I got long standing issues with considering torches, or even lanterns, bright light. I treat them as light. Bright light would be direct sunlight, the effects certain spells, or other conditions like that.
My thoughts as well. And having different characters with different perception strengths...
The way Darkvision is currently written is pretty generic. I am thinking about breaking up Darkvision a bit and adding a few more options. Rip it up:
Blindsight
Uses echolocation or air pressure changes to sense surrounding out to 60'
Does not suffer from attack penalties from being unable to...
I could see where there might be some sort of need for a cost, since, when combined with Reckless Assault, it's giving an additional attack at advantage without any additional risk. That's two attacks with advantage every round at third level. Still, 1 level of Exhaustion is too harsh.
So, I...
For a similar theme, check out FASA's old Earthdawn. The premise of the setting is that spikes in magical energy forced various groups into giant protective bunkers (Kaers) for a time until the the magic levels drop. The players then play characters from one of these Kaers exploring and...
I considered limiting to 1 level per short rest. I envisioned the scenario similar to the one you suggested, pictured a party just sitting for multiple hours while their barbarian or front line fighter patch themselves up, and wondered if they would actually be a benefit or drag to game play.