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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ganymede81" data-source="post: 6807600" data-attributes="member: 6812267">Whether it is because you don't want to roll a bunch of dice (as in the example of a repeated task), or you don't want to roll any dice at all (as in the example of detecting a hidden trap or a cutpurse), the rulebook indicates that you use passive checks when you would rather not roll.I think that's the key. Using passive perception is essentially the same as making any other perception check, with the only exception being your passive perception score functions as the ersatz result of your perception check. To me, this is roughly analogous to taking 10 on a spot/listen check, though used at the DM's discretion rather than the PC's discretion.The big wrinkle is the Observant feat, which gives you a bonus to your passive perception score but not your perception check result. Why? It seems like the intention is to make you better at noticing things that are ordinarily within your ability to check, but not to make you better at detecting things you ordinarily couldn't detect (though there is also the fact that a +5 is, mechanically, the same as advantage; why give ersatz advantage on one but not the other?).How would I play it? I'd probably do it like a take 10; your passive check score is a die roll minimum in low-pressure scenarios.</blockquote>