D&D General How do you really handle illumination in your games?

[Lanefan]

Something that I've considered, but haven't implemented, has been to make darkvision not work while in bright light. This means that if the party has a light source, so long as everyone is in the bright area (which is going to be most of the time), they all see the same. If a character stays in the dim light area, they'll get some benefit from darkvision, but at the cost of being further from the party. This makes darkvision a fallback option, rather than the ideal.

I would have expected this to be the default, that darkvision simply doesn't work unless it's dark and that a light source will spoil it.

 

[Corinnguard]

I'm not entirely clear on your question- I assumed we were talking about light and vision mattering to PCs.

Sorry about that, we still are talking about light and vision mattering to PCs. I was wondering about how you, as a DM, would handle illumination if one of your players was a Gloom Stalker Ranger who wanted to use Umbral Sight.

I ask because in my role-playing group, I am playing as a Bugbear Ranger (Gloom Stalker)/Rogue (Scout) and there have been times where I really wanted to use my character's Umbral Sight.

 

[Distracted DM]

Sorry about that, we still are talking about light and vision mattering to PCs. I was wondering about how you, as a DM, would handle illumination if one of your players was a Gloom Stalker Ranger who wanted to use Umbral Sight.

I ask because in my role-playing group, I am playing as a Bugbear Ranger (Gloom Stalker)/Rogue (Scout) and there have been times where I really wanted to use my character's Umbral Sight.

I don't think it requires any changes from RAW- creatures that're using darkvision to see you in darkness don't see you
If you mean the extended darkvision for you? That works as-is too. You get darkvision, or it's extended if you already had it.

 

[Corinnguard]

I don't think it requires any changes from RAW- creatures that're using darkvision to see you in darkness don't see you
If you mean the extended darkvision for you? That works as-is too. You get darkvision, or it's extended if you already had it.

My Bugbear character has Darkvision 90' thanks to Umbral Sight, and he's used it a number of times whenever I have him scouting ahead of the party. Very stealthily too. He is an ambush predator after all.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

In 5E, I mostly handwave it, since 90% of player characters have darkvision and making a big deal around illumination devolves into "well, here's what you can see with darkvision while someone leads Steve around by hand in the dark."

I get my "light matters" itch scratched in other games, some of which have a lot of design space devoted to it.

 

[aco175]

One of my players tends to always play a human fighter, so we just default to there being light from a torch or weapon illumination or a light spell in the area. We do not track where it is in the area or if someone drops it.

It would be like fighting with a backpack on and moving slower than one should, and being a bit clumsy to being penalized.

 

[Zardnaar]

Sounds similar to me tbh. Im not good at dim light eg 20-40 feet zone light spell

 

[Piperken]

...What I keep forgetting, is to handle regular areas of bright light vs dim light vs darkness. I would really like to make light sources ranges matter, but most of the time I just end up assuming that if one PC has any light source, then everyone can basically see a whole dungeon room at once.

Note that I play exclusively in person, so I don't have the aid of "fog of war" features from a VTT.

How precisely do you enforce illumination rules in your games, and how do you manage to keep everything in mind?

...or wanting the torchbearer as far forward as possible to illuminate the unknown end of the cavern (but that's a dangerous place for them to be)...

If you're dealing with a classic dungeon crawl, and assuming a standard torch, for the most part, your light source will provide adequate light to illuminate most rooms.

An easy thought to keep in mind in this case might be: sharp corners, long hall ways, big rooms and big changes in height/depth.

These would cover when you may want to take an additional moment to consider range of light, see if anyone in the party changed place in their marching order, etc. (Also, what any unnoticed creatures who may be observing them, do.)

 

[Sword of Spirit]

I don't have much of a problem working with it. If the party is traveling in the dark, they make sure one or two of them has a light source. Usually one of those at least is the light spell cast on someone's weapon so we know it will be available if combat happens. If it seems they've forgotten I'll remind the group they can't effectively be stealthy if anyone has a light source.

If they are trying to be stealthy in the dark, I make sure to make it clear that those without darkvision have to be guided by those that have it, and everyone takes Disadvantage to their Perception. I also like to use the 3e but that you can't discern details in darkvision, so no reading or picking up visual textures. (Serves double duty in better explaining why dwarves and drow light their cities and homes.)

In battle, we definitely make sure there are light sources.

Thing is, players knowing that illumination is a thing, makes them highly motivated to make sure they always have the light they need. It might require an occasional reminder from me to when we find ourselves in a dungeon or such, but it becomes an immediate priority to make sure no one is fighting blind.

They have also made good use of casting light on a pebble and tossing it somewhere to get a look.

It's probably just one of the things that I'm visualizing well enough that I don't forget. I have to make a reminder list for other things and still manage to somehow not get reminded by the list in front of me, lol. Guess it's a question about what elements made it into priority DM RAM.

 

[Plaguescarred]

How i handle the presence or absence of light and vision depends on the nature of it. I determine if an area is filled with normal or magical Bright Light, Dim Light or Darkness and wether a normal or Special Sense is impacted by the Obscured Area it create, if any.

For example, an Heavily Obscured area created by the Darkness spell is opaque and block vision, meanwhile an area of normal Darkness is not opaque to light due to the fact it can be illuminated by light.