Illumination
- Thread starter pukunui
- Start date
Lucas Blackstone
Explorer
I don't have a problem with sunrods really. I do agree with people that it is odd that light doesn't have a dim range outside of the bright range but have come to the conclusion that they simply have rolled them into one for most cases. So instead of saying a torch has 3 squares of bright and 2 squares of dim they made it all bright, which makes things easier with bookkeeping.
Just be sure to compare them to other light sources; I doubt anybody's going to spend 50 gp on the top-of-the-line sunrod when they can get a nonmagical lantern for 7 gp. The lantern has the same illumination and runs for 8 hours on a pint of oil. Unless oil is really expensive(I was unable to find prices for it), the lantern's the better deal by far.
I do assume that the sunrod's advantage of being unable to accidently set things on fire is balanced by its disadvanatage of being unable to intentionally set things on fire. If you don't feel those balance, then altering expenses to reflect that is quite reasonable.
I considered that. But the sunrod is easier to drop without consequence, easier to light up when needed, and easier to carry. I honestly don't want them running around with a bundle of sunrods like they did in 3.x until they could cast continual flame, at which point it all becomes a moot point. If they want to use lanterns because they are cheaper, more power to them. They'll be sacrificing one hand to do it, and it's not quite the insta-light source the sunrod is. I *want* them to use torches and lanterns. I want the Wizard's Light cantrip to see use. I want to make sunrods a sub-optimal option, not the mainstay. And most importantly, I don't want any single light source which provides bright light up a 200 foot diameter area.
Sounds like you're all set, then.
Lucas Blackstone
Explorer
Try to remember that the game is based around a number of assumptions, one of these being that the sunrod exists and works as it is listed in the PHB. I'm not saying D&D isn't fun without sunrods, just that darkness and other poor illumination conditions can become much more difficult to deal with then originally intended and in some cases encounters should probably be modified to reflect changes to light sources.
So it breaks the game to take away the sunrod? I wonder what would happen if I made water sparse in my world, or had flying ships, or if people rode giant pteradactyls instead of horses.
I realize taking away the daylight rod will have some effect on the game, but it's really just campaign flavor. Someone running a Ravenloft campaign may decide no light sources give more than 5 square bright illumination. Some may give shadowy illumination beyond that (yeah, I know we're talking house rules here). But it would establish a creepier setting right from the top.
The Sunrod
I said when I got started with 4th that I wasn't going to change anything until we'd given it a good long play through unless it was absolutely necessary and the 20 square sunrod was damn damn tempting. It is just so, well, stupid.
Then it occured to me that it is actually a terrible thing to carry around. Walking around with one of those lit outside is going to give away your position for miles. Imagine if soldiers in Vietnam walked around the jungle with 100 feet of light radiating off them. I consider this item to be a bane. Lighting one up outside is just asking to get ambushed at every turn and in a dungeon you are going to have an almost impossible time gaining surprise on your foes.
There are plenty of good times to use one, but carrying one around everywhere you go is an unbelievably bad plan.
I said when I got started with 4th that I wasn't going to change anything until we'd given it a good long play through unless it was absolutely necessary and the 20 square sunrod was damn damn tempting. It is just so, well, stupid.
Then it occured to me that it is actually a terrible thing to carry around. Walking around with one of those lit outside is going to give away your position for miles. Imagine if soldiers in Vietnam walked around the jungle with 100 feet of light radiating off them. I consider this item to be a bane. Lighting one up outside is just asking to get ambushed at every turn and in a dungeon you are going to have an almost impossible time gaining surprise on your foes.
There are plenty of good times to use one, but carrying one around everywhere you go is an unbelievably bad plan.
erik_the_guy
First Post
No one cares about illumination. You tell the DM if you have a torch or sunrod or what and he tells you what you see. I don't know anyone that has ever consulted rulebooks for this. I think Wizards new this when they made the book and that's why the rules on it are so brief.
