Handbooker Helper: Passive Abilities
Вставка
- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- The inimitable Sumalee Montano is here for the latest Handbooker Helper with everything you need to know about passive abilities in 5th Edition D&D!
Featuring doodles by our friend Wendy: / wendydoodles
Subtitles provided by Critical Role Translate: bit.ly/2Ib8aBk
Help us celebrate a special weekend with our first ever art show and CR Live in Los Angeles! Don't miss out on The Art of Exandria (1/18-1/20) and join us for Vox Machina: The Search for Grog in DTLA (1/19)! For more info: critrole.com/c...
Twitch subscribers gain instant access to VODs of our new shows like Between the Sheets and All Work No Play. But don't worry: Twitch broadcasts will be uploaded to UA-cam about 36 hours after airing live, with audio-only podcast versions of select shows on iTunes, Google Play & Spotify following a week after the initial air date. Twitch subscribers also gain access to our official custom emote set and subscriber badges (designed by our beloved Critter Arsequeef) and the ability to post links in Twitch chat!
Follow us!
Website: www.critrole.com
Shop: shop.critrole.com
Facebook: / criticalrole
Twitter: / criticalrole
Twitch: / criticalrole
#CriticalRole #HandbookerHelper #DungeonsAndDragons - Ігри
Sumalee's voice is the most soothing thing... I have to clean, but... so calming.......
yea i was just thinking someone should hire her to do some fairy tail audio books kids would go right out
She sounds like the voice from the smite champion videos
I know. Just want to listen to her blab on and on as I fall asleep. Like...read me a book or something. I could listen to her all day.
Cleaning can wait . . .
Her voice is so smooth she could change her name to Smoothalee... 😎
> I'll see myself out
I'm glad it's just the general consensus that Sumalee is an absolute gem
Yeah man
Hey man, I like your first name
omniscient xt What the fuck are you on about?
Add +5 to your Inner Peace because of Sumalee's voice
She has the most gentle presence in the world. When she was on CR she was a much needed comfort and gentleness they all needed at the time of her arrival
Also, she's so sweet in real life too. When she thank everyone and was so greatfull, it was so sweet, and she thought they weren't on air, so it was her true response.
@@triccele She liked one of my tweets and ended up following me after i posted about my experience with Ghost of Tsushima
that ding on the flex was perfect.
I read this not even 2 seconds before it happened
Nobody like this comment use me. It s at 420
"You can't read your DM's mind."
Don't underestimate Taliesin Jaffe's power
I see so many D&D memes that are like "My DM told me to roll Perception out of nowhere, and then told me I didn't see anything, but now I know something's up!" It's one of my biggest pet peeves. I want to get a megaphone and scream from the rooftops: "THAT'S WHAT PASSIVE PERCEPTION IS FOOOOORR!!"
*Grabs a megaphone and gets on another rooftop*
"BUT PASSIVE PERCEPTION IS BORING"
The trick is to use that to your advantage as sometimes you just want to set the players on edge and asking for a random perception check is often a great way to do that
But that's.... Metagaming...
@@eddiemate
Except, it's not.
Players get at least the same sense of accomplishment from being told that their choices during creation and advancement have just paid off as they do from being told that a random die roll has.
Just to take the classic example of a trapped corridor, the real fun of the trap is when the PCs realise something's up and it becomes an encounter. Otherwise, it's just, "You just got shot by an arrow trap. Roll [whatever] to take half damage."
_That's_ boring.
On the other hand, if you ask for a roll and they roll low, they're now convinced that the corridor is deadly. They just don't know how or why.
That's _frustrating._
On the other hand, pointing at the players whose characters' passive Perception is above a certain benchmark and telling them, "You, you and you notice that the left-hand wall of this corridor is pierced by small, regularly-spaced holes."
Now the players know something's up and have to use their PC's abilities, some creative thinking or a combination of the two to find out what that something is and how the party is going to deal with it. Essentially, you've created a dramatic question that must be resolved during the scene: an encounter.
More generally, passive scores are great for packaging exposition inside a "Your character is awesome." moment. So if one PC has a high INT and proficiency in History, you might point to the player and say, "This looks familiar to you. The design of a Gryphon buggering a Dwarf was the coat of arms of one of the Lost Empire's most feared regiments."
