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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MarkB" data-source="post: 4460197" data-attributes="member: 40176">Perception checks as a minor action show up only in one place in the PHB - checks to determine the position of an invisible creature whose presence you are aware of. For all other purposes, you use the rules under the Perception skill description, which make an active check anything from a standard action (most appropriate for making active checks to spot hidden creatures) to a full minute (most appropriate when searching for traps or secret doors). And just personally, even as a minor action I wouldn't allow multiple active checks per round.That limits the party to one active check per round per player, only 50% of which will even beat their passive Perception. And unless the ambushers are particularly dim, they'll choose positions which grant them total cover until their opponents are as close as possible to the optimum ambush position, so the party won't have more than a couple of rounds in which to succeed at their Perception checks.Finally, the whole point of passive Perception is that it represents the normal state of alertness of a group of creatures in potentially hostile territory, so that the DM can use it instead of calling for active checks every five minutes. Active checks are what you make when you're aware of a specific threat and trying to find it. Don't let your players bully you into letting them effectively make their active checks passively with this "take 20" argument - it's not the way the game is built to work.</blockquote>

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