D&D 5E Is 5e Darkvision A Good Design?

[Nebulous]

As I said. Too many races have DV. With level restrictions I would not mind, but since those days are over, then there must be some drawback to DV. The drawback that I enforce is if a bright light source is brought up suddenly, you are blinded until you make a con save (at the end of your turn) to end the effect. The save is usually easy at 13. Most characters only need a 11 or better to save.
No save is required if you are in the dim light radius. This alone makes up for interesting tactics from the players and the monsters.

The only drawback from this that I see is that PCs will use this tactic 100% of the time against enemies. "Get the hood lantern ready, shield your eyes guys, and....GO" All enemies blinded, PCs attack. My guys would abuse the crap out of that.

 

[Nebulous]

Dagnabit! I keep forgetting that dim light penalty to visual perception.

This to me is the main drawback, and as DM you have to enforce it regularly. Make them miss stuff they would have otherwise seen in bright light. Like ambushes.

 

[Helldritch]

The only drawback from this that I see is that PCs will use this tactic 100% of the time against enemies. "Get the hood lantern ready, shield your eyes guys, and....GO" All enemies blinded, PCs attack. My guys would abuse the crap out of that.

Of course they try to use this tactic. That is why orcs and others do have lit torches at strategic points so that they're not blinded. DV became not so prevalent in my games because of that. The tactic does happen from time to time but it is not as prevalent as you might think (and the light spell will do the same as the hooded lantern). With the low save to end the condition it is not as bad as a surprise round and the enemies are still able to attack even if blinded (albeit at disadvantage). Yet they are still able to do stuff like the dodge action until they are no longer blinded. And sometimes, it is the players that get the short end of the stick.

All in all, the tactic is useful, but it is not a trope that works all the time (either for or against the players).

 

[Nebulous]

Actually, the -5 passive perception penalty in dim light to notice traps is pretty hefty. A simple DC 10 suddenly becomes very dangerous to anyone scouting with a PP of 14 or lower.

 

[Charlaquin]

That looks like roll20. Did you edit the screen cap to make it grayscale, or is there a feature I didn’t know about to make players’ Darkvision grayscale?

 

[iserith]

This to me is the main drawback, and as DM you have to enforce it regularly. Make them miss stuff they would have otherwise seen in bright light. Like ambushes.

Right. All you need are some monsters who are the type to try to surprise the PCs and suddenly a torch isn't looking so bad. Same deal with traps, which I think are hugely underused in many games. As well, secret doors provide places to rest, hide caches of treasure, shortcuts around dangerous areas, or pathways to new opportunities. If someone is traveling the dungeon looking for secret doors but is relying on darkvision, they might just be missing a lot of great stuff.

A party of all darkvision PCs with no light source is putting itself at risk and leaving a lot of opportunities on the table. They'll have to decide if surprising enemies sometimes is really worth it. The players in my game have found that is usually isn't. (But sometimes it is.)

 

[Nebulous]

A party of all darkvision PCs with no light source is putting itself at risk and leaving a lot of opportunities on the table. They'll have to decide if surprising enemies sometimes is really worth it. The players in my game have found that is usually isn't. (But sometimes it is.)

yep, I'm running Forge of Fury now and it's a 95% dark dungeon crawl. I think I want to give more monsters improved darkvision, the ones that live in the dark and never leave. Having a barrage of archers 90 feet out with darkvision in a big cave would be one hell of a surprise.

 

[Nebulous]

That looks like roll20. Did you edit the screen cap to make it grayscale, or is there a feature I didn’t know about to make players’ Darkvision grayscale?

I had to photoshop it, but I WISH there was a grayscale toggle! If there was, I really truly think players would want bright light more often. There's no way they would want a colorless, bland, dim, dark experience every session. They'd hate it.

 

[iserith]

yep, I'm running Forge of Fury now and it's a 95% dark dungeon crawl. I think I want to give more monsters improved darkvision, the ones that live in the dark and never leave. Having a barrage of archers 90 feet out with darkvision in a big cave would be one hell of a surprise.

Cool. I'm running that right now, too, for two different groups. I recognized the Glitterhame from the screen shot you posted upthread.

 

[Nebulous]

Cool. I'm running that right now, too, for two different groups. I recognized the Glitterhame from the screen shot you posted upthread.

FYI, it is really really fun to put a big albino lizard in the glitterhame cave and have it swallow a PC. Like, it's awesome