Surprise

Not every Moment begins on even footing. Sometimes one side sees the other coming, and sometimes they don’t.

When a Moment begins, a creature may be Surprised if a hostile presence or intent goes unrecognized until the instant conflict breaks out — a blade from the shadows, a chase that opens with one side already moving, a negotiation that turns on a betrayal no one saw coming.

Resolve this individually for each potential target, by one of two paths:

• Concealment. If the ambushing creature is already Hidden per the standard Hidden/Detected framework, any target who has not Detected them is Surprised when the Moment begins. This requires no new roll — it simply applies whatever Hidden/Detected status the Sneak and Awareness Trials already in play have established.
• Deception (or any threat that was visible but not recognized as hostile). Resolve this with a fresh opposed Trial: the ambushing creature rolls Guile, or another skill the GM judges fits the scene, against the target’s Mind DR. Success means that target is Surprised.

Surprise is resolved per-creature, not per-side. It’s entirely possible for the watchful ranger to Detect the ambush while the rest of the party walks into it blind.

See Surprised in the Status Effects catalog for the full mechanical effect.