Quote Originally Posted by 5eNeedsDarksun View Post
I had another thought around surprise/ initiative. If a group is playing RAW, what's to stop a character who has successfully fulfilled all of the conditions applied by the DM to gain surprise, then loses initiative to simply not do anything, walk away, then come back in a round or 2 and try again? I mean there is nothing explicitly in the rules that says an otherwise surprised character actually notices a potential attacker just because he/she wins initiative. In fact that character can't take actions or reactions. So if the potential attacker doesn't attack, combat hasn't actually started yet, so I would think it would be well within a player's rights to say, "OK, I duck back behind the tree, compose myself, and try again in a few moments."
I mean, presumably the NPC who is surprised has been surprised by something. If initiative is rolled, combat has started, and youve done something to make them aware of your presence in some way, even if they cant act on it before you do something.