Tome of Prowess (3.5e Sourcebook)/Perception
Contents
Perception
Key Attribute: Wisdom
Base DCs and Modifiers
| Sight Event | Example | Base DC1 | Standard Range |
Range Increment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| See 1/2 Inch Details | Recognize an unobscured sub-sub-sub-fine object against a background; Text in a book | 0 | 1 1/2 ft. | 9 in. |
| See 1 Inch Details | Recognize an unobscured sub-sub-fine object against a background; Recognize facial details | 0 | 3 ft. | 1 1/2 ft. |
| See 2 Inch Details | Recognize an unobscured sub-fine object against a background; Read a small store sign, likely inside | 0 | 6 ft. | 3 ft. |
| See 4 Inch Details | Recognize an unobscured fine object against a background; Read a large, overhanging store sign or waysign | 0 | 12 ft. | 6 ft. |
| See 8 Inch Details | Recognize an unobscured diminutive object against a background | 0 | 25 ft. | 12 ft. |
| See 1 1/4 Foot Details | Recognize an unobscured tiny object against a background | 0 | 50 ft. | 25 ft. |
| See 2 1/2 Foot Details | Recognize an unobscured small object against a background | 0 | 100 ft. | 50 ft. |
| See 5 Foot Details | Recognize an unobscured medium object against a background | 0 | 200 ft. | 100 ft. |
| See 10 Foot Details | Recognize an unobscured large object against a background; See a hill giant on the edge of a forest | 0 | 400 ft. | 200 ft. |
| See 20 Foot Details | Recognize an unobscured huge object against a background; See an adult red dragon flying through the sky | 0 | 800 ft. | 400 ft. |
| See 40 Foot Details | Recognize an unobscured gargantuan object against a background | 0 | 1600 ft. | 800 ft. |
| See 80 Foot Details | Recognize an unobscured colossal object against a background | 0 | 3200 ft. | 1600 ft. |
| ||||
| Hearing Event | Example1 | Base DC2 | Standard Range |
Range Increment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 dB | Hear a cat stalking | 0 | 4 in. | 1 in. |
| 10 dB | Hear a person breathing | 0 | 8 in. | 2 in. |
| 20 dB | Hear a whisper | 0 | 1 1/2 ft. | 4 in. |
| 30 dB | Hear leaves rustling | 0 | 3 ft. | 8 in. |
| 40 dB | Hear a quiet conversation | 0 | 6 ft. | 1 1/2 ft. |
| 50 dB | Hear a normal conversation | 0 | 12 ft. | 3 ft. |
| 60 dB | Hear a crowded inn | 0 | 25 ft. | 6 ft. |
| 70 dB | Hear a boisterous party | 0 | 50 ft. | 12 ft. |
| 80 dB | Hear a shouted statement | 0 | 100 ft. | 25 ft. |
| 90 dB | Hear a sword clanging against a shield or armor | 0 | 200 ft. | 50 ft. |
| 100 dB | Hear a fireball exploding | 0 | 400 ft. | 100 ft. |
| 110 dB | Hear a lion roaring | 0 | 800 ft. | 200 ft. |
| 120 dB | Hear a large dragon roaring | 0 | 1600 ft. | 400 ft. |
| 130 dB | Hear something so loud it hurts, like a banshee | 0 | 3200 ft. | 800 ft. |
| ||||
| Smelling Event | Example | Base DC | Standard Range |
Range Increment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faint Smell | Like... something | 0 | 4 ft. | 1 ft. |
| Tasting Event | Example | Base DC |
|---|---|---|
| Faint Ingredient | Lavender | -5 |
| Touch Event | Example | Base DC |
|---|---|---|
| Faintest of touches | A faint breeze across the skin | 10 |
| Light, glancing touch | A feather | 5 |
| 0 | ||
| -5 | ||
| -10 | ||
| -15 | ||
| Large, piercing wound | Whoops, greatsword in your neck | -20 |
| Circumstance | DC Modifier |
|---|---|
| Somewhat familiar with target, knows what to look for but may not have experienced the event directly | -2 |
| Familiar with target, has witnessed before | -4 |
| Very familiar with target, many previous interactions | -8 |
| Sound is travelling through an object, like a door or water | +Interposing Object's HP/10 |
| Background noise stronger than listening event | +2 per 10 dB difference |
| Distracted | +5 |
| Extremely distracted, like being threatened in combat | +8 |
| Ambient conditions impair a sense used to notice event | +2 |
| Ambient conditions block a sense used to notice event | +5 |
| Ambient conditions block all senses that could notice event1 | N/A |
| Additional range increments to event2 | +2 |
| Intense event occurs inside the standard range. | -4 |
| Intense event occurs inside half of the standard range. | -8 |
| Rushing: reduce a standard action to a move action | +2 |
