im old school and sometimes roll a d6 to check for surprise when one side isnt expecting an enemy . Its quite situational and varies.
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1) How do you handle surprise
While six-sided dice are easy to find lying around the house the product lines I.C.E. produces usually use a d10.
I played many games of Rolemaster under RMSS rules, as well as a little under the M.E.R.P. and H.A.R.P. rulebooks.
My favorite is H.A.R.P.'s method which is a single Perception check for each group and everyone acts in the first round with the losers of the Perception check getting penalty to their individual roll to determine who acts first.