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<blockquote data-quote="Shiroiken" data-source="post: 7250588" data-attributes="member: 6775477">Mearls discussed it in an article at/near release (possibly during the playtest, but I'm not sure). Instead of comparing a static DC against a static passive score, where you can't fail against any DC equal to or less than your passive score, the DM rolls a check instead of using the DC, and if the check is higher than the passive score, the passive check fails. This means if you have a 17 Passive Perception you can fail against a DC: 15 if the DM rolls high, but will probably succeed. I did the math at one point (which Mearls didn't provide), and found that a check with a modifier equal to the DC -12 is exactly the same chance as an active check.By Perkins method, you would always succeed against a 15, so the DM should never bother using any DC less than your passive value. I think this is boring and creates a situation where the DM keeps using higher and higher DC, which kinda goes against the point of bounded accuracy.I'll give an example: an elf and human walk past a secret door. The DC to find the secret door is a 15, the elf has a passive perception of a 16 and the human a passive perception of 11. The DM rolls 1d20+3, and an 11+ means the human doesn't see it, while a 16+ means the elf doesn't either. If neither find it, they can still find it with an active roll.&nbsp; Thus they have a free passive attempt, plus they may make an active attempt if they fail.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Shiroiken, post: 7250588, member: 6775477"] Mearls discussed it in an article at/near release (possibly during the playtest, but I'm not sure). Instead of comparing a static DC against a static passive score, where you can't fail against any DC equal to or less than your passive score, the DM rolls a check instead of using the DC, and if the check is higher than the passive score, the passive check fails. This means if you have a 17 Passive Perception you can fail against a DC: 15 if the DM rolls high, but will probably succeed. I did the math at one point (which Mearls didn't provide), and found that a check with a modifier equal to the DC -12 is exactly the same chance as an active check. By Perkins method, you would always succeed against a 15, so the DM should never bother using any DC less than your passive value. I think this is boring and creates a situation where the DM keeps using higher and higher DC, which kinda goes against the point of bounded accuracy. I'll give an example: an elf and human walk past a secret door. The DC to find the secret door is a 15, the elf has a passive perception of a 16 and the human a passive perception of 11. The DM rolls 1d20+3, and an 11+ means the human doesn't see it, while a 16+ means the elf doesn't either. If neither find it, they can still find it with an active roll. Thus they have a free passive attempt, plus they may make an active attempt if they fail. [/QUOTE]

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