You don't get the +35 rear attack bonus twice. You get the surprise bonus of +25, and the attack is treated as a rear attack for +35. If you happen to be standing to the rear of the target, the attack is treated as a rear attack... but if you're not standing to the rear of the target, the attack is treated as a rear attack, exactly the same. +35 positional modifier in either case, so total of +60. That's why it's described as an automatic rear attack and not simply as a +35 flatfooted attack bonus.
Ah, I get it now. You are kind of already using the suggestion RandalThor made, namely, that the bonuses don't stack. That sounds better.
You might want to clarify that though in the text, both of the Surprise section and the Ambush section. The description of the Ambush skill on p. 66 says this:
"Ambush is the ability to make a very precise attack and
can only occur when the opponent is completely
unaware of the character’s attack. In such a situation,
the ambushing character makes an attack roll as normal
(with a bonus for surprise and frequently for a rear or
flank attack)."
That seems to suggest that the rear or flank bonus is something different than the surprised bonus, since the rear/flank bonus only happens sometimes ('frequently') rather than being an inherent part of the surprise bonus. I guess you are saying though that the difference is between being completely surprised and unprepared for combat (flatfooted) versus just being surprised and prepared for combat (surprised), as the game explains on p. 86, with the surprise rules?
In any case, I would recommend the text of the Surprised or Flatfooted section on p. 92 be clarified to indicate that the +35
is a positional bonus. Right now, the text reads:
"When executing attacks on surprised foes, the attacker
gets +25 OB, in addition to any positional modifiers (if
melee). Against flatfooted foes, the bonus is the +60:
+25 for surprise and +35 for an automatic rear attack,
regardless of position."
I would suggest adding a couple of words (and cutting out a couple) in this way to make it clear that the +35
is the positional bonus, and so doesn't stack with the other potential positional bonuses:
"When executing attacks on surprised foes, the attacker
gets +25 OB, in addition to any positional modifiers (if
melee). Against flatfooted foes,
the total bonus is +60: +25 for surprise and +35 for an automatic rear attack
positional bonus,
regardless of position.
(This bonus does not stack with any other rear or flank positional bonuses)."
I think as GM you could certainly rule that some entities are always prepared for combat and that therefore they could never be caught flatfooted. But given that stone golems have omnidirectional life sense, you could also think of it as the creature needing to reorient to figure out what is attacking it, since whatever concealed you was not merely being out of its field of view (since there is no "out of view").
Yes, and Stone Golems are notoriously slow, so I could do that. I guess I'm just being picky in pushing a little to define exactly what the +25 'surprised' bonus represents. The game already prevents a player that is surprised from parrying or using quickness DB, so the surprise bonus isn't representing the fact that surprised characters can't defend themselves as well. The game also gives the +35 rear attack bonus on top of that, so the surprised bonus isn't representing the fact that the attacker can strike anywhere she wants. So what exactly is it representing then? And if we can't give a clear answer, and if the surprise bonus isn't really necessary anyway because an attacker already gets so many benefits from attacking a surprised character, then do we really need the surprised bonus at all? Wouldn't the game be better without it?