Passive Perception: apply the five-point adjustment

Passive Perception is a score used by the GM for awareness without a conscious check. Build it from the complete Perception check bonus, then apply the stated Advantage or Disadvantage adjustment.

Use it at the table

Start with 10 plus the creature’s Wisdom (Perception) check bonus.
Increase the score by 5 for Advantage on those checks, or decrease it by 5 for Disadvantage.
Use the resulting score when the GM calls for passive awareness; an active Search remains a separate task.

Make the call

A character’s Wisdom (Perception) check bonus is +4 and the character has Advantage on those checks. What is Passive Perception?

The ruling19, from 10 + 4 + 5.The base score is 14 and the Advantage adjustment adds 5, making 19. Advantage does not double the check bonus or call for rolling two passive scores. Ensure the +4 already includes the components of the character’s actual Perception bonus before applying the fixed adjustment.

Watch for this mistake

Do not add proficiency twice when starting from a complete check bonus. Passive awareness and a deliberate check also should not be silently substituted for each other.

Ask the table

What is the full Perception check bonus, and which five-point adjustment applies now?

The source rule

SRD 5.2.1, page 186. Read the official PDF.

Passive Perception is a score that reflects a creature’s general awareness of its surroundings. The GM uses this score when determining whether a creature notices something without consciously making a Wisdom (Perception) check. A creature’s Passive Perception equals 10 plus the creature’s Wisdom (Perception) check bonus. If the creature has Advantage on such checks, increase the score by 5. If the creature has Disadvantage on them, decrease the score by 5. For example, a level 1 character with a Wisdom of 15 and proficiency in Perception has a Passive Perception of 14 (10 + 2 + 2). If that character has Advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks, the score becomes 19.

Source and reuse

This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.

The explanation, example and table prompt are Table Ready adaptations; source text has been reflowed. This guide and its printable card are available under the same CC BY 4.0 license. Independent reference; no official affiliation. These rules are optional for our system-neutral adventures.