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<blockquote data-quote="Sunseeker" data-source="post: 6603773">I think the biggest problem posed by darkvision is that light in D&amp;D works backwards.&nbsp; As posted previously, you have to think about darkvision as itsself being a source of illumination.&nbsp; Luminous objects project their own light and need to be handled differently.&nbsp; IRL: in low-light environments, luminous objects are more visible than non-luminous ones, that's how illumination works.&nbsp; Projected light is received by the eyes and processed based on how powerful that illumination is.Darkvision works backwards.&nbsp; You can see unilluminated objects as though they were poorly illuminated.&nbsp; This is impossible.&nbsp; If you were to put a person in a lightless box, darkvision or not, they couldn't see anything because there is NO light source.&nbsp; This becomes gramatically confusing because &quot;darkness&quot; in D&amp;D isn't a total lack of light sources, it's just so dark as to not reflect enough light for the normal eye to see.For this reason, I don't allow people with darkvision to see in what I call &quot;true darkness&quot; that is: an environment naturally lacking in all light sources.&nbsp; IE: a sealed passageway deep beneath the ground.&nbsp; No light, no reflection, no vision.&nbsp; Magical forms of sight can still see though. In the case of a candle 60'1&quot; away, the candle would project light into the 60' range of darkvision, thus increasing the level of light there and be visible to a person with darkvision 60'.&nbsp; In the case of an unilluminated object, I'm willing to allow a player to make a perception check to spot something normally beyond their range of vision.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Sunseeker, post: 6603773"] I think the biggest problem posed by darkvision is that light in D&D works backwards. As posted previously, you have to think about darkvision as itsself being a source of illumination. Luminous objects project their own light and need to be handled differently. IRL: in low-light environments, luminous objects are more visible than non-luminous ones, that's how illumination works. Projected light is received by the eyes and processed based on how powerful that illumination is. Darkvision works backwards. You can see unilluminated objects as though they were poorly illuminated. This is impossible. If you were to put a person in a lightless box, darkvision or not, they couldn't see anything because there is NO light source. This becomes gramatically confusing because "darkness" in D&D isn't a total lack of light sources, it's just so dark as to not reflect enough light for the normal eye to see. For this reason, I don't allow people with darkvision to see in what I call "true darkness" that is: an environment naturally lacking in all light sources. IE: a sealed passageway deep beneath the ground. No light, no reflection, no vision. Magical forms of sight can still see though. In the case of a candle 60'1" away, the candle would project light into the 60' range of darkvision, thus increasing the level of light there and be visible to a person with darkvision 60'. In the case of an unilluminated object, I'm willing to allow a player to make a perception check to spot something normally beyond their range of vision. [/QUOTE]

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