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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7095163" data-attributes="member: 97077">I think the issue is with conflating a &quot;passive&quot; check with not actively doing something. You are - in an ongoing fashion, fictionally speaking. I think it's helpful to look at it as a &quot;mode,&quot; for lack of a better word. For example, when the PCs are entering the adventure location, I ask them what general task they are performing as they travel the area i.e. &quot;what mode is your character in?&quot; Some say they're staying alert for danger, one draws a map (because maps are worth coin back in town), another looks for tracks of the local denizens in order to avoid or ambush them, and so on. Since this is what they're doing &quot;in general,&quot; whenever I need to resolve these actions (when there's uncertainty), I refer to the appropriate passive score. That &quot;mode&quot; can change when the players establish they want to focus on some other task. Want to toss this room for secret doors? Sure, but you're no longer alert to hidden dangers - make a Perception check to find the door.With that in mind, a &quot;floor&quot; makes sense because for the given task you're undertaking, your passive score can be used to resolve the uncertainty. Searching for secret doors and searching for traps are, in my view, two different tasks. Your passive Perception score isn't going to catch them both, which is why you have fellow adventurers to help by doing the tasks you're not doing.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="iserith, post: 7095163, member: 97077"] I think the issue is with conflating a "passive" check with not actively doing something. You are - in an ongoing fashion, fictionally speaking. I think it's helpful to look at it as a "mode," for lack of a better word. For example, when the PCs are entering the adventure location, I ask them what general task they are performing as they travel the area i.e. "what mode is your character in?" Some say they're staying alert for danger, one draws a map (because maps are worth coin back in town), another looks for tracks of the local denizens in order to avoid or ambush them, and so on. Since this is what they're doing "in general," whenever I need to resolve these actions (when there's uncertainty), I refer to the appropriate passive score. That "mode" can change when the players establish they want to focus on some other task. Want to toss this room for secret doors? Sure, but you're no longer alert to hidden dangers - make a Perception check to find the door. With that in mind, a "floor" makes sense because [I]for the given task you're undertaking[/I], your passive score can be used to resolve the uncertainty. Searching for secret doors and searching for traps are, in my view, two different tasks. Your passive Perception score isn't going to catch them both, which is why you have fellow adventurers to help by doing the tasks you're not doing. [/QUOTE]

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