| Rushing: reduce a standard action to a swift action | +5 |
| |
Special
| ”Roll a perception check…” |
| Those are words you should never say again unless the player asks if they can make something out. When you volunteer those words you ruin immersion, break the mood, and alert the players that there’s something they should be looking for that they weren’t previously. The “Take 0” rule for perception ensures that some players will simply become aware of things that happen and you can just tell them about it. If there’s a brief flash of lightning that outlines the villain’s army against the dark night or a faint scream from somewhere deep in the dungeon, you can just tell the player with a perception bonus that would allow them to notice it, and thus deepen the atmosphere. If they want to try to make something out of it, and it’s going on long enough for them to get the rest of the party to quit being a distraction, they will get their perception check to learn more about it. In this way the check is an active thing in response to a set piece instead of a reactive thing that serves as a warning, just like it should be. |
All characters should be considered to be taking 0 on their perception checks, all of the time. Seriously. They may not be actively paying attention, but they don’t ignore everything either. If a character would not need to roll to detect or notice something, they need not spend any action to do so.
At low levels, this means that anytime a character is not distracted and is exposed to an event with a DC no greater than their perception ranks + 5 they are at least aware of it. If the event has a notice DC no greater than their perception ranks, they detect it clearly. And if the event has a DC 5 less than their ranks in perception, they know details about it because they can make them out. Being distracted just means that the characters have one step less information. This is simply the effects of the Notice ability applied to taking 0 on a roll.
At higher levels they might automatically detect poor magical forgeries or see right through low level illusions. This means it is possible for a high level character to automatically see a low level sneak without even rolling or announcing that they are keeping a wary eye, and all of that is both fine and good. It’s part of what makes higher level characters harder to manipulate in social settings, and also the only way to write a perception skill so that actually keeping a wary eye or actively trying to see what's going on means anything.
This is such an important concept that there’s even a sidebar here to reinforce it.
Untrained Uses
Discern Fraud
Forged documents are as good a liar as any silver tongued devil, but they sit in front of you and let you examine them for a longer time. Disguised individuals aren’t much different, since they practically parade in front of you. With a full-round action and a perception check, you can spot counterfeit objects and creatures, and deal with those who would pass them off on you appropriately. The base DC for this check is determined by whoever created the falsehood, and modified by your distance as indicated in the table above.
Base DC: Check result of forgery or disguise, + conditions
Check Result:
- DC+5 and above: You recognize if it is a fake and can even point out several places they went wrong, if you’re into mocking people who try to slip one by you. You automatically succeed at convincing others that it is a counterfeit.
- DC+0 to DC+4: You realize if the thing in front of you is a fake. If you attempt to convince someone else that it is a fake, they gain a +4 bonus on their check.
- DC-1 to DC-5: You believe something is off about the document or individual, but don't have any strong evidence to point at. You may retry this check or simply wait for your target to slip up and reveal themselves.
- DC-6 and below: You believe that it’s genuine, and can not retry this check unless you have new reason to suspect the object. Note that if you make this check on an authentic object you will still get this result, so you shouldn’t discount it just because you think something is up. Sometimes you’re just paranoid.
