"Can I roll a perception check?"

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LizardRocker
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"Can I roll a perception check?"

Post by LizardRocker »

So I'm going to run my first DCC adventure for a group of 5E players and am still a little foggy on how to handle this ubiquitous question! How do you all handle all those times you need to figure out if the PC's hear something or notice something or want to read someone or any of the other times Perception is used in 5E/Pathfinder? I feel like it's going to be a huge change. Any advice is appreciated.

Oh, and I'm running Crawl Skrag Crawl if y'all have any incite!

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BanjoJohn
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Re: "Can I roll a perception check?"

Post by BanjoJohn »

I like to use "roll 3d6 and try to get under your luck"
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Ravenheart87
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Re: "Can I roll a perception check?"

Post by Ravenheart87 »

Your players shouldn't ask for checks. They should tell you what they do, then you devide if they have to roll any kind of check. As for sneaking foes and other stuff, I roll that in secret. Have all your players' Luck values among your notes. It will come handy in other situations too (eg. if there is no common sense option monsters usually attack the guy with the lowest Luck).
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GnomeBoy
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Re: "Can I roll a perception check?"

Post by GnomeBoy »

"Do they notice the hidden trapdoor, sack of coins, foe, etc.?"
This depends largely on what they are telling you they are doing. You've already told them what's obvious, do they take it further and start looking under things? Depending on the circumstances, they don't need to roll -- they find stuff because they thought to look under the bed and, yep, that's where that trapdoor is... If they aren't doing anything to search or stay alert or whatever, they don't get a roll.


"Do they hear that noise in the distance, despite the hubbub of the town streets?"
If somebody's Occupation applies to "extra" awareness of what's going on in their surroundings, maybe you just tell them, or they get a simple, easy check to notice. Mercenaries and Outlaws for example, probably are used to heightened awareness of their surroundings. For others, or other situations, maybe a roll-under Luck check (I prefer the d20 for that, generally) or an INT check vs. a DC you think is appropriate.


"Is this dude telling us the truth or not?"
Gamblers, Jesters, Minstrels, etc. need to read the room. Tell them if the truth is being spoken. Or else it's an easy PER check or something like that. For others, again I'd use PER, perhaps the same DC, but maybe they only get a d10 or d12 for the check...


The main thing is: sometimes you shouldn't even be calling for a check. Just give them the info, but do it through leveraging their Occupation or other established facts about the character. The Butcher grew up on a farm? Throw some relevant success at them as if they had the Farmer Occupation. We've made a big joke for weeks about how the Halfling Vagrant did all his best begging at the most high-end tavern in the city? Maybe someone on the parliament has a soft spot for him, and he can get an audience with the leaders of the city without jumping through all the hoops to do so...

Use what the players are giving you, after making it clear that they need to give you something. It's not roll first, describe after.
Use what's there for the character, like the Occupation -- that's what it's there for, and the characters should occasionally shine because of that stuff, or else it's just a word on the sheet which means nothing.
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LizardRocker
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Re: "Can I roll a perception check?"

Post by LizardRocker »

That's all real helpful, thank you guys! I'm liking how the simplified rules push for more creativity on the player's and judge'd part.

Great stuff.
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qstor
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Re: "Can I roll a perception check?"

Post by qstor »

LizardRocker wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2020 7:51 am That's all real helpful, thank you guys! I'm liking how the simplified rules push for more creativity on the player's and judge'd part.

Great stuff.
I think if it's obvious then I wouldn't call for a PER check. But like the others said, have them describe where they're looking, if you want them to roll it defaults to a INT check. (That's mentioned somewhere in the Core DCC book forget the page number)
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Tabulazero II
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Re: "Can I roll a perception check?"

Post by Tabulazero II »

For perception checks, which are the most common checks in my experience, I use the following principles:

1. Don’t use them 99% of the time. Pay attention to your descriptions instead. If the player has a chance of noticing something, then there should be a hint of that something somewhere in you description. It’s up to the player to pick it up or not. This will actually make your game far more enjoyable and improve player engagement

2. If you still have to use them, roll luck instead.

Perception checks in my personal opinion are crutches on which many GMs rely too often. Get rid of them whenever you can. If an obstacle can only be overcome or avoided by a hit-or-miss roll on a perception check, it is probably not a good obstacle in the first place.
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