I Don't Miss Perception Checks.

I don't miss perception checks, or let me say, I don't miss having to roll perception checks.  They damaged to the game.  Perception became a super-skill, almost a stat unto itself, an entitlement.  This is by no means unique to D&D as many games out there are designed to accommodate a character's Awareness.

I walk in......perception check.
I search the room......perception check.
Is he hiding something?......perception check.
What do I hear?......perception check.
I approach cautiously......perception check.
I check for secret doors......perception check...............

Perception damaged the game.  As far as D&D is concerned, it evolved from "search for secret doors" and "check for traps" and became "I roll to check for anything and everything under the sun that I can think of that could possibly be hidden from me at any given moment for any given reason."  The almighty Perception Skill.  And whether it's called, Perception, Sense Motive, or Investigation, it's all the same.  We can thank 3rd Edition for this super-skill (and I'm not hating on 3rd Edition, I had my share of fun with it, I just don't recall it being a issue before then.)

No class is hurt by this super-skill more than the Thief/Rogue.  Their whole shtick is, not being perceived.  Perception steps on their toes by putting them in double-jeopardy.  Not only do they have to roll well to succeed, but their foe has to roll poorly.

Screw that.

Whether it's Move Silently or Hide in Shadows or plain old Stealth, if the old-school Thief makes her roll then she does what she wants to do, period.  It has nothing to do with her opponents "perception" but rather, her own personal skill and dice luck.

A fighter tries to hit you based on his skill alone -- one roll.  A wizard casts a spell on you based on your resistance (or lack of) still, one roll.  A thief tries to sneak past you, she rolls, you roll.  A thief tries to pick your pocket, she rolls, you roll.  Several of the modern thief's key abilities are contested.  You could argue that any class trying these actions face contested rolls, but these things used to be the SOLE domain of the thief.  (And I'm not against contested rolls at all, I love the notion of contested combat: Strike, parry, dodge.....)

Double Jeopardy for thieves isn't really a problem in old-school D&D, but there's one aspect to how early thieves are handled that I don't like, and that is, when the DM rolls secretly for the player.  It's their skill, their roll.   So how do I ref these rolls?  Not until the point of no return and not a moment sooner.  Example.....

The Thief is Hiding in Shadows in someone's room, waiting to spy or kill.  If her intention is simply to spy, she will roll shortly after her target enters the room, and just before he does anything important.  If she fails, he spots her, she learns nothing.  If she succeeds, he doesn't spot her and she gets to watch for as long as she wants.....even if someone else enters the room, she has successfully hidden, period.  Her gambit as a lone thief is one of life and death, if she makes her roll, let her enjoy it.

If she's hiding for an attempted "Back-Stab," she could lay in wait for minutes or hours, doesn't matter, the "Hide" roll doesn't occur until the point of no return.  Rolling secretly for the player creates the same level of suspense, but strips them of active involvement (imagine gambling at a casino with someone else rolling the dice for you.....)   Don't have her roll Hide in Shadows until she's ready to make her move and it's do-or-die.  If she fails, she's been spotted, roll initiative.  If she succeeds, here comes the dagger.  But, if her attack roll misses, that means her target saw her at the last moment and evaded.  Assassination is harder than spying.

K, that was a tangent.  Back to Perception, bottom line -- it kills the player's motivation to engage with the game world.  Rolling perception for everything is lazy and sterilizing. 

Something else I don't miss:  DC's.  DC:12, DC:15, DC:18, etc., etc.  Your character gets good at something, and then the goal-posts are moved, suddenly locks get tougher, traps get deadlier.  Everything around advances with you.  Why advance?  The beauty of old-school is that you actually get good at stuff and stay good at them.  You ARE a master-thief.  You can pick locks and disarm traps all day long, but, one failure can still kill you.

Not that I'm out to kill characters, anything but.  I've never rolled that way.  There is a way to give varying levels of difficulty without moving the goal-posts and that's by simply using advantage and disadvantage.  Anything can be easy/standard/hard.....advantage/normal/disadvantage.  You want a tough trap to find, link it with disadvantage.  Put it in a 1st level dungeon or a 15th level one, you're not changing the game much and you've added a hint of depth.  A master-thief will still probably succeed, but at least she'll sweat a little.