Stealth Ambushes and Attacks of Opportunity..

[czarofprussia]

Hi, here is a little conundrum we experienced recently and I had a question. we had two PC's in stealth waiting along a path for two Goblins patrols to walk by. The rest of the party was out of site. The idea was to gank both goblins before they could sound an alarm. As goblins walked by one player asked me "shouldn't we get attacks of opportunity? I wasn't sure because technically combat had not started yet. It would have to be triggered fist right? The Goblins would be surprised but are there any sneak attack type rules?

In the end, I made a GM call to honor the intent of what they were trying to do and as long as they made a Dex check they were both able to ambush together. It was only two goblins so no biggie but I am sure the situation will rise again. Thanks.

[Erethrin]

my understanding is that they dont get AoO since its out of combat.
but since those goblins didnt notice the Pc, if they decide to engage they would get a surprise round on the goblin (and they could use their standard action to attack them)

[czarofprussia]

Okay yeah that makes since. They had passed their checks versus the gobs perception. I just wasn't sure at what point it was considered "combat"

[Funky Badger]

Whenever the PCs (in this instance) initiate something, i.e. attacking the goblins.

They'd get a suprise round, as mentioned...

[wraithstrike]

They get the surprise round, but not AoO.