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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Is "Passive" (for Passive Perception) really the right term??
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<blockquote data-quote="DND_Reborn" data-source="post: 8701731" data-attributes="member: 6987520"><p>Actually, although similar to RT, PP is still different (as written) because you have to take the 10; with RT you are still rolling and can get results of 11 or higher as well.</p><p></p><p>What bothers me is calling something "passive" when it isn't "passive" by any definition I know of. "Standard, typical, or routine" would all be better choices for the terminology. </p><p></p><p></p><p>But one "won't do" IMO.</p><p></p><p>What "passive perception" should be: You notice something when you aren't looking for it.</p><p></p><p>So, how can your perception when you aren't looking (or sensing in any fashion) be as good as your average roll if you ARE looking for something???</p><p></p><p></p><p>Yeah, SO many people over look this! When I was just running the Vecna battle, the rogue's passive scores were 5 lower until the paladin with the sunblade shed some more light on the area.</p><p></p><p></p><p>#1 I agree with. This is the character doing a routine task repeatedly, so the DM assigns a value of 10, the (close to) average result. It is the first reason for a "passive" score.</p><p></p><p>However, I disagree with your #2. The DM should only be using passive in this case when they want the result to be secret, but even then the character still has to be doing something to warrant the check.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DND_Reborn, post: 8701731, member: 6987520"] Actually, although similar to RT, PP is still different (as written) because you have to take the 10; with RT you are still rolling and can get results of 11 or higher as well. What bothers me is calling something "passive" when it isn't "passive" by any definition I know of. "Standard, typical, or routine" would all be better choices for the terminology. But one "won't do" IMO. What "passive perception" should be: You notice something when you aren't looking for it. So, how can your perception when you aren't looking (or sensing in any fashion) be as good as your average roll if you ARE looking for something??? Yeah, SO many people over look this! When I was just running the Vecna battle, the rogue's passive scores were 5 lower until the paladin with the sunblade shed some more light on the area. #1 I agree with. This is the character doing a routine task repeatedly, so the DM assigns a value of 10, the (close to) average result. It is the first reason for a "passive" score. However, I disagree with your #2. The DM should only be using passive in this case when they want the result to be secret, but even then the character still has to be doing something to warrant the check. [/QUOTE]
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Is "Passive" (for Passive Perception) really the right term??
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