@@Loswaith
You can get the same effect by just asking the players what their passive score in something is, then giving them the old, "Okay, good to know."
FIRBOLG MOM
Facts
if she comes back on, between her and cad....2 firbolg mums
I've heard a lot of DMs complain that passive scores somehow harm the game by removing the randomness of calling for a roll. But passive scores actually solve the problem of players knowing what the roll was and descending into a spiral of paranoia when they roll low. That is, if you call for a WIS (Perception) roll and they roll a 3, the players are going to assume they missed something important and the game will grind to a halt while they try to find out what they missed.
Whereas if you just point to the players who's Passive WIS (Perception) is high enough to notice the thing and tell them they notice the thing, it's not like the _players_ find this unsatisfying. On the contrary, the players of the PCs with the high passive scores tend to feel a little surge of validation at selecting that proficiency.
Then everyone gets to the actually fun bit of the PCs _dealing_ with the thing that got noticed.
Weirdly enough I don’t think I have ever run into an issue with a dm disliking my character’s high perception. And I do always have the highest perception. It’s one of my favorite skills to put the work into. I tend to even put expertise on it too which heightens my passive. I usually find my dms will take advantage of me being able to notice things rather than ding me for focusing on this skill. Then again, maybe this is because it makes sense with the character I play and the way I play them. I also will dump charisma so, just because I notice something, doesn’t mean I can communicate it. The other players also seem to enjoy my ability here. As for context, I usually play a ranger and sometimes a rogue. As I usually take a role of scouting ahead, I find this is a very useful skill and relevant to my class and making them shine.
Love Sumalee! We need her back as a guest in the future!
I hope she and her family are still taking care of the graveyard and that they go back someday to figure out wtf is up with that forest and she gets to guest again that'd be so good :o
If she comes back as a guest i just hope that her family is okay.
Does that mean more Nila???? pllllz
... I mean I just love her she's so amazing!!
I'm just sitting here waiting for Darin to make his triumphant return...
Her firbolg was beyond awesome.
My smell bag said: "YES". ❤️
Nila needs to show up again she's such a sweetheart
this could have been recorded way back when Sumalee was in the game. Remember Laura's HBH? it aired way after she gave birth but she was still pregnant in it. not that i wouldn't love the return of nila, she was astonishing!
YAY!! Sumalee is forever welcomed back!!! So happy to see her!!!
Her voice literally cured my headache.
What's left of Lorenzo's gang are the only ones to dislike this.
william heinrich oh buddy there’s no one left
Hawkeye Gough hahahaha
Those 16 people are just wannabes xD
There seems to be a small group that just go around to every CR vid and downvote it. Sad.
Truly pitiful! What could people hate about little 5 minute tips? If you don't like something, just don't watch.
This is why I like taking the Observant feat. Aside from a +1 to INT or WIS and being able to read lips (especially if you know their language), +5 to Passive Perception and Passive Investigation makes you that much more aware of your surrounding even when you're not THAT focused. It worked for Vex'ahlia in Campaign 1 as that feat came into play quite a lot; even at level 11 her PP was 20+. Combine that with her having expertise in Perception later on (for a combined PP of *30*), and you got a half-elf ranger/rogue who definitely has keen eyes and even keener senses.
So yeah, Observant is very good for passive abilities.
my DM absolutely hated passive scores because of this issue. i had a cleric who at lvl 1 had 23 passive perception due to 20 wisdom, human variant, and human variant allowing me to acquire Observant. My friend ended up with an average 17 passive intimidation, while my other friend who is a monk had around the same in passive stealth. It only got worse as we leveled however due to my proficiency going up and, if needed, enhance ability which allowed me another +5 to perception because of the advantage it gave. We settled on no passive scores and i now have permanent addvantage on Perception and Investigation checks.
@@NR2GOODTV this is a prime example of the flaws associated with rolling stats. You aren't even allowed to get a 16 (before racials) with point buy
@@v1Valvanerth Which is the prime example of the flaws associated with point buy. Point buy essentially forces cookie cutter class & race combs so that you can have that +3 bonus. Since fighters get the most ASIs as they level, it's not surprising that Human Fighters are the most common race & class combination on D&D Beyond.
This actually made a lot of sense! I'll incorporate more of the passive scores into my games. Thanks Handbooker Helper!
