D&D 5E Passive perception Yay or Nay?

[miniaturehoarder]

So how are folks feeling about the passive perception system? While I'm digging it, it seems possible others might not. It definitely makes hiding far more feasible since one doesn't have to worry about a whole group of folks shooting dice hoping for high numbers. But that alone might irk other folks who feel what should be their chance to be unsurprised is taken away by a flat number.

 

[GameOgre]

I dislike that some feats give such a huge bonus to passive. Combine that with prof bonus and a high wisdom bonus and it's kinda silly with the lower DC's of 5E.

 

[Paraxis]

Observant is a great feat, it lets the people who want to be Sherlock Holmes pull it off.

Observant druid(moon) in animal form makes a great scout. 10 +3(wis)+2(prof)+5(observant) = 20 and another +5(bonus from having advantage to perception checks from Keen sense ability) so Passive Perception of 25. That can be pulled off at level 2 for variant human builds.

But yeah, I hate as a player or DM wasting time rolling for perception checks going through a dungeon crawl, and I dislike hidden rolls of any kind, so passive checks are great.

 

[Nergal Pendragon]

I like Passive Perception. When I get a chance to DM 5E games, it'll give me a chance to say to some party members that they spotted a secret door (or trap) they didn't even think to look for. It'll make some dungeons go a lot faster.

 

[Minsc]

How exactly does this work? I didn't encounter it in my one 5e game...

 

[Nergal Pendragon]

How exactly does this work? I didn't encounter it in my one 5e game...

Basically? Passive Perception is what your character notices without making that much effort. Or when the GM wants to make a secret roll. They just compare the difficulty of noticing something to your Passive Perception to see if you notice it.

 

[SirAntoine]

I thought it sounded good at first, but it's taking away the opportunity to roll.

 

[Henry]

I thought it sounded good at first, but it's taking away the opportunity to roll.

Being a fan of Robin Laws' excellent Gumshoe RPG and its mechanic for finding hidden information in an investigative game, I'm OK with fewer rolls if it drives play forward; in most adventures, if you don't find the secret door it closes off a whole avenue of play and prep. The real excitement isn't the door - it's the drama of what's behind it.

 

[miniaturehoarder]

How exactly does this work? I didn't encounter it in my one 5e game...

Passive Perception = Perception bonus plus 10. +5 more if one has advantage on perception rolls

When a being is hiding, the entity rolls stealth if it is in a situation it can. Then when a party might spot it, the entity's hide result is checked against the passive perceptions of those on the look out (as oppose to tracking, making a map, foraging, etc), those who it beats the passive perceptions of don't notice it. Then it can stay hidden, launch a surprise round if a battle isn't going on already and possibly attack with advantage if it can attack from WHERE it is hiding.

Someone actively looking during a encounter, using up an action, I believe can roll perception.

 

[miniaturehoarder]

I thought it sounded good at first, but it's taking away the opportunity to roll.

Which is practically required to make stealth useful. If everyone is rolling perceptions then the multiple d20 rolls coming up destroys the balance the game devs put into the stealth mechanics for surprise and bogs the game down for in combat hiding.

If somebody wanted to give the players some feeling of agency on surprise checks, while retaining the balance the devs gave to stealth, you could have ONE person roll a d20, with each player using their perception bonus added to that lone die's result to generate their perception result. If a character's result beats the Passive Stealth (10+stealth bonus) of the ambusher that character is not surprised.