Is Perception a skill tax?

[Snowlilly]

Devilkiller wrote:

I've seen many homebrew DMs use kind of a "surprise by fiat" style which renders Perception null and void for many encounters. Typical examples include, "You couldn't see them in advance because they came from around the corner" or "The mage brought them in with D Door, so you had no way to know they'd arrive"

This can lead to some oddball situations when some of the PCs have Lookout and a way to always act in the surprise round.

A GM will get to use DDoor once, maybe twice in that manner before the party decides they want to do the same thing.

This is where scry & fry starts. House rules by the DM intended to screw the party, leading instead down a rabbit hole of, "OMG, the wizard is OP."

[The Sideromancer]

Devilkiller wrote:

I've seen many homebrew DMs use kind of a "surprise by fiat" style which renders Perception null and void for many encounters. Typical examples include, "You couldn't see them in advance because they came from around the corner" or "The mage brought them in with D Door, so you had no way to know they'd arrive"

This can lead to some oddball situations when some of the PCs have Lookout and a way to always act in the surprise round.

Those are examples of when I run a surprise round. If the party opens the door with 3 bows pointed in the doorway, I'd say they wouldn't be surprised by the existence of foes in said room. Likewise, if you're not trying to stealth, they probably heard you talking amongst yourselves and/or clanking around.