Be wary tho when your pc's make a character that end up having passive perception of 23 upto 28 and end up having to warp everything you wish to hide in another plane of existance for them not to notice it
@@bene5594 how the hell do you achieve a +18 on a perception modifier?
@@nirobu Expertise, high wisdom, observant feat
@@nirobu perception expertice rouge at level 4 or more with 14 WIS gives you 10(base)+6(proficiency times 2)+2(WIS mod)=18 pasive perception
@@lordilluminati5836 that's an 18 passive perception. I was talking about the 28 passive perception that ben was talking about. That means a +18 modifier to perception which i thought was impossible since expertise would give you at most +12 proficiency bonus with the maximum +5 wisdom modifier, until @Hoopster 151 reminded me that Observant grants +5 to passive perception too. So, i guess +22 modifier for perception would be the max? If it is, that's one perceptive rogue
This series officially isn't just for players anymore. As a DM, I've never considered passive insight. I always keep track of passive perception, but not insight.
When I run my Ravnica and Waterdeep games, I'm definitely gonna use that. It'll
I've been interested that dndbeyond shows you your passives for perception, insight and investigation. Reading up on where passive investigation would come up (it's like that eureka insight moment that comes out of nowhere) has been an interesting journey... now I just have to convince my GM in the game where I have a 23 passive investigation to check that more :P
So many DMs really don't know about passive abilities - I might have to send it to mine!
Yay Critter Mom!!
( Breaths deeply in the smell bag )
... I smell... Saffron... and cardamom. This will be an excellent lesson. >):^]
We need Sumalee to narrate for a meditation app. Her voice is so calming
Yes! All the yes!
Was also going to say this.
I want her to read a bedtime story
@@xLadyDangerx she would be wonderful for bedtime stories lol
I just want Sumalee to keep talking forever 😍
I’ve got a monk that my DM is frustrated with because he has a passive perception of 29. Level 15 is a lot of fun.
Y'all should be plane hopping and taking out lesser dieties at that level, your passive perception should be the thing your DM is least concerned with lol
We have already prevented a lesser evil Deity from killing a god to take its place. And perception is one of the most used skills in the entire game, as far as my experience. So I don’t see how passive perception could ever be the least of a DM’s concerns. I catch every trap before we set it off. Ambushes never happen. Basically, I disagree with your assertion that it is unimportant just because we are high level.
@@levishackelton4437 That doesn't sound remotely fun at all, and a pretty huge wet blanket for a DM trying to build a world and challenge for you to participate in.
At 2:16 is that supposed to be Taliesin???
The hairstyle and head shape would suggest it is!
@@Heritage367 he's also the one that breaks the game and ruins Matt's plans the most
And the black nails
@@Nata_Hanabi oh yeah that's 100% Taliesin
Really, who else would it be, if not the Immortal One?
I require more Sumalee.
So good to see her back!!
I love Sumalee and Nila so much !!!
And if all else fails, hit it with lightening. Again. And again. AND AGAIN! O3o
I love her so much!! One of my all time favorite guests, she played Nila with such passion!!
Ah, passive stealth... For that character who keeps sneaking up on the other characters without even trying.
I must have good passive stealth irl then... I can literally walk casually up to someone sometimes and startle them... Lmao.
Hahaha
Sean Nemo the most ridiculous I could come up with is a Rouge or other home brew class that allows expertise, put that on stealth with either +5 or higher dex bonus and you become passively stealthy enough to sneak around anyone who isn’t actively looking for you.
Then by max level, that would be a 27 without advantage, which is really easy to get with magic items. So around 32 by 17th level or whenever the last proficiency boost is.
@@RikkuTakanashi Me too! I'm glad it's not just me
Haha! I accidentally do this to a friend irl and she screams every single time.
Please give her a show. I don't care what it's about, I could listen to Sumalee talk about anything for hours!
never thought i could be soothed by Arcee's voice
Can Sumalee just speak to me about everything please? her voice is so relaxing ❤️
i was literally watching ep 27 when she comes up as a guest and the moment they introduced her i got this notif, im scared. anyways great content we love
Her calming and gentle nature was just what the audience and players needed at that moment
that's the episode after... *sob*
@lucieeatssnekkers There there. The earth will remember him.
Happens to me all the time with this show. was watching both campaigns, and timed it so that I was in both underwater sequences at the same time.
