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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ilbranteloth" data-source="post: 7016888" data-attributes="member: 6778044">No, it's not the only thing. Light also illuminates things. And while darkvision is your friend when you're the one sneaking up on somebody, light is your friend to keep somebody else from doing so. So light does a whole lot more than announce your presence. Plus, sometimes announcing your presence is exactly what you want.The Underdark is quite civilized. Drow have cities. Duergar have cities, etc. In a dark environment, even if you have darkvision. A city or outpost would probably illuminate an area out beyond the longest range of their weapons. I think orcs and goblin kin would be even more likely to use light because again it extends the range and the possibility (eliminates disadvantage) that they can see potential threats. The more primitive the culture, the more likely that there will be threats, and the more likely they will be to do what they can to reduce them.Really, the more I think about it, only individuals or parties attempting to be stealthy would be concerned about using light.A patrol isn't trying to be secret. They are just trying to maintain their authority over a given area. Announcing their presence, and at the same time removing the potential advantage of a sneaky creature. Again, my point is that there isn't likely assassins lying in wait around every turn. The majority of what the patrols are protecting against are the general monsters of the Underdark. The ones that light will help potentially drive off.Travellers, such as caravans, I think would also use light for the same reasons. Extending their visibility beyond their normal infravision, while at the same time improving their vision. Again, it doesn't have to be bright light. For creatures with darkvision dim light is the same as bright light for us. But having mercenaries carrying light 150' ahead of the caravan not only provides a buffer for the caravan, but illuminates well beyond their normal range of vision. Yes, often the passages themselves will limit visibility, but the goal is to provide visibility for as far as possible.An adventuring party attempting to sneak into a drow outpost or city is a very, very rare occurrence. They aren't developing tactics based on that type of occurrence. It's all about what the normal, everyday threats are. In an evil society, establishing the presence and power of the law is crucial for maintaining control. A 20-30 person patrol, mounted and unmounted, using light to announce their presence is a reminder of that power. Not just because the patrol is strong, but because they have the backing of the entire law. If the threat is some other intelligent race, spotting them from as far out as possible is also a huge benefit. Again, a normal patrol isn't concerned about being attacked, that just doesn't happen on a frequent basis. Evil societies tend to hold power by a combination of fear and show of strength. Announcing your presence by light wouldn't really be a concern in those conditions, it only has benefits.When humans are in dim light, they are at a disadvantage. That is, their sight is impaired. So they do what they can to improve it.The sight of a creature with darkvision in darkness is also impaired. So they would do what they could to improve it as well, unless the specific circumstances call for otherwise.Actually, rather than reducing the number of creatures with darkvision, it's making me wonder if the creatures that are native to the Underdark shouldn't have even better darkvision. The reality is that most creatures native to the Underdark should have heightened senses of hearing and smell, and potentially have blindsight as well. I'll have to go through the MM and consider that a bit more...</blockquote>

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