Notice
You have eyes, ears, and various other sense organs that allow you to notice things going on in your world. While you are always assumed to be paying some attention to the world, and thus taking 0 with the ability, actually making a check with this ability implies that you are focusing on your senses to take your surroundings in. Thus using this ability requires a standard action, though you use a smaller action with a penalty to indicate your lack of attention. The DC to notice or detect something is dependant on the type event it, and modified by local conditions. Sample DCs are listed above, as are the conditions that provide a penalty to your check.
A notice check uses all of your relevant senses. You do not roll multiple times in a round for multiple senses. If you get a bonus to a particular sense, then that bonus applies to this ability whenever that sense would help you notice the event.
Base DC: Event DC + conditions
Check Result:
- DC+5 and above: You notice the event very clearly, and can make out fine details about it that others might have difficulty with.
- DC+0 to DC+4: You notice the thing in question, and are rather clear about what it is.
- DC-1 to DC-5: You noticed... something. You’re not sure of any details, but there was definitely something there. If it’s still there next round you may be able to find out more with another check.
- DC-6 and below: You didn’t notice a thing.
Rank 8 Uses
See the Invisible, Hear the Silenced
By focusing on one of your senses, you can ignore illusory sensation and instead notice the reality beneath. You can pierce illusions affecting only one sense at a time: sight, smell, taste, touch, or hearing. You can not pierce illusions with more than one sense at a time. Attempting to pierce illusions is a standard action; the DC for this check is 15 + caster level of the illusion, modified by conditions as above. A special exception is made for being distracted, however, and you do not suffer that penalty when you use this ability.
This check is valid against all illusions that interact with the selected sense, and so your check is compared against the DC of any effect in range. Any illusions with a DC lower than your check are treated as illusions for your selected sense, though you may need to spend actions on future rounds to maintain your clarity.
This is mostly useful for piercing single sense illusions, like invisibility or silence, since it only works against a single sense at a time. Against anything affecting more senses, a save is really your only option. Since you can only pierce illusions for a particular sense at a time, your other senses are still firmly convinced that the sensation is real. This means you can’t simply ignore multi-sense illusions that you have partially pierced. Piercing an illusion counts as interacting with it, however, and you may then attempt a will save to disbelieve as per normal rules. Since you know that it is an illusion, you gain a +4 bonus on this save.
Base DC: 15 + illusion caster level, + conditions (except distracted)
Check Result:
- DC+0 and above: The chosen sense pierces the illusion and understands it to be such. The illusion is persistent, however, and you must spend a swift action every round following to maintain the level of focus, carrying your check result into each new round.
- DC-1 and below: Whether it was cast by someone more skilled than yourself or you simply lack the necessary concentration, you fail to pierce the illusory sensory component for the illusion. There is nothing stopping you from retrying next round if you want though.
Rank 10 Uses
Discern Transformation
Magical transmutations of objects can be forgeries as well, since they could revert to their original form at some point in the future. You can discern these magical alterations, in both people and objects. Like the discern fraud ability, this is a full-round action. The DC is 15 + caster level, and the check results are the same as for the mundane ability.
Base DC: 15 + transmutation caster level, + conditions
Check Result: As Discern Fraud ability.
Rank 14 Uses
Sight Beyond Sight
Perception is strong with you, so strong that you can pierce illusions affecting all of your senses at once. Using this ability actively is a standard action; the DC for this check is 15 + caster level. You can make a perception check against this DC in place of a save to pierce an illusion, even an illusion that wouldn’t normally allow a save. As you are assumed to be always taking 0 with this ability, it is possible that you will just see right though the illusions of less trained casters. Unlike the See the invisible, Hear the Silenced ability, this ability only works on a single illusion at a time.
Base DC:15 + caster level
Check Result:
- DC+0 and above: You recognize the illusion for what it is, and effectively disbelieve it.
- DC-1 to DC-5: You recognize that something is odd with the sensation, and that it might be an illusion, but are unable to actually pierce it. You may focus and retry, however.
- DC-6 and below: You fail to pierce the illusion, and may not attempt to do so again with this ability until you have gained a level. You may still defeat portions of the illusion with the See the invisible, Hear the Silenced ability.