I''m watching this with my chin in my hands, hearts in my eyes because I love Sumalee so much! She has this incredibly calming, soft, kind presence.
I wish she could come back to guest but--- Nila is hopefully happily at home with her family and never leaving, huh?
Sumalee is arguably one of the best additions to the Critical Role guest cast, and I for one am insanely happy to see her in this episode of Handbooker Helper.
Can’t wait to see if she makes a reappearance. :)
It made me so happy to see Sumalee!!
My absolute favorite role of hers was Arcee in Transformers Prime. She always lends a soothing air to her roles but still manages to be badass when needed.
She has such a divine charisma that I could watch/hear her read the ingredients of my laundry detergent & I would still be fascinated
In my experience I find that DM’s HATE!!! Passive checks. I am the only one out of the 5 that Are close friends that use them. Every other dm I have played with outside those 5 just did not use that system, instead opting to ask the players to make perception checks. Which is a shame, cause I really like, as it was said in the video, the characters to feel badass and just notice small details (instead of randomly asking for perception checks) they both have there pro’s and con’s. But this is probably the only “game plays itself” system that I like in the game.
I've been playing DnD 5e for a little over a year now and these videos still manage to sneak in a couple of things that teach me something.
Other Player: "It's too easy to roll under your passive perception! It should always be higher if you're actively looking!"
Me: "That's not how it works for ME in real life."
I just love Sumalee's soothing and calm demeanor. I'd love to have a chat with her.
Sumalee has the best energy, what a peaceful and calming person!
Sumalee is amazing! I'd love to see her guest again, M9 go visit Nila!
Giriffraffe - Well, if nothing else, she’s part of Caduceus’ story arc now, so we should be able to at least look forward to seeing her when that’s explored.
...Barring any...unfortunate auto crits or failed death saves, that is...
But that neeeeever happens.
So something for which to look forward!
The happy smell bag is back!
Great vid and definitely a great reminder for us newer DMs to keep this in mind. Thanks Handbooker Helper! 👍🏻
Best part of my week!
Love learning about things I don't understand!
Can there be a series of sumalee just... just kinda reading bedtime stories? A-asking for a friend's kid.
She narrarates books so yeah
I feel like GREEN was a poor choice for the SMELL BAGS stink lines, PURPLE might have been a better choice IMO.
In other news, this was probably the best Handbooker Helper episode I've seen yet. The way it was delivered using storytelling examples was great.
My favorite thing about this? Sumalee had never played D&D before being on Critical Role. She loved it so much that now she's teaching us.
Shout out to the smell bag!
Is this a season 2 thing? I just started s2 e7.
@@dungeonsdoodads4306 yep it is!
Yes. It's a thing her character does when you get to her in episode 27 I think?
how the passibe Abilities interact with class feats that doesn´t let you roll less than 10 or 8 like rogue reliable talent, eloquence bard's silver tongue or inquisitve rogues ear for deceit.
Omg, I missed Sumalee's voice so much I really hope she returns her appearance in crit role was sooo good.
i love that drawing of tal using telepathy to read matt's mind
Please come back to Critical Role! ;-o I'd trade Ashley's ghost for you any day!
Well done! This video is a masterpiece for explaining Passive scores. Probably one of my favorite ones yet! Can I share my thoughts on Passive scores? Nice, okay. Thank you... Here it goes: I'm a bit "on the fence" on whether or not I like them. Most of my doubt probably stems from my jump from 1E to 5E, but... I don't know... it's hard to explain, or maybe I don't understand passive checks fully. I see the usefulness, of having a passive score, but, honestly, it's probably one of my least favorite rules in 5E. As a DM, rather than passive scores, if a character is proficient in Perception, I might elect to favor them when it comes to noticing things or apply advantage if I'm seeking out dice rolls.
On a side-note... that Observant Feat is absolutely bonkers with a high wisdom character that is already proficient in Perception... wow, nothing should escape the eye of a character built with this in mind... For example, a Human Variant with this feat could easily have a 20 Passive Perception at 1st level... Hmmm... as a DM, I would really need to up my DCs if I want to balance out the element of surprise in a game.
This was extremely helpful, and Sumalee is so awesome and chill. Thank you!
