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Message: <blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7758779" data-attributes="member: 97077">Right, which is why I engage in liberal amounts of telegraphing so the players can make informed decisions that have some impact on their fate.I'm not sure dice actually grant agency at least in this context. I would say reasonably informed choices that are fairly and consistently adjudicated and have an actual impact do. If a player has been told, in so many words, that monsters lurking in the shadows are known to kill adventurers in this part of the dungeon, they can make an informed choice to mitigate or eliminate their risk. Keep Watch, for example, or Don't Go There. Or perhaps send in the familiar with darkvision or tremorsense first or lob fireballs in all dark places before entering. Or whatever.Yes, it's a passive check which is used to determine surprise per the rules. I'll add as a point on terminology that there are no "active checks" in D&D 5e. I get what you mean by that but I think that muddles what these mechanics are meant to resolve. The characters in this example who are Keeping Watch are not being passive in the sense they aren't actively doing something - they are. Specifically, they are staying alert for hidden dangers instead of doing anything else of note. A passive check is just a special kind of ability check that resolves uncertainty as to the outcome of activities being repeated over time when those activities have a meaningful consequence of failure. When traveling the dungeon as in this example, it resolves whether they can spot traps (given the appropriate rank in the marching order) or avoid surprise. Now, after combat breaks out, let's say the drow has some kind of ability to hide as a bonus action. He or she attacks the surprised PCs, then darts behind another pillar and hides. The DM rolls quite well on the Dexterity (Stealth) check. The initiative order indicates at least one PC goes in the second round before the drow does. The player may now decide to have the character perform the Search action to pinpoint the drow if he or she wants to. In this case, it would call for a Wisdom (Perception) check as an action with the DC being the drow's Dexterity (Stealth) check +1. Or, of course, the player may opt instead to just move to where he or she last saw the drow and, if that position allows for the PC to clearly see the drow, the drow is no longer hidden. This could be risky though because who knows if there are traps in between the drow and the PC? The good news is that, in combat, creatures are assumed to be alert to danger, and so the character at least has a chance to notice them (the trap's detection DC versus the PC's passive Perception score) as he or she moves toward the drow. And, if the DM is anything like me, the traps will have been telegraphed in some way when describing the environment.To be clear, I'm sure you know all this. I'm just putting it out there to clarify my position and to offer up what the rules say to those who aren't familiar with this game.</blockquote>

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