Your party enters the dungeon. A cool breeze wafts past you, relieving you from the enduring heat from outside. It’s a narrow entrance, allowing only one person to enter at a time, but it quickly opens up, allowing three to stand shoulder to shoulder. The stone walls have a reddish hue, showing they were hewn from local sandstone. Erosion is clearly visible, with deep, vertical channels carved where water has flowed. Moss clings to the wall, growing where it is still damp. Your Dungeon Master pauses for a moment before making a Passive Perception check.
Wait, what? What the heck is Passive Perception?
What Is Passive Perception?
Passive abilities are the innate abilities that your character has actively running in the background. There are many of them present within the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons u🐎niverse, but Passive Perception checks are perhaps the most commonly used.𝔍 If you have a high Wisdom level, you will have a naturally high Perception rating, giving you a greater chance of spotting things that ordinary folks miss.
How Does Passive Perception Work?
More often than🍸 not, you will not know that the DM has made a Passive Perception since they handle this behind the scenes, ensuring the flow of the game remains uninterrupted. Doing otherwise could take you out o🌳f the game and provide clues that something is about to happen.
Passive Perception values must be calculated using your base Wisdom modifier and applꦓying any additional modifiers provided by race, class, spells, or if your character has proficiency in Perception as well. Once all the modifiers are applied, the DM will take this value, and in place of a die roll, add ten to the figure to give your Passive Perception.
For example, if an NPC attempts to hide during combat, their ability to hide is based upon their Dexterity, Let's assume a value of 14. However, your ability to detect them is based upon your Wisdom/Passive Perception, let's assume a value of 17. The DM will compare the two values and if your Passive Perception is higher, you succeed and the DM will inform you of the hidden NPC, something that only your character is aware of. To avoid telling the entire party, the GM may pass a note, and it's up to you to share the information with the rest of the party or not. If you fail a check by a small amount, the DM, at their discretion, may tell you that something doesn’t feel right, but your character can’t place it.
You’re Not The Only One Who Notices Things
Passive Perception is a two-way street. Just as you can make a Perception check, so can the NPCs. Using the aforementioned hiding example, a common use-case, when you attempt to hide, the DM will make a check to determine if the NPC can detect you or not. Each NPC has a mini character sheet that the DM uses for actions made to or by the character, 🎶and they will inform you if your attempt has failed, or if you are discovered later in the game. DMs are busy and may not remember everything, so if you have any special abilities or items that influence Perception checks, make sure you let them know before the session start.
