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High Passive Perception
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<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7151238" data-attributes="member: 20323"><p>[MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION] has some good advice upthread (as always).</p><p></p><p>My answer is a bit involved, but it amounts to <em>craft better (i.e. clear but not give-away) clues as a DM.</em> Actually, this advice is true regardless of high passive Perception.</p><p></p><p>A lot of D&D example – in the book and streamed on Twitch - have Perception (whether passive or active checks) revealing traps, secret doors, and other stuff like that. The DM says (or the book implies the correct response is) "you see a tripwire" or "you see the outline of a pit trap" or "yes, there's a secret door in the alcove."</p><p></p><p>Personally, I find that approach really damaging to immersion and involvement in the game. And it's a far cry from challenging the players' logical/creative thinking. As soon as you say "you see the outline of a pit trap" you've taken away the mystery. There's no threat now. Not really. Unless you're throwing in monsters that are imposing forced movement or using one of the horribly meta-gamey Grimtooth's Traps.</p><p></p><p>Instead, I want to give the player a clue that alludes to the presence of something unusual, but doesn't make it clear what that is exactly.</p><p></p><p>For example, I might say to the 21 passive Perception PC's player: "You notice signs of weathering as if from shuffling feet around the edges of the central flagstone of this passage."</p><p></p><p>A savvy player is going to wonder whether the flagstone could be a trap. Maybe they'll wonder if it's the flagstone that's trapped or the space to the side of it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 7151238, member: 20323"] [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION] has some good advice upthread (as always). My answer is a bit involved, but it amounts to [i]craft better (i.e. clear but not give-away) clues as a DM.[/i] Actually, this advice is true regardless of high passive Perception. A lot of D&D example – in the book and streamed on Twitch - have Perception (whether passive or active checks) revealing traps, secret doors, and other stuff like that. The DM says (or the book implies the correct response is) "you see a tripwire" or "you see the outline of a pit trap" or "yes, there's a secret door in the alcove." Personally, I find that approach really damaging to immersion and involvement in the game. And it's a far cry from challenging the players' logical/creative thinking. As soon as you say "you see the outline of a pit trap" you've taken away the mystery. There's no threat now. Not really. Unless you're throwing in monsters that are imposing forced movement or using one of the horribly meta-gamey Grimtooth's Traps. Instead, I want to give the player a clue that alludes to the presence of something unusual, but doesn't make it clear what that is exactly. For example, I might say to the 21 passive Perception PC's player: "You notice signs of weathering as if from shuffling feet around the edges of the central flagstone of this passage." A savvy player is going to wonder whether the flagstone could be a trap. Maybe they'll wonder if it's the flagstone that's trapped or the space to the side of it. [/QUOTE]
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