human sight?

[Rkhet]

There are many creatures that have entries such as 'can see as well as humans' or 'twice as well as humans in low-light conditions', etc. But how far is that, exactly?

How far can a human see in daylight? Lowlight?

/edit: hrm. Just remembered that's what Spot is for. Nevermind, then.

 

[AuraSeer]

The various light sources list their radius in terms of human sight. For instance, a torch gives normal illumination in a 20' radius, and shadowy illumination in a 40' radius.

To someone with low-light vision, those distances are doubled. So an elf sees that same torch as granting normal illumination to 40' and shadowy illumination out to 80'.

 

[Starglim]

There are many creatures that have entries such as 'can see as well as humans' or 'twice as well as humans in low-light conditions', etc. But how far is that, exactly?

How far can a human see in daylight?

In plains terrain, the maximum distance at which a Spot check for detecting the nearby presence of others can succeed is 6d6×40 feet, although the specifics of your map may restrict line of sight.

So a human can detect the movement of a creature at 1440 feet in daylight. He can probably see that creature further away but can't tell that it's a living thing.

 

[Quasqueton]

Interesting note: The only creatures in all the core books that have just "normal vision" are humans and halflings. Every other creature has either darkvision, low-light vision, blindsight, or a combination of these three.

Quasqueton

 

[Silmarillius]

It really all depends on the certain situation. Whether you're in a forrested area or plains. The DMG offers rules pertaining to these certain things, but just try to picture yourself there and what you would see. I think that's the best way.

Silmarillius

 

[MatthewJHanson]

Interesting note: The only creatures in all the core books that have just "normal vision" are humans and halflings. Every other creature has either darkvision, low-light vision, blindsight, or a combination of these three.

Quasqueton

You forgot lizardfolk.

 

[Len]

You forgot lizardfolk.

And snakes.

 

[Ovinomancer]

This just occured to me: the standard penalty for range on spot checks is -1/10 feet. If you see twice as well as a human then maybe its -1/20 feet, and so on. YMMV.

 

[Goolpsy]

not really, the further away you are from your target the more effect has things like Wind etc. and its a precision thing... Humans can perfectly well see the target (how could they shoot at them if they couldn't?)

The only thing it does change is the miss chance from "darkness", or rather when that msis chance is. As some beings have "twice as good as human" their safe shooting place are twice the radius.

 

[Bauglir]

So a human can detect the movement of a creature at 1440 feet in daylight. He can probably see that creature further away but can't tell that it's a living thing.

Only at epic levels though. That's a DC 144 spot check at least