +2	+1	Armor	Medium Armor
Scale Mail +2	+1	Armor	Medium Armor
Yuan-Ti Scale Mail	+1	Armor	Medium Armor

Surprised

 Surprised is a special Condition that overrides the Initiative roll made by a Creature for the first round of combat. When one side of a combat encounter is unaware of the other side, they may be Surprised. A Surprised creature cannot take any Actions or Reactions for one combat round. Characters with the Alert feat cannot be Surprised.

Surprise can be achieved when initiating combat by attacking an unaware enemy while Hidden.

• Some creatures, even when Surprised themselves, may call out to nearby allies to prevent them from being Surprised.
• Certain combat encounters are rigged to always Surprise either the player's party or the enemy party when the proper conditions are met. For example:
  • The first encounter with the Lesser Imps during the Prologue always grants the player a Surprise round.
  • A Mimic will always Surprise the player's party when interacting with the object it's disguised as, attacking it from range will provoke the battle without surprising.
  • In the Underdark Beach, a Duergar will spot you, talk to you and call their leader, if you wait for their leader your party is surprised, if you choose to attack all of the enemies in the beach get surprised.