D&D 5E What is a good replacement for Darkvision?

[CapnZapp]

Switch Elves (and Half-elves) over to low-light vision, and you're done.

Now you'll have perhaps one PC with Darkvision (the Dwarf?), which is okay, assuming that character won't try solo scouting rounds.

Darkvision is very powerful if all party members have it. If the party carries lanterns and torches (and Light cantrips), it's much less powerful and nothing to worry about.

So the only problem is that the 5E PHB makes it relatively painless to create an all-darkvision party: just stay away from Humans and Halflings.

Switching Elves away from Team Darkness pretty much fixes everything, assuming your players' have a limit to their min-maxing, and will happily choose Elves, Humans, and/or Halflings for their characters.

 

[CapnZapp]

Mucking with Infravision or spending a lot of time replacing the Darkvision trait for other things are what I don't recommend, though.

 

[Hand of Evil]

A torch - get rid of it all together, the night is suppose to be scary, people disappear in the night, ghost stories are told. This also means the players would have to inventory their torches and lamps, it also forces them to camp.

It all comes down to how you play it, being in dim light still impacts players, you don't see everything and their are a lot of observation checks from shadows. A way to think about this is coverage, in dim light things are in some form of coverage because of a lack of color or just the shadows around them. This would allow monsters or other foe to take advantage of an environment.

 

[dmnqwk]

Reduce Darkvision to 10' and I don't think you'll have any reason to replace anything.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Darkvision gives a fairly limited amount of information. You might be able to see a humanoid shape in the dark but getting details will require some light. You cannot read, notice important markings on the walls, see that stone block that is ever so slightly discolored, etc. There are many reasons for darkvision capable characters to still want some light available.

I say let them keep darkvision. Just make sure to modify descriptions accordingly if everyone is using only darkvision to see. If you are doing it right, they will be firing up a light source in no time.

 

[Slit518]

A few questions more I have.

Does low-light vision exist in D&D 5th edition? I know if it doesn't, I could always make it exist.

Does lighting a bright light source near someone with Darkvision normally cancel the effect beyond the light source?

The players will be trapped in a dungeon for a bit, where source of illumination is low. I can still make it tense, even if they see the Chimera in the darkness?

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Does low-light vision exist in D&D 5th edition?

No. What low-light vision used to do and what darkvision used to be were combined into the 5th edition form of darkvision.

Does lighting a bright light source near someone with Darkvision normally cancel the effect beyond the light source?

There is nothing in the rules saying that is the case.

The effect of darkvision may be supplanted in part by the light source, however. For example, a darkvision character standing next to a torch in an area that would otherwise be shrouded in darkness (the character seeing in shades of grey out to 60 feet, and treating that entire range as dimly lit), they see as if brightly lit and in color out to 20 feet, as if brightly lit and in shades of grey for 20 feet beyond that (or dimly lit color, if the DM allows the choice rather than granting the generally more beneficial), and as if dimly lit and in shades of grey for the remaining 20 feet of their darkvision.

I can still make it tense, even if they see the Chimera in the darkness?

I know I can, so I believe that you can too if you play up the right elements, such as it's monstrously shaped shadow stretching along the walls, cast by the dim lighting of the dungeon.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

However, I would also sound a note of caution as regards making torch-tracking a big deal - in my experience, most players get bored of that really quickly. So make sure they buy into your concept before you go too far down that route.

This is my experience as well.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Infravision!

Ultravision!

 

[MarkB]

Supervision!

Seriously, what adventuring party couldn't use some supervision every once in awhile?