It struck me one day - at the end of a long convention - that V&V was missing something basic that many (most?) other RPGs had - Perception!

In V&V, Detect Hidden is often too low of a score, and there just doesn't seem to be a method to "Detect Obvious".  You know what I mean, that instance where you as the GM WANT the PCs to see it, but it still might be something that the average mundane NPC might be clueless about.

Thus was born the Perception stat, which is NOT a Basic Characteristic for us, but rather a secondary one (like Carrying Capacity or Detect Danger).

We've been using it for many years now, and it's become a regular staple in our games.  When the situation warrants it, the GM simply decides whether a Perception roll or Detect Danger is more appropriate.  Quite simply, it usually comes down to "Is this a situation where someone should/would succeed 10% of the time?  Or is this a situation where someone would/could succeed 90% of the time?


2.6 FINAL CALCULATIONS

H. Etcetera

Perception (p. 8)

Often situations come up in V&V where the Detect Hidden and Detect Danger scores just don’t suffice. In these circumstances even an Intelligence save doesn’t quite fit the bill, and yet nothing else seems entirely appropriate either. Detect Hidden and Detect Danger work great for the functions they are meant for, but too many conditions arise where something more is needed.
Most game systems have some sort of Perception ability; often it is even one of a character’s primary attributes. Giving V&V characters the ability to be more aware of things around them provides opportunities for the GM to reward those characters that are generally more attuned to their environment, have Heightened Senses, or are just generally more observant than others. It should mainly be used in situations where the chance to recognize something might be higher than the standard Detect Hidden (which is usually less than 15%), yet might not be completely obvious to everyone present.
Let’s suppose the hero Sleuth Master is undercover at a formal dinner party. Enemy operative Black Viper, transporting a secret microchip in each of her earrings, does not know that Sleuth Master has her under surveillance when she goes to pass the earrings to another criminal. Sleuth Master is pretty Intelligent (23), but that gives him only a 16% chance of noticing what is going on. Even doubling or even tripling Detect scores doesn’t adequately solve this problem, nor does making an Intelligence save.
Enter the Perception score for V&V. The formula to figure out a character’s Perception is:

3 + [Intelligence + Charisma / 5] + Level

Perception is always rolled on a d20, but a character’s total Perception score might end up being greater than 20. That’s okay, since other factors may subtract from the roll. The GM needs to determine what modifiers (if any) are appropriate to add or subtract from the Perception roll. Obvious details might give a positive bonus. Powers like Heightened Senses will often give a bonus to a character’s Perception score, whereas Diminished Senses will likely subtract from the value.
In general, Perception is used to notice hidden or subtle details or clues. When a character succeeds at a Sleight-of-Hand, Pickpocket, or other relevant skill, their Skill Level (or character Level) can be subtracted from the observer’s Perception roll. When a character succeeds at Conceal, Hiding, or Shadowing, they are allowed to subtract both their character Level plus their Skill Total from the observer’s Perception roll (for Ambush, Detect Danger should usually be used instead of Perception). If the GM feels that it is appropriate (the person is a master at hiding things, the roll is incredible, the storyline warrants it, etc.), give the observer a Detect Hidden roll to notice something instead of a Perception roll.

I use the standard det. scores but make the roll on 1d20 (a 20 is always a miss). The percentage rolls were really designed for things like discerning an invisible person or seeing through a super-powered illusion.

The Assassin module has a det. almost-obvious scene that gives characters a Det. Hidden x 3 chance of noticing an almost-obvious. I recently reread the mod. because of the poll-post.

It was interesting because so many supertypes have Det. x3 for H. Senses. So in that situation, an ordinary person had that bonus.

I like yer idea of using Charisma w/perception--if a more emotional clue was involved.

A character's background/knowledge area might influcne perception/det. rolls too. What's obvious to one person isn't obvious to someone else with different experiences and training.

Doctor Foom wrote on Oct 14^th, 2009 at 8:43pm:


While I love our Perception system, I admire the sheer simplicity of this way of doing things.  Good job coming up with a simple (yet elegant) way of handling this!