FitzTheRuke
Legend
I didn't like Passive Perception either until I started thinking of it this way: Passive checks are done passively, with little effort. You don't use Passive checks when something requires active action. So Passive Perception will only make you notice things that one might notice at a glance. This is similar to the "Telegraphing" comments from above. For example, I will describe to the high-PP character that they notice "a draft" (secret door) or "rake-marks in the dirt" (concealing a pit trap) or "a flagstone that is slightly depressed compared to the others" (a pressure plate), or whatever.Honestly, I hate passive Perception, and I ignore it my games for the most part - at least for things like finding secret doors (I do sometime use it for determining surprise).
When it comes to detecting secret doors, if the players are specific in where/how they check, I don’t make a roll. If they make a general check, then I roll. Conversely, I try to ensure that any secret door has a “tell” so its more likely that players only check those areas that actually have a secret door in the first place and aren’t wasting time with constant rolls. If they are persistent, I go with the prior “take 20” rules so we aren’t wasting an unacceptable amount of time rolling for checks.
This is clearly against the rules as written, but in this case I find those rules to be tedious and unfun.
Then it's up to them to investigate further (usually using active Investigation or sometimes Perception checks). Or to continue on and ignore me.
What I'm not going to do is have a high PP have me just point out all traps and secret doors without any chance of triggering/missing them.