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Message: <blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 6598231" data-attributes="member: 97077">Based on my reading of the Basic Rules, if a character is doing something other than keeping watch for hidden threats and that something is at least as distracting as navigating, map-making, foraging, or tracking, he or she does not have a chance to detect said threats and thus the DM doesn't apply the passive Perception check to resolving the situation. I find this makes being alert for danger something of a trade-off with other tasks (a meaningful choice) and tones down the power of passive Perception with which many posters seem to struggle when they treat it like always-on radar.(That being said, I do assume that adventurers are competent enough to keep watch for hidden threats if the player has not otherwise undertaken some other kind of action as above. I don't make them spell it out every time.)</blockquote>