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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hriston" data-source="post: 7330247" data-attributes="member: 6787503">I'm not sure what work the word really is meant to be doing here. Do you mean that they sort of are looking? For my purposes as a DM, I'd much rather be clear about whether the orcs have a dedicated lookout or not. Usually, in my games, they would.Okay, so the elf is hiding behind a tree, and let's say the orcs are keeping watch. Their passive Perception is higher than the elf's Stealth check, so they notice it, but that doesn't suddenly make the tree transparent. To determine whether the creature they've detected is an elf, a wild boar, or some other threat, the orcs will have to go around the tree to see what it is.If I take this to mean that the orcs simply aren't looking for hidden threats, e.g. they're a hunting party of which every member is focused exclusively on foraging for wild boar, then their passive Perception doesn't come into it. They simply don't notice the hidden elf.Mostly, but I wouldn't default to the orcs seeing the elf. Noticing/detecting is not automatically seeing. For the elf to hide, it needs to be out of sight, so that's the default state of affairs. In your example up-thread, the elf was behind a tree. After the Stealth/Perception contest is resolved, the elf remains unseen behind the tree. The orcs have noticed, probably through hearing some quiet noise the elf made, or scenting the elf, that some hidden creature is behind the tree, but it remains for them to move around the tree before they can actually see the elf. If they have some means of attacking the elf without directly targeting it, however, they can certainly do that, but my assumption here is that the tree provides the elf with total cover from any attack by the orcs in their present position.</blockquote>

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