D&D General How strict are you with vision in your game?

[Minigiant]

In my current game , I'm very lax. The parties have too many darkvision PCs.

In my next game which will be very "Points of Light", I will introduce new types of vision and make it more important. Lowlight, elfsight, nightvision, etc

 

[aco175]

I mostly handwave it. When I lay out the tiles and monsters on the grid, it is hard to have some not seen by players. If I say that the dungeon is dark, then they light something and it may be somewhat used, but mostly so monsters can find them easier. I just finished the elemental evil campaign and one of the PCs received the artifact that gave 60ft tremmorsence, so that made things interesting. I also tend to make dungeon rooms like in movies where light comes forth when the door opens or has continual light upon the ceiling or such to not have to worry as much.

 

[Rabbitbait]

I use dynamic lighting on Roll20 and it makes the dungeon crawling aspect of the game and anything that involves sightlines much more fun. In my current game, all but one of the party have darkvision and one person having to carry a torch makes it more difficult for the party to be sneaky unless they really think about where that person is at any time.

I have made tokens that can be dragged out by the players for spell templates or lighting effects and that makes a big difference to speed of play.

 

[Rabbitbait]

I also use the 'reveal only on token drop' option, so that players can't scan the entire space without actually moving their token there.

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

I'm strict, because almost all of my players think their characters have super-vision.

GM: There is a figure standing at the far end of the bridge (already established to be over a 300ft river, and there is a long queue this side of the bridge that the PCs are at the end of) talking to the guards.
Player: I read his lips, what is he saying?

GM: A figure appears at the battlements, several storeys up and across the river from you.
Player: Is he wearing a Harper pin?

 

[Northern Phoenix]

If a VTT does it for me, then great! But otherwise I find it pretty fiddly to be super strict about.

 

[Klaudius Rex]

I am not strict about individual vision. Outside of combat I let everyone benefit from the best vision in the group.
I am strict about imposing the -5 penalty from Darkvision. It quickly encourages the players to use light sources unless they are trying to be especially sneaky. I also impose the +2 AC penalty for shooting at enemies fighting allies (if reasonable).

Sorry, but im not too familiar with the -5 penalty from Darkvison and the +2 AC penalty for shooting at enemies fighting allies...in what book is this found?

 

[Klaudius Rex]

Yes, I'm strict with vision in my games and have lots of light source assets the PCs can pull out and use. I also enforce the -5 PP on PCs relying on their darkvision.

im not familiar with the -5 penalty on darkvision...can you show me what book this is referenced in?

 

[MNblockhead]

im not familiar with the -5 penalty on darkvision...can you show me what book this is referenced in?

Players Handbook.

Section on Light and Vision states: "Within a specified range, a creature with darkvision can see in dim light as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light[.]"

So if your dungeon is pitch black, it is dim light for those with darkvision.

Higher up in the light and vision section, it says the following about "dim light": "Dim light, also called shadows, creates a lightly obscured area."

In the same section, above this, it says the following about lightly obscured areas: "In a lightly obscured area, such as dim light, patchy fog, or moderate foliage, creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight." [emphasis mine]

In the section on "Passive Checks" in Chapter 7("Using Ability Scores") it states: "If the character has advantage on the check, add 5. For disadvantage, subtract 5. The game refers to a passive check total as a score."

So that is how you get -5 on passive checks when using darkvision in an area with no light.

As for my games, when using my VTT, light, vision, and line of sight rules are strictly enforced. In VTT with manual reveal (e.g. didn't have time to prep the VTT map by tracing walls, etc.) I reveal/describe based on the character with the best vision. In TOTM I generally get a bit fuzzy in how I handle it but I try to describe based on character sight.

 

[Shiroiken]

I'm on the strict side, but I have exploration rules that keep this from being too much of an issue. The party (or scout) moves along the corridor/path until they run across something of note (door, passage, monster, trap, etc), and I'll simply reveal the entire section they pass at once. If a player wants to check something out, such as a possible secret door they might have missed, the area beyond it is "unexplored" until the party continues.