I ran across a situation the other night that has me thinking I messed up as a GM. And I need advice.
We were doing a battle, and some Trogdolytes were about to storm the room where my PCs were. But one of my PCs heard the Trogs getting their equipment together in the adjacent room, and they decided to turn the tables and get the jump on their opponents before they themselves got jumped. They took positions around the door (Cavalier and Cleric adjacent to but not in front of the door, Rogue and Ranger with bows drawn some distance away, ready to shoot arrows at anything that went through the door). The trogdolytes opened the door and voila, arrows fly and we have some dead trogdolytes in the suprise round.
So question one, were the characters flat footed when the trogdolytes "stormed" the room because my characters were expecting them? I interpreted as no, and that in fact the trogdolytes were suprised to have a hail of arrows and two fully armored warriors standing ready to greet them the moment they took a step into the room.
On to question two...
Some minutes later, the Cavalier decides to get smart and peek through the next door to see what's on the other side (his idea was that the door would provide cover in case he got attacked). Low and behold, the lone Trogdolyte in the room failed his perception check at the door being creaked open, and the Cavalier manages to scurry back to the group and tell them of the trogdolyte chilling in the corner of the next room. The characters take up a similar formation that they had before, and the Cavalier, standing flat up against the wall immediately adjacent to the door, pushes the door open quickly with his hand while staying out of the way of the archer's line of fire...
...and that was suddenly a very easy dungeon for a group of level 1 characters.
Did I mess up my interpretation of the suprise round? Under my understanding, both sets of trogdolytes were "suprised" and the PCs weren't. But something just unsettles me a bit. What exactly does it mean to be "suprised?"
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I would have run it just the same way you did. The characters were resourceful and I'm guessing had taken Readied actions to shoot/attack whatever came through the door versus Trogs who used move actions to get through the door (and into death's awaiting arms)
If this happens to often, I suggest having the opposite happen. Have some creature ready actions to blast PCs who charge into rooms as well.
The problem you are having is deciding when combat starts.
Once combat starts, the PC's are flat footed until their turn to go.
You make the assumption combat started when the Trogs charged.
In reality- it didn't. Combat started the moment the PC's realized the trogs were there, and took means to ready the room against them.
What the PC's did was engineer the surprise round to their advantage. They were never flat footed because they were engaged in combat (unknown to the enemy).
The same thing essentially happened in the 2nd room too. The Cavalier took his "surprise round" action opening the door, then everyone got a turn before the Trog (who failed his roll and thus didn't get to act).
Just make sure PC's don't use this to try and game the system before every door. They can't "start combat' without knowing there is a fight to happen afterall :)
-S