Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 The_Gator Sep 06, 2015 8:04:41	One of my PCs is a 5th Level Bard. He is calculating his passive perception at 17 which seems crazy to me. I think it's legit though. RAW on p 175 of the PBH states passive check is:   10 + all modifiers that normally apply to the check.   So here is what he gave me for explanation.   "My Wisdom modifier is +1, and my proficiency bonus is +3. As a Bard, I also get to double my proficiency bonus for two skill proficiencies through the Expertise class feature. I did that with the Perception skill, in which I am proficient. So now, my proficiency bonus for Perception is +6. Therefore, 10 + 1 (Wisdom modifier) + 6 (doubled proficiency bonus) = 17 passive perception"   That feels like a huge Passive Perception bonus but I guess it's right. I expect he won;t get surprised too often.
#2 iserith Sep 06, 2015 8:22:47	Yes, that calculation is correct. If he takes the Observant feat (if you're playing with feats), it becomes a 22! I guess you could say this bard doesn't miss a beat. *drum riff*   So it's true that this bard likely won't get surprised too often - but only if he or she is always keeping watch for potential threats. If the character is doing something at least as distracting as tracking, foraging, navigating, or map-making, then surprise may be certain and thus passive Perception doesn't apply. This may also be true if the character, due to the circumstances, has no chance of noticing the threat e.g. the bard is in the front of the marching order and the threat approaches from the rear.   If you want to be the guy or gal who never gets surprised, you have to maximize your chances of this being true by positioning yourself accordingly in the fiction... and that comes with tradeoffs.
#3 BRJN Sep 06, 2015 14:23:50	iserith wrote: