Rya.Reisender
Explorer
Yeah, you made me realize that I didn't explain that properly. What I really do is to not roll at all until the result has an immediate consequence. In case of stealth for example, I wouldn't roll the moment the enemy hides. Instead I roll when the only two possible outcomes are: The enemy surprise attacks the group OR the group notices the enemy. That way there's no need to hide the roll.I wonder how you reconcile this with your rule to never hide rolls. One of the purposes for a passive check is for the DM to determine success or failure secretly. What I'm considering for navigation is contesting the navigator's passive Survival with a roll on behalf of the terrain. More difficult terrain types get advantage on the roll. "Clear" terrain types, such as a plain, have disadvantage. The result determines whether the party is successful in moving in the desired direction and, if lost, whether they know they're lost. Would you consider this hiding a roll?
I wouldn't consider using passive values as hiding the roll. But I prefer letting my players roll because I think it makes them enjoy the game more. I only apply passive values if it's either directly stated in the rules (passive perception) or if my players do the same thing continuously.
I already said how I'd resolve following tracks earlier:
1. Describe what the PCs perceive.
2. Wait for the player to declare the action.
3. Determine DC (or use the one stated in the adventure path if available)
4. Ask the player to do a survival roll.
5. On success, tell the truth. On fail, tell he doesn't know / can't figure it out.
Some other DMs on here also have another approach which I personally don't like but that definitely also resolves the issue: "Failure is success at a cost"
So if they want to follow the tracks, they will succeed at it no matter what, but a failed roll for example makes them waste time, or run straight into some monster lair on their way.