Damn this was awesome! I am an old hand DM at Pathfinder and 3.5 D&D and have only recently started DMing 5e, this has helped me so much. Plus Sumalee is so awesome and her voice so soothing my brain absorbed the info that much faster :P.
I really like this rule sadly alot of DM's forget. I'm supposed to be a hero/villian that has possibly trained 10+ years at something, I shouldn't have a 5% chance at failing at all times at said thing, especially when it's something like picking a simple lock you can buy for 5sp, especially all the meanwhile the Barbarian with an Int of 6 can just as easily walk along and roll a Nat 20 and somehow manage to decipher the DaVinci Code!
This is also why some checks should require proficiency to even attempt or at least make the dc lower. Also, that's a problem with running crit successes and fails on everything, it's great to succeed on stuff you normally couldn't but some things can't be done no matter how lucky you get.
I so hope we will see more of Nila in the future, she's my favourite guest character so far (although all have been great).
Great episode, btw! Also; props to whoever does the doodles/animations, they're fantastic as always. Mindreader Taliesin was great :D
Sumalee!
Where can we see, or rather hear, more of Sumalee?
I could listen to her read/describe anything and it would be lovely. I actually learned something today about passive abilities too, so yay!
I wonder how Nila and her family is doing in the war...
The thing I dont like about passive perception and insight is that when a player is actively looking for something I only use what they rolled. I think that if they rolled lower than their passive it does not matter use the number that they rolled cause if not you kindve jib on the rouges skill of reliable talent. And while I do think it sucks to have a barbarian with a +5 in strength to only roll a 3 and therefore have an 8 I always remember that DC's can be different for different people so perhaps this was an easy task for him and therefore only needed to roll that 5 but the frail wizard would have to roll a dc of 15 to lift the same weight.
For me, if the passive is higher than the needed roll, I don't have them roll at all. However, if the passive is lower, I have them roll. If they roll lower than their passive, maybe they had a rough night, or they tripped, or something happened that put their passive lower than normal. Perhaps one of the other party distracted them? Lots of ways to play it.
I do the same thing for my players. Even the most perceptive person in the world can have an off day and flub a roll, missing something they normally wouldn't. Otherwise the passive skills are disproportionately strong. Being unable to roll less than 19 (let's say they're a 10th level cleric with Wisdom 20 and proficiency in Perception) is nuts. And you're right, it absolutely just makes Reliable Talent totally worthless. Not weaker; literally worthless. Its a much worse version of "your passive skill is your minimum roll".
@@vanessavirtue5373 I like that idea and use it often like you're really focused on _____ and you dont notice anything. But if they dont tell me they are keeping watch i use their passive and if they are keeping watch they roll what they roll. Thats what i didnt like from the video because it was saying that basically everyone had reliable talent with passive skills that could include things like lock picking or jumping between rooftops since she was describing not only passive perception but passive athletics.
To me, passive skills means you don't achieve any active activity. Picking a lock is an active thing. You can't do it halfheartedly. There are so many reasons that can explain a bad roll. For this one exemple, you might have been distracted by a noise and missed the "tick". Or, you might have missed the fact that your picklock has become crooked after seeing so much use. I totally agree with you that having passive as a baseline is too powerful. Even with perception. If you're not actively looking around, you won't notice as much. Maybe you won't be surprised by a sneak attack, but you won't have time to warn your party either.
Although, I must add that I should employ more passive insight. I find it interesting. Reading body language is sometimes a passive skill.
I've lowkey started to skip the intro's in these videos cuz I can't afford to have sams jingle stuck in my head the rest of the day.
Someone give that lady a pile of books and a microphone. And make a podcast out of it
sumalee is the sweetest ever I hope Nila comes back at some point
Also Passive Investigation is useful, makes it so you sometimes find things without actively looking for them or performing unrelated tasks like finding a note in a book that you happen to be reading.
The way I use passive abilities is that they are taken into account when the players are in a non stressful situation such as walking into the mayor's mansion or performing menial labour to earn gold. However in a stressful situation such as combat or a tense argument they must roll.
I would argue that passive perception should still apply(unless the stressful situation you're is active combat, which would tunnel your focus), but the rest definitely makes sense.
Thank you so much for this episode specifically. I've been wracking my brain when to use passives, and thus video explained it perfectly!
