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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 8701917" data-attributes="member: 7006">As I said, you're trying to put the "realism" of the "in-game narrative" onto the game mechanic.  And this is one of those times when we shouldn't do that.  This is a game mechanic for the game's sake... to make the game work as a game.If we did as you are aiming it-- have the Passive Perception be the number that is the in-world equivalent of not actively looking at all... you would need to add the modifier to the lowest die roll, a 1.  It's the least work done on Perception-- a 1 + the modifier.  That's putting the "in-game realism" of the wording into the game mechanics.  But what would be the point?  We now a game mechanic that is completely useless.  A mechanic that'll never be used and never come up.  So why even bother making a rule for it in the first place?The 10 + modifier is there purely as a game construct.  It is to allow players and DMs to not roll dice for Perception checks all the time, but still have an opportunity to discover someone on the off-chance there are creatures out there that are hiding.  But there has to be some chance to notice them-- otherwise there's no reason to have PP in the game.  So using 10 is the middle ground-- a mechanic that will work sometimes, but not always.  Which is exactly what we would want from a mechanic as a mechanic.  And that's why it is what it is.Now if you don't like that mechanic as a mechanic, you certainly aren't alone... there are tons of DMs out there who don't even use Passive Perception because they just don't even like the concept.  So I would say that if it is the mechanic of 10 + modifier you don't like... then sure, drop it to 5 + modifier so the party can find less creatures hiding, or just don't even use Passive Perception at all. But if it's purely the name you don't like because it doesn't align to what you think the mechanic with that name should be... then either rename it or just accept it as a purely a mechanic for mechanic's sake and not worry about it. Because this game is FILLED with mechanics that are given fluffy narrative-like names but which don't make any sense if you took them at face value within the world of the game, so picking this one out amongst all the others seems unnecessary. If you can accept the idea that 'Cure Wounds' more often than not do not cure any wounds and instead are giving back a character's endurance, luck, and stamina... you should be able to accept Passive Perception. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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