D&D 5E Trained Watch Dog

[TaranTheWanderer]

Thanks for the above comments! I would still say that a dog sniffing out a fugitive is an active check (there are active checks afterall, they happen sometime and that would be a good candidate; which I am aware that you didnt actually say the hunting dogs were passively perceiving; you were more concered with my other case, the distracted Basset hound)...
which, as the rules obviously indicate, and which i was ignorant, the dog has 18 passive perc (whether a vigilant guard dog is actively perceiving is another story though)... ...

So, the real difference between an active check and a passive one is how you want to approach it as a GM. You could ignore passive checks altogether and ask for rolls whenever they're needed, or roll them in secret. Not sure that's the best approach, but you can do it. Passive checks come in handy for repeated tasks, like being on watch, or looking for traps as you move through the dungeon. If you did active checks for these, there'd be a lot of them, or you'd clearly be rolling for important things, or you're now doing dummy rolls to hide the real ones, etc. Passive checks are good for these things.

The thing to realize is that there's nothing passive about Passive checks -- the character still has to be doing the action, just over a length of time or repeatedly. A dog on watch uses the Passive check not as a default, but because it's the averaged out value of lots of repeated checks. There's no such thing, really, as an active check, because checks are just checks -- there's no opposite or conflicting states between a check and a passive check. Passive checks are just averaged checks over time.

Dogs make excellent guards because they have scent. Scent is one of those things that is hard to hide. I generally rule that unless the character is taking specific actions to avoid being scented (staying downwind, using some form of scent masking, etc.) that they have disadvantage on Stealth checks with regards to scent. This won't stop a high level rogue at all, but it does mean sneaking the party past some guard dogs suddenly because a challenge moreso than "I roll stealth."

Yes this.

The easiest way I think about passive checks is like this: Passive Perception is an Out of Character Tool. It is not an 'In character' state of the Character being Active or Passive. In character, the characters are being actively alert. Out of character, the Players don't actively roll dice -> that is why it's passive.

I mostly use it when baddies are sneaking up on the PCs and I don't want the players to realize what is happening. I sometimes use passive insight against deception as well.


Edit: I also use it as a baseline for information the party might get in a situation when I'm describing the scene. The guy with 10 PP will notice the basic details of a room but the guy with 18PP will note more details.

RE: my question. I was mostly confirming that the stat block didn't already include the passive bonus. I usually require a player to let me know what 'tricks' a trained dog knows. A riding dog might not be bred for being a guard dog. So, even if the dog notices an enemy, he might not be trained to communicate that to the party. A guard dog could share a watch, though, because of its training but you couldn't ride it into battle.


This particular dog is going to inherit a pair of glasses that give it 10 INT. So, it may become a more active member of the party.

Thanks for the advice.