Topic: How does the perception skill and rolls work in your game?

[Druss_the_Legend]

GM rolls versus player rolls is the main distinction i have for perception. sg. if the player is checking for traps or looking for a secret door the GM rolls.

i tend to only use general perception in my game.
1. Do you refer to the static action perception table?
2. Do you get the player to describe what their character sees sometimes? I dont bt maybe i should use the "you desribe wht you see" option sometimes. unsure.
3. Do you allow rerolls for some situations?
4. Do you use snap perception checks?

[MisterK]

I don't use a perception skill. Basically, perception is a component of an active skill: if a character wants to detect someone sneaking by, this is a contested Stealth skill check. If they want to know if someone is lying to them, it is a contested Befuddle check, and so on.

I do not use rolls for passive detection (i.e. for 'clue detection'): I use the value of the corresponding background skill to determine if they notice something noteworthy or unusual or not (e.g. Architecture to notice that the interior of the building does not match the exterior, suggesting the existence of hidden rooms or passages). The level of the skill indicates how much they notice (non-active skills are on a different scale and are not used in rolls).

Given the above, the reroll question is typically N/A: if the perception is active or reactive and has been missed, the situation has evolved and does not warrant a perception attempt anymore. If the perception is passive, there is no roll, so no reroll either

All rolls (perception or otherwise, including combat) are resolved the same way: roll die (I use a d20 instead of a d100, but it basically works the same way, with 1 being LOE and 20 being HOE), add modifiers, compare with threshold : 21+ indicates a success, 20- indicates a failure. margin of success/failure indicate quality (21-25 is 'yes, but', 26-30 is 'yes', 31+ is 'yes, and' / 16-20 is 'no, but', 11-15 is 'no', 10- is 'no, and').

I don't know what 'snap perception' means: either perception is active (player action), reactive (automatically triggered by an external event or intent, such as an assassin trying to sneak close to slip a blade in), or passive (the character looks around and notices something in the static environment or situation).

[netbat]

I let players roll awareness-searching checks and I usually roll alertness for them unless I feel like giving them a heads up something is going on. For alertness I often ask them to describe what they sense, particularly if I have them roll.

1. Do you refer to the static action perception table?

Yes. SM table gives the degree of success, Knowledge Level(SoHK) in a relevant skill determines what is known/determined.

2. Do you get the player to describe what their character sees sometimes? I dont bt maybe i should use the "you desribe wht you see" option sometimes. unsure.

Sometimes. It depends on what the perception roll is for and how much information I have. It can be great way of adding to the game world as long as you moderate what is given. It is an awesome way to deal with partial successes or failure as you can let the player describe what they "see" and they are much more likely to"believe" they are correct and give you good false information.

3. Do you allow rerolls for some situations?

Yes. depends on the needs of the game.

4. Do you use snap perception checks?

I allow them for awareness searching skills. Since I use a second by second round, the delay impacts when subsequent actions are taken.

[alloowishus]

I am always trying to keep the sessions moving. So usually in Fantasy Grounds, you can roll perceptions for all players (very handy), I figure out how hard the perception is, then roll for everyone, if anyone breaks 100 then they notice it, if not they don't. For hiding and perception, I usually just compare the hiding skill to the perception skill, if the perception is higher than the hiding roll then they notice them, if not they don't.