Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 7513784" data-attributes="member: 2629">If your heroes invest resources in being perceptive, they should notice pretty much everything. This is something a DM should celebrate, not something that should be frustrating for the DM. Describe how they notice the small things effortlessly like so many perceptive characters in literature... make them feel like they are amazingly good at perception if they are heavily invested in it.But do not confuse perception with understanding.Perception allows you to see or hear small or hidden things, but it does mean you know what they are.&nbsp; You might note the presence of a differently shaped stone in a pattern of stones in a wall.&nbsp; Is that a trigger mechanism for a trap, a secret door, a hide hole.. or just the result of a Mason using one substandard stone?&nbsp; Obviously, some things are trivially easy to understand once perceived, but there are a lot of things that require knowledge as well as perception to fully comprehend. That is why we have an investigation skill and all of those other intelligence based skills.&nbsp; And if you do perceive it, and understand it, you still need to deal with it at times.&nbsp; That may require tool checks, athletics checks, sleight of hand checks, etc...Celebrate the heroic abilities the PCs have, but make sure they're using the right abilities to deal with an issue.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 7513784, member: 2629"] If your heroes invest resources in being perceptive, they should notice pretty much everything. This is something a DM should celebrate, not something that should be frustrating for the DM. Describe how they notice the small things effortlessly like so many perceptive characters in literature... make them feel like they are amazingly good at perception if they are heavily invested in it. But do not confuse perception with understanding. Perception allows you to see or hear small or hidden things, but it does mean you know what they are. You might note the presence of a differently shaped stone in a pattern of stones in a wall. Is that a trigger mechanism for a trap, a secret door, a hide hole.. or just the result of a Mason using one substandard stone? Obviously, some things are trivially easy to understand once perceived, but there are a lot of things that require knowledge as well as perception to fully comprehend. That is why we have an investigation skill and all of those other intelligence based skills. And if you do perceive it, and understand it, you still need to deal with it at times. That may require tool checks, athletics checks, sleight of hand checks, etc... Celebrate the heroic abilities the PCs have, but make sure they're using the right abilities to deal with an issue. [/QUOTE]

Verification