D&D (2024) Darkvision: it's here to stay for most races. What penalties could be added to keep is viable, but still have incentive to use light?

[Starfox]

I hate how darkvision is basically a prerequisite for scouting in dungeons. Since monsters have darkvision they won't use lights, and a scout carrying light can't sneak. This makes halflings useless as scouts. No job for you, Mr. Bilbo Baggins, the dwarves make better dungeon scouts than you!

My solution is to simply make Darkvision into Low-Light vision. You can see in dim light as if it was bright light. Period.

This runs into a dilemma with Devilsight. My solution here is to allow Devilsight to see in magical darkness, but not in natural darkness. This in effect makes mundane darkness darker than magical darkness. A devil can actually 'illuminate' an area of natural darkness by creating magical darkness there. I quite like this effect.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

Since monsters have darkvision they won't use lights

Humans in the real world can manage in murky twilight, but even poor peasants still burned wood/candles/wicks/something. Because it is just nicer to see well, instead of squinting all the time. Stuff like colors can be meaningful societally, and seeing details from farther away than a few feet is neat (using the dim light = lightly obscured = foggy as a rule of thumb). And campfires to cook food over emit light anyway.

It doesn't disprove the darkvision necessity for scouts, but just worldbuilding-wise, goblin society might not be just sitting in the dark with a readied action in case someone walks in.

 

[Lojaan]

Just make it not work in complete darkness

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

You can sidestep the dumbest parts by, this being a magical world, making absolutely everything glow - fungi, mineral veins, crystals, lava fountains, cave butterflies, worms in a carcass, stalactites, the water of a pure mountain river... so everything becomes dimly lit.

At least the halfling/human rogues can sneak ahead then! However, they're still terrible scouts, because anyone with Darkvision would see farther and without a Perception penalty...

 

[Mistwell]

I wish they would bring back Infravision in addition to Darkvision and give one of them a penalty to perception checks and the other no penalty to perception checks. I also wish they'd make infravision not work on undead or constructs.