My gods, her voice is so soothing! I need audiobooks of her reading poetry or something to listen to while going to sleep
Edit: She reads a book on a philosophy of tidying! JOY! also, the book is titled "Spark Joy"
We have found our High Lady Dungeon Mistress!!! For we are unclean and not worthy oh DM. Please forgive us.
As another example, I once had a player with a 9 inch tall character and her stealth was so good I just had NPCs roll perception against her passive stealth half the time
SUMALEE 💜 I’ve had questions about Passive Perception, it’s like you guys read my mind 😂
my passive perception alerted me to a new video
Does this mean we'll have a Khary Payton one? Hell to the yes please.
i was looking for what my passive abilities were for like 5 hours ago why wasn't, the timing on this is frightening.
I would listen to this woman read a phone book. Also this is a really well written and informative video. Great job.
Interesting, we don't see a lot of this on crit role. Cadeucus being the most prime example but how many times has nott failed at traps/lock picking?
It's active checks vs passive checks. Generally actively doing something requires a roll, there's only certain situations where passive checks are used.
@@wedlock94 I imagine with notts character type she'd always be checking for traps unless drunk though. The lock picking makes sense though
@@MLDeS100 The finding traps is one where it could be used, but some traps might need to be actively looked for. Like pressure plates might not be noticably different. One way I have seen passive perception done though is that the passive dc is higher than if the person is actively searching.
Finally I can learn about Vinny's corruption passive
Listening to Sumalee is just so pleasant and soothing. ^-^
Can I just say, the animations on these are perfect? The little cartoon Matt and Taliesen had me giggling. XD
Im old school. If I feel like the player should see, hear or feel something... they do. If I don't, they don't - of course unless they stop and ask to roll.
This is one of the dumbest rules in the game. This means that 50% of the time, your character does worse by ACTIVELY looking for something he or she is already aware of. Lmfao this rule makes no sense.
God I just want Sumalee to walk around with me and narrate my life, I feel like it’d cure my anxiety.
Wow thanks! I didn't really understood Passives before this video, but now I do!
I've never really understood the obsession people have with voices but damn... Sumalee's voice is so soothing. Can we get a meditation track with her? Some kind of "drift off to sleep" track... I'd be at ease so quick.
PLEASE BRING NILA BACK!!! SHE'S FREAKING AWESOME!!!
With respects to the others, this is the best of these so far.
I know she did a stint on BioWare games, but I can’t tell if she did Dragon Age or Mass Effect...maybe Jade Empire?
For new players: bear in mind, passive skills are your DM's tool, not yours; you do not decide whenever use them or not. You cannot say "Well, I have Observant and Perceptive feat, wisdom 20 and profi bonus +3, so my passive perception is 25 and I don't have to roll anymore - I will notice every trap".
If you are looking for a trap, you have to roll (unless the DM says otherwise). You can still roll a 4 and not notice anything, even if your passive perception beats the DC.
This was incredibly helpful! I've always wanted to use passive ability scores for things besides perception and investigation, and now I have some direction
Definitely easier for mental traits, also allowing people with proficiency in something or a related background/history to have an easier dc is also good.
Wow, I have a huge passive perception! I hadnt even noticed that before...
Sumalee has one of the most soothing voices that I've ever heard she could do asmr or guided meditation recordings
Sumalee!!! Come back soon!!
And don't forget your sniff bag.
OH! Sumalee! What a pleasant surprise! :D
Can Sumalee please read me a bed time story every night? Her voice is so soothing! I also miss Nila so much! Please come back!
Okay so I am confused.
If passives exist for every single skill... and they = 10 + ability score + proficiency (if proficient) +/- 5 (for advantage/disadvantage) + misc bonuses....
Then what is the point of Rogue's Reliable Talent? It just ensures that you "roll" a 10 at the very least. Which means that the lowest a Rogue can actively roll = 10 + ability score + proficiency + misc bonuses
Which means that Reliable Talent can actually be WORSE than passives, depending on whether there is advantage on the check in question or not.
Sure it can also be better if there was disadvantage, but... Like... it still feels remarkably pointless when most of the time, Reliable Talent will just... yield the exact same score as what a passive check would amount to.
Or am I getting this wrong?
I must imagine there's at least one person that watched this and didn't watch her appear on Critical Role and is deeply confused by the smell bag
I love Sumalee. So wonderful, so soothing. And her voice is great too ;P