D&D 5E How far can you see in the dark?

[daimaru42]

My half elf ranger "Can see in dim light within 60' as if it were bright light." "Can see in darkness as if it were dim light." So is there any limit to how far he can see in the dark? Such as 60'? Or can he see as in dim light right out to the end of his line of sight? I would read it as the latter, as it's a separate sentence and doesn't seem connected.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[jaelis]

My half elf ranger "Can see in dim light within 60' as if it were bright light." "Can see in darkness as if it were dim light." So is there any limit to how far he can see in the dark? Such as 60'? Or can he see as in dim light right out to the end of his line of sight? I would read it as the latter, as it's a separate sentence and doesn't seem connected.

Right, so if your ranger is in darkness, and there is an object up to 60 feet away, then he can see it (dimly and no color). If the object is 70 ft away, then he can't see it at all.

If your ranger is in dim light, he can see objects up to 60 ft away quite clearly. More distant objects will be dim.

That is confirmed via twitter: http://www.sageadvice.eu/2016/05/09/is-darkvision-limited-or-unlimited/

That's all pretty straightforward. And lowkey is just being goofy . A point that can really confuse people though is: if you are in darkness, how far away can you see a candle that someone is holding?

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[MarkB]

My half elf ranger "Can see in dim light within 60' as if it were bright light." "Can see in darkness as if it were dim light." So is there any limit to how far he can see in the dark? Such as 60'? Or can he see as in dim light right out to the end of his line of sight? I would read it as the latter, as it's a separate sentence and doesn't seem connected.

You have to combine the text of the half-elf's Darkvision with the general text on Darkvision beginning on page 183. The latter clarifies what the former leaves uncertain - the fact that the ability to see darkness as dim light is also limited to a specific range.

 

[Oofta]

A point that can really confuse people though is: if you are in darkness, how far away can you see a candle that someone is holding?

In most cases, about 3 miles, because of the curvature of the earth. However, if your world is flat, humans could theoretically see it 30 miles away. How Far Can the Human Eye See a Candle Flame?

 

[jaelis]

Hey, in fairness, I actually provided the right answer (for once!) before being goofy.

Indeed you did! Just thought I'd elaborate on it since this is the internet

About the candle thing, one unfortunate point people could get stuck on is that still in 5e, by the "rules as written" you can't see the candle at all. Since

A heavily obscured area—such as darkness, opaque fog, or dense foliage—blocks vision entirely.

Of course, basically everyone ignores or handwaves this, as they should.

The other point you can get stuck on is that there's no rules for normal vision distance. So in practice it's a DM call, but hopefully you make the call more or less based on real-life vision.

And finally, it can bother people that darkvision as written doesn't help you see a distant candle at all. It's hard to squre that up with any reasonable interpretation of how darkvision actually works. But (a) magic is magic and (b) since it is a DM call anyway, you are free to decide that an elf can see a more distant candle than a human can.

 

[CapnZapp]

A point that can really confuse people though is: if you are in darkness, how far away can you see a candle that someone is holding?

Very few games even bring this up, much less define it.

And when they do, they sometimes gets it hilariously wrong.

If you have ever been outside in actual, real life darkness, then you'll know that you can spot that pinprick of light from much farther away than a mere twenty yards. Obviously, assuming clear conditions. You could see a flashlight or bullseye lantern from literally a mile away.

This sometimes makes it impossible to take a game seriously, for example if it suggests with a straight face it's a good idea for a sneaky thief to bring along a light (in order to see your way). In areas of pitch black conditions (which pretty much never happens outdoors, but commonly does in caves) even the ambient indirect light is easily detectable even if you completely cover the actual flame or light source.

I mean, you-don't-even-need-to-roll easily. In a game with honest-to-gawd Darkvision, you simply don't do cave skulking as a human without Darkvision. Either you forget about it completely, or you get yourself Darkvision somehow. It's that easy.