Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Is "Passive" (for Passive Perception) really the right term??
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8703020" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>From <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/passive" target="_blank">Dictionary.com</a>:</p><p>6. influenced, acted upon, or affected by some external force, cause, or agency; being the object of action rather than causing action (opposed to active def. 6). Related to the grammatical definition, that is, the "passive voice": a passive verb describes <em>being acted upon</em> or <em>receiving</em> the action rather than the thing <em>doing</em> the action.</p><p></p><p>In that sense, "Passive Perception" reflects being acted upon by the world around you. As I said above: you literally cannot choose not to observe things while conscious. Hence, even if you aren't <em>looking</em> for anything, even if you are putting out zero effort whatsoever, you are still looking <em>at</em> things and <em>hearing</em> things etc. You just aren't listening intently for whatever might come up or carefully scrutinizing for a specific detail.</p><p></p><p>Now, it may be the case that you think it's dumb that passive observation gives <em>that much</em> of a bonus. That's your prerogative, you can do what you like. But the term "Passive Perception" is perfectly in keeping with the way the word "passive" is used to describe a variety of things, including the <em>literal actual scientific practice</em> called "passive observation."</p><p></p><p></p><p>Because that is an actual IRL thing. Passive sonar does not emit any pulses; it simply waits for ocean sounds to come to it. It's still <em>listening</em>, it's just not doing anything active to <em>create</em> sound patterns that can then be observed. That's why it's passive, as opposed to active sonar.</p><p></p><p>(You could think of ordinary human hearing as a form of passive sonar, while bat or dolphin echolocation is very much active sonar.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 8703020, member: 6790260"] From [URL='https://www.dictionary.com/browse/passive']Dictionary.com[/URL]: 6. influenced, acted upon, or affected by some external force, cause, or agency; being the object of action rather than causing action (opposed to active def. 6). Related to the grammatical definition, that is, the "passive voice": a passive verb describes [I]being acted upon[/I] or [I]receiving[/I] the action rather than the thing [I]doing[/I] the action. In that sense, "Passive Perception" reflects being acted upon by the world around you. As I said above: you literally cannot choose not to observe things while conscious. Hence, even if you aren't [I]looking[/I] for anything, even if you are putting out zero effort whatsoever, you are still looking [I]at[/I] things and [I]hearing[/I] things etc. You just aren't listening intently for whatever might come up or carefully scrutinizing for a specific detail. Now, it may be the case that you think it's dumb that passive observation gives [I]that much[/I] of a bonus. That's your prerogative, you can do what you like. But the term "Passive Perception" is perfectly in keeping with the way the word "passive" is used to describe a variety of things, including the [I]literal actual scientific practice[/I] called "passive observation." Because that is an actual IRL thing. Passive sonar does not emit any pulses; it simply waits for ocean sounds to come to it. It's still [I]listening[/I], it's just not doing anything active to [I]create[/I] sound patterns that can then be observed. That's why it's passive, as opposed to active sonar. (You could think of ordinary human hearing as a form of passive sonar, while bat or dolphin echolocation is very much active sonar.) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Is "Passive" (for Passive Perception) really the right term??
Top