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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Essenti" data-source="post: 6500664" data-attributes="member: 100205">Ultimately you got my point. I guess I left a lot unspoken which you filled in nicely. Of course *meaningful* tension requires high stakes. Building tension around those high stakes is obviously what the DM would want to do to create a memorable and enjoyable session of play. When I used the word *build* I meant it in the context of incrementally adding to, rather than instantly creating. I use tools like passive perception to add to the atmosphere of the game, rather than to instantly overcome an otherwise superfluous obstacle like finding a secret door. I often require my players to describe the actions they take when revealing a secret door, so that it feels like a meaningful discovery, rather than a bag of numbers. But I only do that with players who enjoy the exploration pillar of play. If none of my players seem to enjoy the exploration pillar, then I would switch to using passives and knowledge skills as instant reveals, to get to the action faster.At any rate, I was describing how I treat passive perception when I have players who like exploration, which seemed to be were some other posters were seeing passive perception as an obstacle to exploration play. For either style of play, I find that passive perception is a useful tool.</blockquote>