Take the tour ×  Say, a PC fires a longbow at an enemy without
their knowledge before combat has begun, how should combat
start?    • Should there be a stealth/perception opposed check?
• Should a successful/unsuccessful opposed check give a
benefit/failure to initiative?   • Should a successful opposed
check cause an automatic hit or crit?   • When should initiative
be rolled?   • Should there be a surprise round?   • If I
whisper to my party what I'm doing, do they automatically fail
to be surprised? share|improve this question add comment  1
Answer  up vote 13 down vote accepted  Check out Pathfinder's
rules for Surprise in Combat.  In short, the one shooting his
longbow starts "Combat Mode", but he gets a surprise round, in
which only he, and anyone who rolled high enough Perception to
be aware of the attack, can act. If it's something done
completely in stealth, the GM can rule that everyone is
surprised.  The attack can then be resolved normally for the
shooter, with the added caveats that all opponen