Perception
| Detail | Perception DC |
|---|---|
| Hear the sound of battle | –10 |
| Notice the stench of rotting garbage | –10 |
| Detect the smell of smoke | 0 |
| Hear the details of a conversation | 0 |
| Notice a visible creature | 0 |
| Determine if food is spoiled | 5 |
| Hear the sound of a creature walking | 10 |
| Hear the details of a whispered conversation | 15 |
| Find the average concealed door | 15 |
| Hear the sound of a key being turned in a lock | 20 |
| Find the average secret door | 20 |
| Hear a bow being drawn | 25 |
| Sense a burrowing creature underneath you | 25 |
| Notice a pickpocket | Opposed by Sleight of Hand |
| Notice a creature using Stealth | Opposed by Stealth |
| Find a hidden trap | Varies by trap |
| Identify the powers of a potion through taste | 15 + the potion's caster level |
| Perception Modifiers | DC Modifier |
| Distance to the source, object, or creature | +1/10 feet |
| Through a closed door | +5 |
| Through a wall | +10/foot of thickness |
| Favorable conditions1 | –2 |
| Unfavorable conditions1 | +2 |
| Terrible conditions2 | +5 |
| Creature making the check is distracted | +5 |
| Creature making the check is asleep | +10 |
| Creature or object is invisible | +20 |
Your senses allow you to notice fine details and alert you to danger. Perception covers all five senses, including sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.
Check
Perception has a number of uses, the most common of which is an opposed check versus an opponent's Stealth check to notice the opponent and avoid being surprised. If you are successful, you notice the opponent and can react accordingly. If you fail, your opponent can take a variety of actions, including sneaking past you and attacking you.
Perception is also used to notice fine details in the environment. The DC to notice such details varies depending upon distance, the environment, and how noticeable the detail is. The following table gives a number of guidelines.
Perception is also used when a Character needs to look for something. Searching a room for something out of the ordinary or clues. A good or successful perception may be used to help find missing tracks in the wild but not used to follow them or to learn from those tracks. Just because you see foot prints in the ground doesn't mean you know who/what, when and where they are headed. That information requires a Survival check. The same goes for investigating a crime seen. Perception can be used to help look through the room if you do not have the Study skill. But being able to find things that are not obvious to a Character of its significance is only possible when using the Study skill.
Action
Most Perception checks are reactive, made in response to observable stimulus. Intentionally searching for stimulus is a move action.
Try Again
Yes. You can try to sense something you missed the first time, so long as the stimulus is still present.
Special
- Species May have a bonus to perception. Check the Species page for more information.
- All Characters and most creatures have Passive Perception. See below for more details.
Passive Perception
This represents a Characters awareness and alertness of the environment they are in when they are not actively looking or paying attention to it. If a Character is looking out for trouble they may be concentrating on finding something. This is when the Player can roll a perception check against the enemies opposing Stealth roll. However if the Character is simply standing around at ease then no roll is necessary. The character has a default value for how well they can become aware of possible danger in their surroundings. That value is "Passive Perception". The GM can record Player Character's Passive Perception down and thus have no need to ask during game play. The goal being to speed up encounters and make them more surprising with less 'meta' (out of game) knowledge.
Passive Perception is: 8 + Num of Ranks in Perception skill + Wisdom Modifier + Misc Modifiers (advantages/disadvantages)
Note: Class bonuses do not count as Misc Modifiers! Only in game advantages or disadvantages or Species bonuses count. Also the max Passive Perception value without Misc Modifiers is 20. That means that even if the Character has 14 ranks in the Perception Skill it still can only have a 20 in Passive Perception not a 22. However in game advantages can boost the score above 20. But only in game advantages can do so.