If a character with the Alert feat rolls a crit fail on their Perception check, are they surprised?












6












$begingroup$


A Druid in my campaign has the Alert feat, which stops her from being surprised.



If she rolls a critical failure on her Perception check, would:




  1. She get surprised because she crit-failed?


  2. The Alert feat negate that?



I'm leaning more toward it's "up to the DM," but I wanted to get a second perspective on this.






dnd-5e feats skills critical-fail







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  • $begingroup$
    Welcome to RPG.SE! Take the tour if you haven't already, and check out the help center for more guidance.
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    5 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Possible duplicate of Is a critical failure on a natural 1 a rule or house rule?
    $endgroup$
    – enkryptor
    5 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    see also rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/93831 , rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/135860
    $endgroup$
    – enkryptor
    5 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    @enkryptor Don't think it's a dupe, this one has the feat as an added consideration.
    $endgroup$
    – KorvinStarmast
    5 hours ago
















6












$begingroup$


A Druid in my campaign has the Alert feat, which stops her from being surprised.



If she rolls a critical failure on her Perception check, would:




  1. She get surprised because she crit-failed?


  2. The Alert feat negate that?



I'm leaning more toward it's "up to the DM," but I wanted to get a second perspective on this.






dnd-5e feats skills critical-fail







share|improve this question









New contributor




tbro is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.







$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    Welcome to RPG.SE! Take the tour if you haven't already, and check out the help center for more guidance.
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    5 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Possible duplicate of Is a critical failure on a natural 1 a rule or house rule?
    $endgroup$
    – enkryptor
    5 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    see also rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/93831 , rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/135860
    $endgroup$
    – enkryptor
    5 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    @enkryptor Don't think it's a dupe, this one has the feat as an added consideration.
    $endgroup$
    – KorvinStarmast
    5 hours ago














6












6








6





$begingroup$


A Druid in my campaign has the Alert feat, which stops her from being surprised.



If she rolls a critical failure on her Perception check, would:




  1. She get surprised because she crit-failed?


  2. The Alert feat negate that?



I'm leaning more toward it's "up to the DM," but I wanted to get a second perspective on this.






dnd-5e feats skills critical-fail







share|improve this question









New contributor




tbro is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.







$endgroup$




A Druid in my campaign has the Alert feat, which stops her from being surprised.



If she rolls a critical failure on her Perception check, would:




  1. She get surprised because she crit-failed?


  2. The Alert feat negate that?



I'm leaning more toward it's "up to the DM," but I wanted to get a second perspective on this.






dnd-5e feats skills critical-fail




dnd-5e feats skills critical-fail






share|improve this question









New contributor




tbro is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











share|improve this question









New contributor




tbro is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 5 hours ago









V2Blast

25.5k486156




25.5k486156






New contributor




tbro is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









asked 9 hours ago









tbrotbro

311




311




New contributor




tbro is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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New contributor





tbro is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






tbro is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.












  • $begingroup$
    Welcome to RPG.SE! Take the tour if you haven't already, and check out the help center for more guidance.
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    5 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Possible duplicate of Is a critical failure on a natural 1 a rule or house rule?
    $endgroup$
    – enkryptor
    5 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    see also rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/93831 , rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/135860
    $endgroup$
    – enkryptor
    5 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    @enkryptor Don't think it's a dupe, this one has the feat as an added consideration.
    $endgroup$
    – KorvinStarmast
    5 hours ago


















  • $begingroup$
    Welcome to RPG.SE! Take the tour if you haven't already, and check out the help center for more guidance.
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    5 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Possible duplicate of Is a critical failure on a natural 1 a rule or house rule?
    $endgroup$
    – enkryptor
    5 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    see also rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/93831 , rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/135860
    $endgroup$
    – enkryptor
    5 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    @enkryptor Don't think it's a dupe, this one has the feat as an added consideration.
    $endgroup$
    – KorvinStarmast
    5 hours ago
















$begingroup$
Welcome to RPG.SE! Take the tour if you haven't already, and check out the help center for more guidance.
$endgroup$
– V2Blast
5 hours ago




$begingroup$
Welcome to RPG.SE! Take the tour if you haven't already, and check out the help center for more guidance.
$endgroup$
– V2Blast
5 hours ago












$begingroup$
Possible duplicate of Is a critical failure on a natural 1 a rule or house rule?
$endgroup$
– enkryptor
5 hours ago




$begingroup$
Possible duplicate of Is a critical failure on a natural 1 a rule or house rule?
$endgroup$
– enkryptor
5 hours ago












$begingroup$
see also rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/93831 , rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/135860
$endgroup$
– enkryptor
5 hours ago




$begingroup$
see also rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/93831 , rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/135860
$endgroup$
– enkryptor
5 hours ago












$begingroup$
@enkryptor Don't think it's a dupe, this one has the feat as an added consideration.
$endgroup$
– KorvinStarmast
5 hours ago




$begingroup$
@enkryptor Don't think it's a dupe, this one has the feat as an added consideration.
$endgroup$
– KorvinStarmast
5 hours ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















25












$begingroup$

2. The Alert feat negates surprise



Because the Alert feat (PHB, p. 165) states:




You can't be surprised while you are conscious




A character with the Alert feat cannot be surprised while they are conscious.



"Surprised" has a clear mechanical meaning.



If a character is surprised, they cannot act on their first turn of combat, and after their first turn, they are no longer surprised.



