D&D 5E Drow "Sunlight Sensitivity" workarounds?

Lackhand

First Post
(Maybe this belongs in Homebrew? Not sure!)

One of the characters in my 5e campaign is a drow wild sorceror.
The party has been doing a lot of (daytime) wilderness adventuring.
The player and I are both getting a bit bored of him always rolling everything with disadvantage.

So: here are some workarounds I've come up with.

1) High-Quality Smoked Glass Goggles. Fragile and finicky, but ideal.
Cost: as magnifying glass.
These goggles completely eliminate the wearer's light sensitivity trait while worn. Their fragility lives in the plot, not the rules. They probably block darkvision, but the wearer can just take them off for night uses.

2) Low-quality Smoked Glass Goggles: The Village Bottleblower's Version.
Cost: as glass bottle.
These goggles eliminate the disadvantage on attacks -- but not perception -- against foes within 30'. Outside of that range, the sunlight sensitivity is replaced with interference from the warped glass.

Drow are, of course, a magical and poison-loving people. Isn't there a biochemical solution here?
Yes. Good thing we just got that DMG excerpt!

3) A drow suffering any penalty from sight rot loses their daylight sensitivity (limiting darkvision to 30').
4) A drow may inhale the smoke of an incense composed mostly of the drug Malice and lose daylight sensitivity (limiting darkvision to 30') for 1hr, Con save DC 10.
5) A fantasy opiate drug could constrict the pupils; grant some temprary hit points, inflict 1 level of fatigue, and vision-wise provide the same effect as the above (con save DC 10 negates). Names for this substance might be Villein, Poppy's Milk, or Dragonsbreath?

And finally, there could straight up be some magic solution, like:
6) Potion of Clearsight, a common philtre which negates vision-based penalties for 1 hr.

My question: what can the enterprising DM do to encourage players away from the stable, sure-bet that are the fantasy sunglasses represented by option (1)?

I could rule it's beyond the skill of the local craftsmen, but telescopes exist and the player isn't being unreasonable; they're traveling to a large city with alchemists and astronomers next, so I can't delay forever.

I could come up with some sort of drawback -- suggestions? It's not enough that they look goofy in smoked shades, since the character is drow; they've already accepted visual prejudice as a thing. And I can't balance them with a wisdom(perception) penalty, since sunmmlight sensitivity already gives them that!

I want this to cost ongoing resources, at least until the player can obtain the sort of magical resources it'd take a character of another race to get darkvision :)

Help!
 

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Dannyalcatraz

Schmoderator
Staff member
Supporter
Elton John had a pair of platinum-framed, (lab-grown) purple sapphire lensed sunglasses. That is tech well within the D&D world's capability...though it would be pricey. On the one hand, sapphire (corundum) has a Moh's hardness of 9, one of the strongest natural materials there is, and is singly refractive. On the other, platinum is among the softer metals.

Now, natural blue orange and pink sapphire (as well as ruby- which is another form of corundum) is a LOT more common than natural purple, but there is no reason why sapphire couldn't be created/summoned/obtained via magical means.

Another mineral that would work work be one of the forms of optically clean quartz. Like corundum, quartz is singly refractive. It also comes in colors like golden/amber (citrine), brown-grey (smokey quartz) and purple (amethyst) that would help block sunlight.

As for frames? Brass & leather like motorcycle goggles should work just fine.
 

Dannyalcatraz

Schmoderator
Staff member
Supporter
Even simpler, snow goggles have been made using slotted wood or metal to minimize the amount of light hitting the eyes.

DSCN0065.JPG

37af721b49d6630c0d55455f202d70cb.jpg
 

aramis erak

Legend
The various eskimo peoples (Inupiaq, Inuit, Yup'ik) made sunglasses of bone or wood. They work. They limit field of view, but increase acuity in bright sunlight, especially at low angles.

220px-Inuit_snow_goggles.jpg

Image from Wikipedia..
 


rjfTrebor

Banned
Banned
Or, just a thought. Do nothing. The player chose the race. Play the race. Deal with the restrictions that they, themselves, chose for the character.

Don't like sunlight sensitivity? Don't make a character that has it.

yep. I chose to play a drow in a HotDQ game and the first thing i told the DM is that i'd be a people person to compensate for the stereotyping, and that i was prepared to deal with the realities of sunlight sensitivity.

i just make it part of my character. He's constantly complaining about how terrible the sun is and i always have him leverage the party into doing things at night. I also find that some DMs will let you get away unscathed on cloudy days so long as you ask about the weather.
 

Anth

First Post
1) High-Quality Smoked Glass Goggles. Fragile and finicky, but ideal.
Cost: as magnifying glass.
These goggles completely eliminate the wearer's light sensitivity trait while worn. Their fragility lives in the plot, not the rules. They probably block darkvision, but the wearer can just take them off for night uses.

I actually had a player a couple of years ago that played a drow who was a glassblower.
image92.jpg
beer-googles-01.jpg
 

the Jester

Legend
My solution is to ban Drow as pcs, but that doesn't help once there's one in the campaign.

Kill the character. Yes, that's the solution I'd prefer. But that STILL doesn't help if you are a reasonably accommodating dm. So... huh.

I guess my third choice is "Deal with it, pal!" But if you don't like that one either, I guess goggles are a suitable answer. Or the idea of a drug that reduces their vision to 'normal' levels (no sunlight sensitivity, no darkvision) might work.

It seems as though you have a ton of ideas. I will point out that Drow sunlight sensitivity is arguably part of what balances the race, so by 'overcoming' it, you're essentially giving the Drow player a superior race with no drawback.
 

The_Gneech

Explorer
So the first solution to everything is "Be a jerk about it"? :p This is supposed to be a fun game about using your imagination, remember?

Seriously tho. Steampunky smoked glass goggles. Leather and glass, custom made, relatively inexpensive, a neat character hook, and the first thing a character with light sensitivity would be likely to do. :)

-The Gneech :cool:
 

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