I was trying to resolve some contradictions regarding the DCs of various Perception checks and I have made a compilation of various checks and DCs:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AVFu9Z5AvkCBw1EyI2xTTFNKgJN3s1Qw
I'd like to hear what you think about it.
Note, it's not all RAW. For example, I concluded that you cannot get any quieter than when you are staying still, no matter your Stealth roll.
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Adjoint the problem with the perception rule is that they are based off of the 3.5 rules which had them split up into two other skills, spot and listen. This was opposed by hide and move silently, which have been combined to become the stealth skill.
That is why you have strange situations where someone on the other side of a wall has a higher smaller penalty to the perception check than someone who is invisible, but in the same room with you.
Someone who is on the other side of the wall can't be seen which means you don't have line of sight, and they have the wall buffering any noise they make. That means should be more difficult to notice than someone you don't have line of sight to, but has nothing to buffer the noise they make.
In 3.5 the penalty t notice someone behind a wall or door was on your ability to hear(listen skill). That would allow you to know someone was there, but you couldn't pinpoint the square because they were on the other side of a wall.
Paizo kept most of the same wording as the 3.5 rules to include the modifiers, but didnt explain when to use hearing, listening or both.
That means you will find quiet a few things which don't really make sense as you dig into the stealth and perception rules.
PS: I'm aware that two of the paragraphs say the same thing, but are written differently. That is intentional.
Edit:I'll comment on the document when I get home later tonight, which will be about 12 hours from now.
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I'm aware of the source of the inconstistencies, and I accept that I need to abandon some RAW if I want to make it sensible.
Assuming that the person making the check is human, it has two senses it can reliably use to notice most things: sight and hearing. Other senses can only be used on very short distance. I focused therefore on the check made with sight and the checks that you cannot made with sight but you can use hearing. Important note: I've decided that in the latter case, the reason why you can't use sight shouldn't matter: the base DCs should be the same whether you are blinded, the creature is invisble, it has total cover or you are sleeping and have closed eyes (although in the cover case the obstacle may provide additional modifier, and the sleep always incur an appropriate penalty).
That being said, I still tried to follow RAW as much as possible. The main inconsstency that forced me to abandon some is the difference between what the description of Stealth skill says (no penalty if you move up to half your speed, -5 penalty if you move faster) and what the Invisibility condition says (-5 penalty if you are moving at half speed, -10 if you move at half speed). I've decided to make it consistently 0/-5, but to make the bonus from invisibility only +15, with additional +25 if you're not moving (to reach RAW +40).
Adiitionaly, humans using sight pinpoint object automaticaly, but not if they are using only hearing. Thus you can notice three main categories of checks "to see", "to hear", "to pinpoint using only hearing".
The fact that with high enough Stealth roll you may become harder to notice than when you stay still is also counterintuitive to me. Thats why I put a cap on the DCs of some rolls.
Finally I think that to notice some things you need to try to do that. For example, if you are sleeping or distracted, you may be able to notice a presence of a creature nearby, but (unless you have some abilities that grant it to you) you won't be able pinpoint their location without trying.
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Why is fighting a -5 and combat a -10? Fighting in the game is normally the same as combat.
The stealth check should be equal to the DC roll before modifiers to keep things simple. Having a stealth check of 10 with a perception DC of 5 is going to be confusing.
The same goes for other similar rules. You don't have to put a DC for everything. Just like in the in the book, just apply a penalty to stealth for some things. This is one of them.
To be perfectly honest I would just go back to the 3.5 skills. There are some cases where the inconsistencies will still exist even with a different modifiers.
With that being said, if you are deadset on having different perception DC's for different stealth results that is all I have since that is the one thing that I would not like as a player.
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The RAw says "battle", not "combat". I guess I should have kept the name. I believe that refers to a situation when there are multiple creatures fighting at the same time.
If the creatures are sneaking at half speed, the DC to see them is their Stealth roll. If they are sneaking at full speed (hustling) the DC is 5 lower. If they cannot be seen, and they can only be heard, it's 15 higher.
I've created a table mostly for myself, to be able to find the right situation and find the final DC without trying to remember each modifier separately. Also as a way to have a gist of what a character with a given Perception roll would be able to notice. After I've finished it, I've decided to share it, and see if people would find it useful or not.
My proposed house-rule, when I’m not trying to get all those delicious bonuses: invisibility gives you total concealment. That’s it. I mean, you get the various combat bonuses, and all that jazz, but you would get the exact same for total concealment. At least in my proposed house-Ruehl.
OK, I have no idea who this “rule” guy is that my talk-type program is thinking that I am talking about, but that’s pretty funny, so I’m going to leave it there.