>TFW the GM says "Hey, roll for perception real quick."
TFW I never invest in perception ever because everyone else in the group DID and usually gets better rolls than me anyway.
>>46029834
>Tfw you do this too
>Tfw everyone thought the same and now no one has points in perception.
>>46029733
>GM says to roll for Perception while the party is camping
>Suddenly the Fighter and Paladin in the party are just deciding to spar for a bit and start gathering their weapons and donning their gear
>The party Wizard says that he just though it'd be a good idea to cast Wall of Fire around the camp and Protection from Missiles, just in case
>The Rogue announces he's hiding, because he's a Rogue and he's obviously ALWAYS hiding. Even inside his sleeping bag
>>46029892
>Even inside his sleeping bag
I don't know why, but this made me laugh.
>Be random encounter
>Sneak into adventurer's tent while he's asleep, attack the first sleeping bag I see
>Hit wood
>There's a big log placed in the sleeping bag to make it look like someone's inside
>Suddenly get stabbed in the back
>"Nothin' personal..."
>Die
Do you use passive wisdom, or just roll behind a screen?
I personally use passive wisdom to see if they're aware of an ambush before it starts, and then roll perception at the beginning of combat to see if they were surprised for everyone who fails the passive, when it seems appropriate. Former represents spotting signs of ambush, and if it's appropriate warning the rest of the party, the latter represents recognizing danger the split second before arrows start flying.
>be GM
>roll a random die
>two players immediately say they're rolling perception
Every time
>>46029870
You'd think, huh?
But that NEVER happens. The people I play with ALWAYS max it out, even if they're playing classes that get hardly any skill points.Besides, the GM won't throw any campaign-ruining perception checks at us if nobody has the skill. The same way a good GM doesn't base a campaign around Magic when you're playing a whole party of martials.
>>46029733
>tfw the GM calls for an initiative roll
>AFTER he just murdered an NPC everyone else at the table had waifued
>>46029945
>Fake sleeping bag as a bait for any potential attackers
Now that is something that a sufficiently paranoid character should do. Maybe rent a room in a hotel/inn and put a dummy into the bed and sleep in a closet. Or a different hotel room that you rented under a fake name while wearing a disguise. And then you do plant another dummy into that room's bed and sleep in a closet anyway. OR even better, just use enough medication so that you won't have to sleep at all. BE PREPARED!
>>46029945
>>46030082My tactics are too subtle for you!
>be GM
>Occasionally call for spot check and perception checks for no reason
Gotta keep 'em on their toes, right?
>>46030383
This is how you do it.
>nat 20
>it was a deer moving nearby. You snuck up on it and got dinner
>>46029733
Really? The sheer volume of unnecessary and useless Perception checks called for by my GM has killed any mystique behind the mechanic. My response to "Roll Perception" is more like, "Again? For fuck's sake, why don't you just note down our passive scores you useless piece of shit."
Glad you're still enjoying it, I guess.
>>46030405
My players get excited with perception checks because I only ask for it when bonus things are available; if it's someone sneaking on them I use passive scores.
All my players invest heavily in perception for that reason, if only to get fluff descriptions of things.
>>46029733
GMs? This shit right here? Never fucking do this. because the players are just going to do >>46029892 even if they botch it.
Take note of their perception bonuses or whatever at character creation and level up, and roll for them.
>>46029733
>TFW always in the middle of group despite being a fighter and having the highest AC
>TFW me and the paladin are never allowed to take guard duty because last time we took guard duty together we were surrounded by wolves and didn't notice until they started mauling me
>>46030049
and thus the quest for True ressurection began!
>>46030049
>everyone else had waifu'd
Town bicycle?
>>46029969
You'd think so, but I'm far too lazy to keep track of what skills the PCs have trained so instead they just have to roll what makes sense for the situation.
>>46029870
Had this happen in one group, no one had above novice perception until the last two sessions.
We got ambushed a lot.
>>46031186
Better yet, just note the highest passive perception score in the party and thank god you're playing a game that makes things easy for the GM.
>>46030740
>rolling dice to get fluff descriptions
I get that it's working for you, but you're building up your players' expectations that if they roll well they deserve a reward, even if it's just a reward in terms of narrative time. I've seen players who are conditioned that way destroy whole sessions because they have points in all the Knowledge skills and they'll be damned if they don't get to use them. As a rule of thumb, if the description is interesting enough to liven up a session in its own right, bust it out on the players without dicking around. If it's not, stop relying on the dice roll gimmick. Rolling Perception is really only good for when the characters are actively searching for a thing - and don't be afraid to tell them "you find nothing of interest".
>Are you sure?
>>46032617
Unless the GM says something our character knows but we, as players, don't (usually lore-wise, like 'shaking hands is an insult in this tribe'), then you always, ALWAYS say you're sure.
If it weren't for poor impulse control, how would any game become so exciting?Also, first ideas are usually the best ideas.
>>46030049
>waifuing an NPCS
You brought this on yourself.
>>46030049
>"Waifuing" NPCs
>"Waifuing" anyone
What the fuck is wrong with you people
>>46029961
In 5e, I use Passive Perception if no one's on watch.
If there is someone on watch, I roll their Perception.
If one of the players is constantly stalking around the camp, I'll have him roll Perception/Investigation depending on what he's doing. Ie "I skulk through the undergrowth looking for footprints" would be Investigation, but "I just patrol around keeping my eyes open for bad guys" would be Perception.
>>46032728
I dunno, but that might just be 4chan vernacular seeping through. We've got an (incidentally female) NPC party member who we all have a good relationship with. She's like a major part of the glue that holds our party together. It's not romantic or sexual (except for one PC, for which it's both); she's just a nice person who goes adventuring with us.
Having friends isn't a crime, anon.Not like I'd expect you to understand.
>>46032491
Basically, yes.
>>46032708
>>46032728
GM tried to shoehorn in a self insert waifu bait NPC. We ran her off pretty quick and went back to murderhoboing. After a while our fighter enlisted my paladin's help wooing a barmaid. I was expecting the whole thing to get glazed over and fade to black, but the GM kept pushing for details and it ended up turning into a surprisingly funny and even more surprisingly not awkward situation where the whole party ended up involved.
Then, all of a sudden, the door bursts open and two baddies burst in firing crossbows, one of which hits the girl in the neck, and she dies instantly. We kill one enemy and capture the other, and when we fail to interrogate her (the surviving mercenary) with a 32 diplomacy and 25 intimidate, I crush her head in frustration.
Then I'm informed that head crushing is evil and my paladin has fallen and there's zero chance the gods will reward me with any sort of resurrection, so I'd better give it up or be prepared to fight all the legions of heaven and hell. At level 3.
>>46033212
Either you're full of shit, or you need to leave that GM.
