Jeremy Crawford has recently rules that passive skills are 10 + mods and that a skill that is rolled can't be lower than that. Let's ignore that and see what makes sense. Consider that passive skills are a tool for the GM to save time and avoid rolls giving away things going on. In addition, keep in mind that class features like the rogue's reliable talent, already give a minimum value of a roll of 10 on skill checks, and we don't want to overshadow that.
First, passive skills are not the same as the active versions. In 3.5, this was quite clear in the way we split up skills. Spot, listen, and search were all different skills. Now, all three of those are combined in Perception. Passive skills cover the more spot and listen aspects for scenarios when the PCs aren't specifically focusing on looking and listening. Active skills cover the cases where the PCs take actions to do those things and do things like search. The DCs to see something between active and passive are different. For example, an item stuck inside a drawer is impossible to see passively, but perform a search, and it is obvious. The DM should determine the DC based on the skill in use and whether it is active or passive.
Second, active skills are initiated by the player, take a roll, and roll against an active DC. Because the player is doing something, there are potential consequences. With these potential consequences, comes the need for the player to describe the action. Why? Because an active skill action can potentially trigger a trap, alert a foe, and otherwise cause some consequence.
Third, taking a skill action uses PC focus. When focusing on one thing, it is possible to lose focus on other details. For example, if a PC is searching drawers, they will be less likely to see an enemy sneaking up. If a PC is searching for berries to eat in the forest, they will be less likely to see the dangerous plant the party is approaching up ahead. By using focus, a worse result can be generated than if the PC was doing nothing. This is represented as both the DC for using the active skill and the swingy-ness of the dice. Active skills use focus and and take actions, both of which have consequences. The PHB directly reflects this interpretation in the following areas:
Passive skills, in a historical sense, are closely related to Pathfinder's "Taking 10". If you read the description of this ability, you can quickly see how this is very similar. In many ways, "Taking 10" lays out a set of criteria where passive skills make sense:
Taking these aspects into account, it is easy to see that passive and active forms of skills are vastly different. They can have different difficulties and have different consequences. As a GM, I use passive skills as a tool for situations where a PC is rewarded for their skill choices to give them an advantage going into a situation. Active skills, however, are a player tool for interacting with the world and making choices that have consequences. I don't mix the two.
First, passive skills are not the same as the active versions. In 3.5, this was quite clear in the way we split up skills. Spot, listen, and search were all different skills. Now, all three of those are combined in Perception. Passive skills cover the more spot and listen aspects for scenarios when the PCs aren't specifically focusing on looking and listening. Active skills cover the cases where the PCs take actions to do those things and do things like search. The DCs to see something between active and passive are different. For example, an item stuck inside a drawer is impossible to see passively, but perform a search, and it is obvious. The DM should determine the DC based on the skill in use and whether it is active or passive.
Second, active skills are initiated by the player, take a roll, and roll against an active DC. Because the player is doing something, there are potential consequences. With these potential consequences, comes the need for the player to describe the action. Why? Because an active skill action can potentially trigger a trap, alert a foe, and otherwise cause some consequence.
Third, taking a skill action uses PC focus. When focusing on one thing, it is possible to lose focus on other details. For example, if a PC is searching drawers, they will be less likely to see an enemy sneaking up. If a PC is searching for berries to eat in the forest, they will be less likely to see the dangerous plant the party is approaching up ahead. By using focus, a worse result can be generated than if the PC was doing nothing. This is represented as both the DC for using the active skill and the swingy-ness of the dice. Active skills use focus and and take actions, both of which have consequences. The PHB directly reflects this interpretation in the following areas:
- The PHB lists the Search Action which reflects a Perception of Investigation check.
- The PHB lists a Use an Object Action which can be used for certain tool usage, a form of skill check.
- The PHB lists Hide as an action, which uses a Stealth check.
- The PHB lists a Grapple (also DMG lists other similar actions) which rely on an ability check and require using an attack from the Attack action.
- The PHB Healer's kit uses an action related to the Medicine check.
Passive skills, in a historical sense, are closely related to Pathfinder's "Taking 10". If you read the description of this ability, you can quickly see how this is very similar. In many ways, "Taking 10" lays out a set of criteria where passive skills make sense:
- No immediate danger (which can also be interpreted as not being in initiative order)
- Not distracted (no impending danger or other action going on)
Pathfinder goes on to also define "Taking 20". There is no specific rule in 5E that corresponds to this, but I think the interpretation can be simply "Don't make PCs roll for things that have no consequences." That makes sense in almost every game system.
Taking these aspects into account, it is easy to see that passive and active forms of skills are vastly different. They can have different difficulties and have different consequences. As a GM, I use passive skills as a tool for situations where a PC is rewarded for their skill choices to give them an advantage going into a situation. Active skills, however, are a player tool for interacting with the world and making choices that have consequences. I don't mix the two.
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