As a #DnD homerule, I made searching for things, such as traps & secret doors, be Investigation instead of Perception. I also got rid of passive Investigation. This has made my life so much easier as a DM.
DMs, what homerule changes have you made that make your life easier? I use more passives to make my life easier and create less clunkiness in secret situations. Investigation and Insight being the big ones.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) February 15, 2022
To avoid the “Insight as an universal Zone of Truth”, I’ve sometimes asked for insight bonuses and then rolled in the blind so that players don’t see their rolls. That is exactly what I do, except I have their passives noted so I don't have to ask and give away that anything is untoward
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) February 15, 2022
I found the exact opposite. As I know my party’s passive scores, I know exactly what DC I need for them to make the check. Therefore, when setting the DC, I’m deciding for the party whether they notice something or not. For things like lying I roll Charisma (Deception) vs their passive Insight so no need to wait for them to do "lie detector" pings. If they get suspicious and want to make an active check they can. Same for things sneaking up on them vs passive Perception.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) February 15, 2022
For traps specifically I'm interested to try out making essentially a Stealth check against passives, or if they decide to actively search against their active check. So if the DC to find a trap would be 15, d20 + 5.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) February 15, 2022
Do you mind explaining that a little further? I think I missed something about the +5.
I’ve been using Perception to notice a secret door or trap, but Investigation to figure out how disarm/open it. It’s added to the exploration feel, but I always worry about “clunk.” I mean if you want to conceal from the players that a secret thing exists at all, YOU can roll against their passive, behind your screen or off camera, or just without announcing what the rolls is. Instead of a DC 15 check to find the trap, you roll a d20 and add 5 vs passive.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) February 15, 2022
The way I'm breaking it down is consider that the base DC of 10 is kind of standing in for a (close to) average roll on a d20. You use everything above 10 as a bonus and roll the d20 to make it uncertain.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) February 15, 2022