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Message: <blockquote data-quote="N'raac" data-source="post: 6226651" data-attributes="member: 6681948">Olaf nails it, to me. This isn't that hard. But if you are going to place the burden on the player, then I think it is reasonable for the player to remind you whenever the Elf is in position to see a secret door, not just when he has (in your opinion) a good reason to believe a secret door is there. This doesn't have to consume huge amounts of game time. If the Elf player notes when we leave the room that, as always, the Elf is alert foir secret doors in the passages they traverse, and comments in each and every room that, in the course of searching the room, the Elf will circle the exterior within 5' of the walls, where he will have a chance to notice any secret doors, then you have your reminder and he has his ability. If this is becoming frustrating tio the GM, the answer is to remember that elves can see secret doors without conscious effort, and tell the player you are aware of the ability and rolling the checks. Of course, then you have to do so.As another player in the group, I might start adding reminders myself. "I wonder if the Elf sees any hidden doors". "If only we had a character who could detect secret doors (or evil, or magic, or what have you for various characters).At what point is it "absurd"? The elf has the constant ability to notice secret doors. Either that means you remember that ability and roll for it, or the player is justified in reminding you of this ability whereever it may be relevant. That means everwhere there are walls, not just when a fleeing opponent has mysteriously vanished in a dead end.So do I have to TELL you I am using my Listen skill in case there is an invisible assassin skulking in our midst, or do I get an automatic roll for a passive ability? Because the Elf's ability to see a secret door is just as passive as the human ability to hear someone moving about, or spot something shiny in a haystack. "I use my Spot skill - I rolled a 5". "OK, you see that there is a town 30 yards ahead. Good thing you rolled - you would have walked right into the town walls." If my character can read Draconic, then I shouold be able to read it without switching my skill on. If he has knowledge of the local area, he should not have to chant a mantra to activate his memory that the person we just met is the local blacksmith, or the daughter of the mayor.Ideally, the GM would remember those abilities, but the world is not ideal. Given this, I would expect players not to be annoyed they must sometimes remind the GM, especially of abilities that don't come up all that often. But I would also expect the GM to acknowledge that those reminders are reasonable, nit "imposing a burden" or "wasting game time". And I would also expect the GM to attempt to make amends where an ability is overlooked, not say "well you just didn't think about whether she might be the mayor's daughter for the past few hours".I expect my GM to be reasonable too. As such, if my character has a opassive ability, I expect it to work passively, whether by the GM remembering it or by him accepting that constant reminders are made necessary if he finds it too great a burden to remember. It's not practical to expect the GM to ask "does anyone have the ability to detect secret doors" whenever we pass one. It is practical for him to ask whether anyone reads Draconic, or what languages everyone can read, or what everyone's local knowledge skills are. Most GM's I've gamed with recognize when certain abilities are likely to come up near term, and get that info from character sheets in advance. Some track a lot more info, and others don't track much. Those that track little accept that there will be a lot more reminders in the game session.</blockquote>

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