Standard Senses

Description: Nearly all monsters are assumed to have a 'package' of standard senses which includes standard vision, standard hearing, and standard scent, as well as a sense of touch, balance, proprioception and other standard human senses, except where the monster's entry in the Bestiary explicitly states they are missing one or more of these senses. If a player wants to be able to climb up a Stone Golem while invisible, claiming 'it doesn't have a sense of touch', then the referee could remind the player that all monsters have standard senses, so Stone Golems might have a magical sense of touch which would detect them. In all such oddball cases, the referee is encouraged to rule in the interest of fun.

Standard Vision

• Range: Special, see below
• Requires Line of Sight? Yes
• Requires Line of Effect? No
• Usable for Combat Targeting? Yes
• Bonus/Penalty vs. Stealth? Unmodified perception check
• Ignores Invisibility? No

Description: Standard sight requires a light source, usually daylight, torches, lanterns, or magical light sources, in order to operate. Visual senses operate in the standard light spectrum, capable of seeing colors from deep violet through red. It functions without penalty in bright light, but grants concealment (automatically miss on a natural result of a 6 or less on the d20) to creatures seen in dim light, and total concealment (automatically miss on a natural result of a 12 or less on the d20, and you must be attacking the square your target actually occupies) to creatures in darkness or true darkness (assuming the creature can find them at all). Standard sight does not distinguish between darkness and true darkness, as both are equally unfathomable to the sense.

Standard sight also has difficulty discerning colors in dim light, as the saturation becomes too high to accurately identify specific shades. Often, opposite colors (such as red and green) become indistinguishable from each other in dim light.

Standard sight has a range dictated by the range of bright light available. See the Light and Darkness rules for details.

Standard Hearing

• Range: 20 feet
• Requires Line of Sight? No
• Requires Line of Effect? Yes
• Usable for Combat Targeting? Perception check at -5 to detect the square a creature is in. Detected creatures have total concealment (automatically miss on a natural result of a 12 or less on the d20, and you must be attacking the square your target actually occupies)
• Bonus/Penalty vs. Stealth? Perception check at -5 to detect the square a creature is in. Detected creatures have total concealment (automatically miss on a natural result of a 12 or less on the d20, and you must be attacking the square your target actually occupies)
• Ignores Invisibility? Yes

Description: Audio senses allow creatures to sense the presence of creatures, but are generally poor at providing enough information to target a creature in combat. A creature with standard hearing can make a perception roll with a -5 penalty to notice the existence of another creature within 20 feet, assuming they have line of effect to the creature. The perception roll has a DC equal to 10 unless the creature has entered a stealth stance, in which case, the DC is the result of the creature's stealth roll. Invisibility grants no benefits to a stealthed creature against a hearing perception check.

A creature with standard hearing who equals or exceeds the target DC (despite the -5 penalty) learns which square the target is in, though the creature still has total concealment if no other sense (such as vision) is available to target them. Standard hearing can never provide a result better than this -- you know what square the creature is in, but the creature has total concealment. You must always have line of effect to use hearing, though some barriers, such as doors, may allow hearing checks at a greater penalty to the standard DC (depending on how solid the door is).

If the environment that a creature is trying to listen in is noisy, the DC for the perception check is increased by anywhere from 2 to 10, depending on how cacophonous the additional noises are. Generally, trying to discern one target among several when none are attempting to be quiet is a -1 penalty for each additional target (though there is no penalty if you don't care which target you find).

The sounds of battle typically inflict a penalty of -5 if listening for a single target amidst the battle, but only -2 if you only wish to locate 'any enemy creature'.

Standard Scent

• Range: 10 feet
• Requires Line of Sight? No
• Requires Line of Effect? Yes
• Usable for Combat Targeting? Perception check vs. DC 35. If detected, target has total concealment (automatically miss on a natural result of a 12 or less on the d20, and you must be attacking the square your target actually occupies)
• Bonus/Penalty vs. Stealth? Perception check at -10 vs. Stealth result. If detected, target has total concealment (automatically miss on a natural result of a 12 or less on the d20, and you must be attacking the square your target actually occupies)
• Ignores Invisibility? Yes

Description: A creature with a normal sense of smell can make a Perception check to locate a creature within 10 feet, with a DC of 35. Detected creatures need not be within line of sight, but a line of effect must exist, and the path of that effect cannot exceed the 10 foot range. A successful check reveals the square the smelled creature is in, but the detected creature has total concealment (automatically miss on a natural result of a 12 or less on the d20, and you must be attacking the square your target actually occupies) from the sniffing creature.

If a creature with a normal sense of smell wants to try to locate a stealthing creature, the perception check is made with a -10 penalty versus a DC equal to the target's stealth check's result. However, invisibility grants no benefits to a stealthed creature against such a perception check. A successful check reveals the square the smelled creature is in, but the detected creature has total concealment (automatically miss on a natural result of a 12 or less on the d20, and you must be attacking the square your target actually occupies) from the sniffing creature.

Any wind at all makes this check impossible.

Furthermore, standard scent does not allow the detecting creature to distinguish between friend or foe, nor does it provide enough detail to allow the detecting creature to attempt a lore check against an unfamiliar creature, or recognize previously encountered individuals.