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<blockquote data-quote="Bhikku" data-source="post: 4411766" data-attributes="member: 73721">I think that's the point of the passive senses. The DMG seems to indicate that for any situation where a check would be useful, there should be a somewhat lower DC to indicate that something is afoot. For example, in my first dungeon (i'm still getting my campaign up &amp; running), there's a secret door connecting two rooms which is used with some frequency; passive perception of 15 or better will note that one section of wall is unobstructed by the furniture and clutter that dominates the rest of the room. If the players take the hint and start looking for a secret door, they'll need to roll a 20 to find it (and if they have specific ideas about what sorts of indicators the characters might look for, or how they'd test for triggers, they can even get a bonus to the roll). Even if they fail to figure out how to open the door, or even decide that the whole thing was a red herring, they can take it into account later on - for example, an NPC will be attempting to flee through that same secret door. When the PCs follow him to an apparent dead end, if they check their map they may realize what he's done, and be able to circle back around and catch up to him. Passive insight can be handled similarly - for example, when interrogating a prisoner, a good passive insight score could let the PCs know that the prisoner is holding something back, while a good roll might let them know whether he's trying to deceive them, hopes to plea-bargain, or just wants to stall long enough to buy his allies some time. If nobody makes that active roll, the players can draw their own conclusions, which may prove counterproductive if they're wrong.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bhikku, post: 4411766, member: 73721"] I think that's the point of the passive senses. The DMG seems to indicate that for any situation where a check would be useful, there should be a somewhat lower DC to indicate that something is afoot. For example, in my first dungeon (i'm still getting my campaign up & running), there's a secret door connecting two rooms which is used with some frequency; passive perception of 15 or better will note that one section of wall is unobstructed by the furniture and clutter that dominates the rest of the room. If the players take the hint and start looking for a secret door, they'll need to roll a 20 to find it (and if they have specific ideas about what sorts of indicators the characters might look for, or how they'd test for triggers, they can even get a bonus to the roll). Even if they fail to figure out how to open the door, or even decide that the whole thing was a red herring, they can take it into account later on - for example, an NPC will be attempting to flee through that same secret door. When the PCs follow him to an apparent dead end, if they check their map they may realize what he's done, and be able to circle back around and catch up to him. Passive insight can be handled similarly - for example, when interrogating a prisoner, a good passive insight score could let the PCs know that the prisoner is holding something back, while a good roll might let them know whether he's trying to deceive them, hopes to plea-bargain, or just wants to stall long enough to buy his allies some time. If nobody makes that active roll, the players can draw their own conclusions, which may prove counterproductive if they're wrong. [/QUOTE]

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