Asking for Clarification on the RAW of the Active Perception of Unconscious Creatures, Especially Regarding the Linguistic Trait.
Greetings.
I'm looking for the rules on what creatures actively perceive (through senses other than vision) when they are Unconscious. An unconscious creature can't act (no actions or speech), is blinded and has a -4 status penalty to Perception checks, but nothing in the rules for being Unconscious or the rules for Perception seems to prevent them from actively perceiving (through senses other than vision) and remembering events in the world around them, so long as those events are not so subtle that they'd require or cause them to fail a Perception check.
Though this may be a moot point if any noise that loud would automatically wake them up, it does raise questions on the creature's ability to actively perceive using its other senses and what it can actively sense (including hearing) while it is Dying or at 0 Hit Points.
This becomes especially relevant mechanically when paired with the Linguistic trait. There are several features that have it one might want to use on an unconscious creature: Fated Healing, Rally, Encouraging Words and Tell Campfire Story stand out.
But if this is allowed, things like Lie and Influence would also work on unconscious creatures, rules as written. This combined with things such as
- a creature perfectly remembering things which happened around them as they lay dying or
- a creature which was successfully kept asleep by being snuck past quietly potentially smelling and remembering the smell of the sneaker (but not being awoken by it)
makes me think this is definitely not rules as intended. But I can't find the rules as written to back this up.
Can anybody point me to where they might be?