My last PC died a couple months ago, in a homebrew 3.5 game.
He was a Scout/Ranger (sort-of Swift Hunter build) and got ambushed to oblivion by greatsword-wielding fire giants... who was just standing still in a volcanic valley.
My character had Blindsense of 30 ft. and Listen/Spot around thirties. While moving, he also had the highest AC (thanks to Improved Skirmish) and the second highest HP amount.
He never saw them coming. No skill check, no saving throw.
Killed in the surprise round.
My first character ever was an Inquisitor of Sarenrae and we rolled initative against a succubus BBEG. In the early rounds of the fight I took a phantasmal killer and failed to meet the DC18 save.
It was disappointingly anticlimatic and I was more than happy to reroll.