Article: 94242 of rec.games.frp.dnd Path: news.tuwien.ac.at!newsfeed.ACO.net!paladin.american.edu!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!news.cac.psu.edu!usenet From: userid@psu.edu (dls175) Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd Subject: New attribute -- Perception ?? Date: 26 Aug 1995 18:55:52 GMT Organization: Penn State University Lines: 142 Sender: dls175@hearst.cac.psu.edu Message-ID: <41nqno$p51@hearst.cac.psu.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: waring-mac88.cac-labs.psu.edu X-Authinfo-User: dls175@psu.edu X-Posted-From: InterNews 1.0.4@waring-mac88.cac-labs.psu.edu X-Authenticated: dls175 on INN host hearst.cac.psu.edu I wrote this today, or more correctly rewrote it from memory today. I originally came up with it last year sometime (i think). Anyway, it solves some of the problems with the current rules for finding certain things and takes some of the randomness out of who notices certain partially hidden events in your game. Enjoy !!! - pizari Perception v2.0 Introduction Have you ever gotten that feeling that youÕre being watched ? Well this new attribute will give your players a chance to have that feeling. Perception can be used by the DM to replace many of the rules that are unclearly defined in the PlayerÕs Handbook & the Dungeon MasterÕs Guide. The two reason that IÕve created it is to help standardize the find secret doors rule and to answer the question of Òwhich characters notice the small occurances in any game ?Ó. Using Perception The most common use for perception is to have some or all of the players roll a Òperception checkÓ. Just like any other score, they roll a 1d20 and compare it with their score. If the roll is lower than the score, theyÕve suceeeded. A perception check is rolled whenever you, the DM, think that the players should be given a chance to know what is going on Òbehind the scenesÓ. A good example is when the group is being followed by someone within sight, or if there is an archer poised on a rooftop and ready to attack. Like all other attribute checks, a roll od 1 always suceeds and a roll of 20 always fails. Probably the most difficult aspect of using this attribute, it that you must use it correctly. For example, a thief is more likely to notice that the group is walking into a trap, a mage would pick up on a magical phenomanae (such as charm) more quickly than a fighter. To use this score correctly, you must ask individual characters, or characters with the same motivations and backgrounds to roll perception checks on very particular occurances. Alternatly, you could have everyone roll a check and then modify the checks according to who is more likely to notice the event, or even who is closest. It also can be used as a substitute for the standard rules for searching for secret/hidden doors. Is there a standard rule for this ? Table 4 gives percentages, based on perception, to discover a hidden door, a secret door, and even traps. The chance to find traps may seem a bit high, but this ability can not find traps magical traps or extremely well-hidden ones. It may discover minor traps on chests or items only. IT WILL NOT ALLOW A CHARACTER TO FIND TRAPS IN ROOMS LIKE THE THEIFÕS ABILITY FIND TRAPS. In this column you will notice some percentages given in parentheses, these are percentile bonuses and penalties for classes with the Find Traps ability, as per a thief. As a general rule of thumb, any character with a perception ability at or above 100% will fail in this ability only on a roll 00 or in the most difficult of situations. Please not that all of the ÒfindÓ abilities of perception can ONLY be used when the player says ÒIÕm going to search for ...Ó. They ARE NOT automatic (such as the elves ability to find hidden doors when walking past them). Rolling Perception Unlike other attributes this score has a base of 2d6 and is modified by other scores (Intelligence and Wisdom), race, and even class (to some degree). Perception also has a minimum score of 0, instead of the normal 3. Any negative number generated because of the modifiers is treated as though it were a zero. The best way to generate a perception score is to roll all other statistics for the character, then roll the 2d6 base perception score, then modify it for Int, Wis, and race. Table 1 : Intelligence Effects on Perception Int Score Per Mod. 1 - 6 -1 7 - 14 ±0 15 - 17 +1 18+ +2 Table 2 : Wisdom Effects on Perception Wis Score Per Mod. 1 -4 2 -3 3 - 4 -2 5 - 7 -1 8 - 13 ±0 14 - 15 +1 16 - 17 +2 18 +3 19+ +4 Table 3 : Racial Effects on Perception Race Per Mod. Human ±0 Elf +2 Half Elf +1 Dwarf +1 Hobbit +3 Gnome +1 Table 4 : Perception Per Score Find Hidden Doors Find Secret Doors Find Traps * 0 0% -20% 0% (-10%) 1 0% -17% 0% (-7%) 2 1% -14% 0% (-4%) 3 3% -11% 0% (0%) 4 5% -7% 5% 5 8% -4% 10% 6 11% 0% 16% 7 15% 4% 22% 8 20% 8% 29% 9 25% 13% 36% 10 31% 17% 43% 11 37% 22% 50% 12 44% 27% 57% 13 52% 33% 65% 14 60% 38% 72% 15 69% 44% 80% 16 79% 50% 87% (+7%) 17 89% 56% 93% (+13%) 18 100% 63% 100% (+20%) 19 111% 70% 106% (+26%) 20 123% 77% 112% (+28%) 21+ 136% 84% 117% (+30%) * The numbers in parentheses are bonuses/penalties for classes with the ability to find traps as per a thief.