It feels like passive perception is one of the first parts of the game to be house ruled away, usually unitinionally. Your passive perception is technically the lowest result you can get on any perception check. This means if you have a passive perception of 15 and you roll a 1 your result on the passive perception check is 15.
This is incorrect. The Passive Perception score must be used only as DC against Stealth checks. To find traps or secret doors or similar things you have to use an active roll.
The way the Passive Perception is calculated (10 + bonus) is neutral mathematichally speaking. The likelyhood of a Stealth check to succeed does not change if it is compared to a Perception roll or a Passive score.
Moreover, if a DM ask to make a Perception roll to detect a Stealth creature, even if you fail the perception roll, you that someone or something is hiding. And that it is something your character should not know.
I believe this (PP is floor for check) was just "Sage Advised" by Jeremy Crawford as being the case. I strongly disagree with this interpretation and play it like you sound to.
Passive Perception is just there so that both sides don't have to roll. It gives a passive DC when someone else is doing something active that they're trying to hide. I use "Passive Intuition" in the same way: a DC for trying to actively pull one over on someone else. You actually roll for Perception when you're trying to find secret doors and that sort of thing. It a fuzzy line, but that doesn't bother me, since the DM's job is to referee.
The difference is a bit like asking why some spells call for a save and some call for an attack roll.
Its a lot of players thing. I mean with 8+ players combat ends up taking so long that you get like one or two encounters in a night of playing so it's usually not causing any problems.
No, it's not a lot of players thing. I've regularly had 8+ players and had multiple (3-4) combat encounters in even sessions that are only 4 hours long, while still not spending the whole session in combat.
It's a trying to make every combat by itself a big challenge thing.
Also, are you sure that after I've just rolled and gotten a great roll that you would want to pick up your die and risk still not winning the contest? Maybe it's just my players, but that ends up feeling like they failed twice (once by not having a higher passive, and again by rolling equal or less than what there passive check already was - which is more likely than rolling higher than it) when we've done it in the past.
According to Crawford that isn't how it works. Passive Perception is the min. you can get on perception checks. So if you roll, you only have the ability to get a higher roll, not lower than your passive.
It was on sage advice where I read/heard about it SobekRe. I've yet to go see if that has been added/mentioned in my recent copy of the Player's Handbook. Passive perception being the min. result you can get on perception checks, makes a lot of sense though as it clarifies when to use passive and when to ask to roll, as them not being different things. In other words you never have a situation where a player goes "but my passive is way higher than what I rolled, why didn't I see it?"
Is the minimum when you set a DC against a Stealth check. In other situations, either you have to use an active roll or the DM decides that the passive score is enough.
I ask what makes for a better experience and go from there so long as it is consistent and fair.
Rolling perception does another thing besides the boolean "do I see, do I not". It creates tension and urgency. You lose that with passive. Maybe you want to lose tension or streamline for time.
Most frequently I use passive when something is in active opposition, such as a stealth party or ambush.
I never use it to be honest. For one, I forget that it is even a thing most of the time, secondly it is just an odd mechanic to me. All other skills are rolled, why have one that is just there. Mind you I have never had players that are checking every 5 feet for hidden attackers or secret doors.
Maybe if it were not a skill and was just a derived stat like AC or Spell Save DC then it would be better.
All other skills are rolled, why have one that is just there.
Passive perception is just the only passive check given a spot to be noted on the character sheet (an odd choice, in my opinion, because it leads to the misconception you've ended up with) - passive checks are applicable for any skill, which is why the section of the rules that explains how they work is found as a subheading under "Ability Checks" rather than as a special note that only applies to perception.
Passive checks are for, according to the book, representing the average result for a task done repeatedly or for the DM to secretly determine success of something. Perception just happens to be the example skill because it is both most likely to be rolled repeatedly if not using passive checks, and is most likely to be the relevant skill to something the DM wants to determine success of without tipping off their players that something is even being determined (because hearing a die roll and not already knowing what it was for means it was probably to determine if you know or notice something, and some people think it isn't good for the players to be aware of that).
Oh, good so I can just ignore Passive checks completely. I roll for all kinds of things and some times for no reason at all. Thanks for the information.
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It was on sage advice where I read/heard about it SobekRe. I've yet to go see if that has been added/mentioned in my recent copy of the Player's Handbook. Passive perception being the min. result you can get on perception checks, makes a lot of sense though as it clarifies when to use passive and when to ask to roll, as them not being different things. In other words you never have a situation where a player goes "but my passive is way higher than what I rolled, why didn't I see it?"
Is the minimum when you set a DC against a Stealth check. In other situations, either you have to use an active roll or the DM decides that the passive score is enough.
https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/792119053242343424
I ask what makes for a better experience and go from there so long as it is consistent and fair.
Rolling perception does another thing besides the boolean "do I see, do I not". It creates tension and urgency. You lose that with passive. Maybe you want to lose tension or streamline for time.
Most frequently I use passive when something is in active opposition, such as a stealth party or ambush.
I never use it to be honest. For one, I forget that it is even a thing most of the time, secondly it is just an odd mechanic to me. All other skills are rolled, why have one that is just there. Mind you I have never had players that are checking every 5 feet for hidden attackers or secret doors.
Maybe if it were not a skill and was just a derived stat like AC or Spell Save DC then it would be better.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
Oh, good so I can just ignore Passive checks completely. I roll for all kinds of things and some times for no reason at all. Thanks for the information.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master