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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Swarmkeeper" data-source="post: 8548351" data-attributes="member: 6921763">Now that it is very clear to me how you'd run it, I really do think you are misinterpreting the intersection of the rules for traveling, noticing hidden threats, and surprise. A few issues in particular come up when run this way, including:1. This style nerfs the Ranger's ability that states:"Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger."The way you have it, everyone in the group has passive perception that is "always on" - in other words, everyone is individually alert to danger.2.  You could have a situation where the "watching for danger" subgroup has a one or two successes but more failures.  Those PCs whose passive perception on their own would have succeeded kinda get a raw deal here (but not RAW <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />) and are lumped in with the subgroup fail.  Meanwhile, some in the "watching out for danger" subgroup might actually have the same or lower passive perception yet somehow succeed in the fiction because the group fail didn't apply to them.  That is a very wonky outcome for the party as a whole.3.  The group can start "gaming" this methodology.  It would likely benefit every party to only have the one or two PCs with the highest passive perception scores do the "watching for danger" while the rest of the PCs do "other activities" to then be excluded from the "group check". Now we just need the one, or one of the two, high perception PCs to succeed and, voila!, no surprise for anyone.  That makes high Perception extra powerful as has been mentioned before - one PC with very high perception can keep everyone in a party from virtually ever being surprised.A plain reading of all the rules indicates that the PCs who are involved in other activities are specifically not watching for danger (with certain specific exceptions such as: Rangers and PCs with the Alert Feat).  Their passive perception does not apply.  Those characters will not spot well-hidden traps and will be surprised by stealthy monsters looking to attack.</blockquote>

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