A character with the Alert feat who rolls a low perception check can be unprepared, but never surprised. Perhaps they don't have enough time to wake all their allies before combat starts or they don't have time to get into position or take the action required to don a shield (before combat). But they can never be "surprised".



Rules as Written, critical failures are only for attack rolls.



It is a common house rule that rolling a 1 on a d20 results in a critical fail, whatever the context - but there is no rule in D&D 5e that states that is the case for anything but attack rolls, where the result is simply "you miss".

Note: The optional rule on page 242 of the DMG ("Critical Success or Failure") doesn't explicitly state that a 1 rolled on an ability check overrides a feat's features.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$









  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Crit fails (and successes) are also for death saves.
    $endgroup$
    – Nacht
    2 hours ago











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1 Answer
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active

oldest

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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









25












$begingroup$

2. The Alert feat negates surprise



Because the Alert feat (PHB, p. 165) states:




You can't be surprised while you are conscious




A character with the Alert feat cannot be surprised while they are conscious.



"Surprised" has a clear mechanical meaning.



If a character is surprised, they cannot act on their first turn of combat, and after their first turn, they are no longer surprised.



A character with the Alert feat who rolls a low perception check can be unprepared, but never surprised. Perhaps they don't have enough time to wake all their allies before combat starts or they don't have time to get into position or take the action required to don a shield (before combat). But they can never be "surprised".



Rules as Written, critical failures are only for attack rolls.



It is a common house rule that rolling a 1 on a d20 results in a critical fail, whatever the context - but there is no rule in D&D 5e that states that is the case for anything but attack rolls, where the result is simply "you miss".

Note: The optional rule on page 242 of the DMG ("Critical Success or Failure") doesn't explicitly state that a 1 rolled on an ability check overrides a feat's features.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$









  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Crit fails (and successes) are also for death saves.
    $endgroup$
    – Nacht
    2 hours ago
















25












$begingroup$

2. The Alert feat negates surprise



Because the Alert feat (PHB, p. 165) states:




You can't be surprised while you are conscious




A character with the Alert feat cannot be surprised while they are conscious.



"Surprised" has a clear mechanical meaning.



If a character is surprised, they cannot act on their first turn of combat, and after their first turn, they are no longer surprised.



A character with the Alert feat who rolls a low perception check can be unprepared, but never surprised. Perhaps they don't have enough time to wake all their allies before combat starts or they don't have time to get into position or take the action required to don a shield (before combat). But they can never be "surprised".



Rules as Written, critical failures are only for attack rolls.



It is a common house rule that rolling a 1 on a d20 results in a critical fail, whatever the context - but there is no rule in D&D 5e that states that is the case for anything but attack rolls, where the result is simply "you miss".

Note: The optional rule on page 242 of the DMG ("Critical Success or Failure") doesn't explicitly state that a 1 rolled on an ability check overrides a feat's features.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$









  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Crit fails (and successes) are also for death saves.
    $endgroup$
    – Nacht
    2 hours ago














25












25








25





$begingroup$

2. The Alert feat negates surprise



Because the Alert feat (PHB, p. 165) states:




You can't be surprised while you are conscious




A character with the Alert feat cannot be surprised while they are conscious.



"Surprised" has a clear mechanical meaning.



If a character is surprised, they cannot act on their first turn of combat, and after their first turn, they are no longer surprised.



A character with the Alert feat who rolls a low perception check can be unprepared, but never surprised. Perhaps they don't have enough time to wake all their allies before combat starts or they don't have time to get into position or take the action required to don a shield (before combat). But they can never be "surprised".



Rules as Written, critical failures are only for attack rolls.



It is a common house rule that rolling a 1 on a d20 results in a critical fail, whatever the context - but there is no rule in D&D 5e that states that is the case for anything but attack rolls, where the result is simply "you miss".

Note: The optional rule on page 242 of the DMG ("Critical Success or Failure") doesn't explicitly state that a 1 rolled on an ability check overrides a feat's features.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$



2. The Alert feat negates surprise



Because the Alert feat (PHB, p. 165) states:




You can't be surprised while you are conscious




A character with the Alert feat cannot be surprised while they are conscious.



"Surprised" has a clear mechanical meaning.



If a character is surprised, they cannot act on their first turn of combat, and after their first turn, they are no longer surprised.



A character with the Alert feat who rolls a low perception check can be unprepared, but never surprised. Perhaps they don't have enough time to wake all their allies before combat starts or they don't have time to get into position or take the action required to don a shield (before combat). But they can never be "surprised".



Rules as Written, critical failures are only for attack rolls.



It is a common house rule that rolling a 1 on a d20 results in a critical fail, whatever the context - but there is no rule in D&D 5e that states that is the case for anything but attack rolls, where the result is simply "you miss".

Note: The optional rule on page 242 of the DMG ("Critical Success or Failure") doesn't explicitly state that a 1 rolled on an ability check overrides a feat's features.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 5 hours ago









V2Blast

25.5k486156




25.5k486156










answered 8 hours ago









Blake SteelBlake Steel

3,8431847




3,8431847








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Crit fails (and successes) are also for death saves.
    $endgroup$
    – Nacht
    2 hours ago














  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Crit fails (and successes) are also for death saves.
    $endgroup$
    – Nacht
    2 hours ago








1




1




$begingroup$
Crit fails (and successes) are also for death saves.
$endgroup$
– Nacht
2 hours ago




$begingroup$
Crit fails (and successes) are also for death saves.
$endgroup$
– Nacht
2 hours ago










tbro is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.










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