Players are huge perception spammers

I’m not sure if this applies to you, but I see others get perception checks wrong a lot. Perception checks don’t do the work for you when actively looking for something. From the basic rules section on perception checks and finding hidden objects.

In most cases, you need to describe where you are looking in order for the DM to determine your chance of success. For example, a key is hidden beneath a set of folded clothes in the top drawer of a bureau. If you tell the DM that you pace around the room, looking at the walls and furniture for clues, you have no chance of finding the key, regardless of your Wisdom (Perception) check result. You would have to specify that you were opening the drawers or searching the bureau in order to have any chance of success.

Don’t just give people perception checks when they ask for them. Tell them to explain what their characters are doing to search for things. If what they describe wouldn’t uncover whatever is hidden, they don’t find it!

Sometimes, just saying “I look under the rug” is should be enough to find something hidden underneath, like an obvious trapdoor. Other times when the item is very well hidden, or whatever it is could still remain unnoticed when looking in the right place, you ask for a check.

For traps, a very well made, hidden trap could go off because someone is searching and would go off before a perception check could be given.

Your players may say “I search the entire room, top to bottom, open every drawer, turn over every painting” and fair enough. But that takes time and if they’re in the middle of some dungeon or dangerous environment, you can roll for a random encounter, or have the baddies in the other room get their reinforcements or board up the door.

/r/DMAcademy Thread