D&D 5E Question: To take away or not to take away for that is the question

[ccs]

I wouldn't do anything concerning it.

I wouldn't take it away, I wouldn't trade it out for a magic item that does the exact same thing, heck I wouldn't even mention it.
And if I did mention it? I'd do it in character via an NPC at some appropriate point - as in "You can see in the dark? Huh, I've never met one of your kind that could do that before."

This particular DB just happens to have darkvision.
Going forward though we'd correct the error no future DB characters would have it.

 

[Nightbeat84]

Thank you for your suggestion I appreciate all of them. It's nice to have feedback and perspective of others outside the play group.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I guess this is just a world where dragonborn happen to have darkvision. It's not really a big deal. I would compare it to a world where elves are taller than humans, rather than shorter. It doesn't actually change very much.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Trading it against goggles of night makes no sense. Just leave it.

 

[iserith]

I'd correct the error after explaining it to the player. If it hasn't been a big deal in your games, then not having it any longer shouldn't be a big deal either.

But that's also because darkvision is a significant benefit in my games as I play with light and darkness a lot, in part, because I use Roll20 dynamic lighting. You as a player see what your character can see. So darkvision is a big advantage in certain situations.

 

[Bawylie]

I guess this is just a world where dragonborn happen to have darkvision. It's not really a big deal. I would compare it to a world where elves are taller than humans, rather than shorter. It doesn't actually change very much.

This works.

Or as another poster suggested, perhaps this particular DB is special for some reason. That might be fun to find out. Is it parentage? Heritage? A deity’s blessing? A curse? An experiment?

Room for a good side trek here.

 

[Guest 6801328]

In a 1 on 1 conversation explain the mistake to the player, and ask him to get back to you with a story of how his character loses darkvision. Then in the next session weave that story into the adventure. Since 5e basically doesn't have permanent injuries it will seem all shocking and tragic to the other players.

P.S. I don't think he should be given something "in compensation". It's not like he had to give up something in the first place to get it. He's just had an undeserved goodie all this time.

 

[MNblockhead]

Pretty much every dragon has darkvision. Treat it as a new draconic ancestry or variant. I don't think that darkvision is game breaking at all, unless light-resource management is a big part of your campaign and you are limiting races to those without darkvision, which obviously isn't the case. You wouldn't have missed it if that were the case.

Just let him keep it and move on. Perhaps make it a plot point as [MENTION=6919838]5ekyu[/MENTION] recommends above.

If you feel strongly about keeping to RAW, perhaps it fades over time. I much prefer weaving mistakes into the story rather than retconning.

Or, have some kobold fanatics poke out his eyes, only to have him discover he now has tremorsense. ;-)

 

[The Crimson Binome]

This works.

Or as another poster suggested, perhaps this particular DB is special for some reason. That might be fun to find out. Is it parentage? Heritage? A deity’s blessing? A curse? An experiment?

Room for a good side trek here.

Personally, I'm not a fan of PCs gaining extra abilities as a result of poor bookkeeping. It sets bad precedent.

If you just change the world so that every dragonborn has darkvision, then it doesn't require any explanation at all, so it will cause as little disruption to the narrative as possible.

 

[Sadras]

So about halfway through LMoP and have 3 new players who have never played d&d before. One made a dragon born paladin and gave himself darkvison by mistake I did not realize that they dont get that until recently. I know it was an honest mistake on the players part. My question is do I take it away from him or just leave it since been playing this long with it. I'm leaning towards leaving it since it's not game breaking in anyway. But would like to hear other peoes thoughts?

End the campaign abruptly.
Scold out the player publicly for his poor reading skills.
Give him a warning for cheating.
Reprimand yourself for your oversight and negligence as the DM.
Restart the campaign with new characters.
And never ever let Lowkey13 see that you allow the Paladin class at your table.