D&D General Is it dark in your underdark adventures?

[cavetroll]

Not necessary just talking about Forgotten realms.

Are there any light sources in "general" for the regions not otherwise lit by torches/lanters

Does anything emanate light or is it pitch black and your party needs infravision or a light source?

If someone has a torch up, do you force them to figure out if they are still going to hold the torch during a fight?

Or do you handwave darkness as not an interesting part of the game?

 

[James Gasik]

Phosphorescent fungi, creatures with bioluminescence, strange rocks that emit visible (but not usually harmful) radiation. Caverns lit by artificial suns in order to grow surface crops deep beneath the earth. Given that darkvision has limited range, I don't presume that the inhabitant of the Underdark regions would want to navigate totally in darkness, as that would limit travel speeds from place to place (and in 5e, also impose disadvantage on Perception, which nobody wants).

While darkness and forcing players to deal with being unable to see very far is an effective tool for taking them off guard and building up an atmosphere of suspense, I've found keeping track of what can be seen and what can't be seen from turn to turn as players move about to be pretty obnoxious, so other than insisting players have some light source, I tend to be fairly gentle with how I use it, mostly to obscure distant things from view (but I also have enemies use light sources once combat begins because obviously, darkvision or no, they have to deal with the same problems).

 

[Yora]

In my campaigns, underground spaces are completely pitch black. And with very few exceptions, nobody bothers to have any lights burning in spaces that are currently unoccupied. NPCs who require lanterns or torches carry them with them, or put up some lights in the rooms they are staying in, but empty rooms and corridors have no light.
Cave systems might have glowing funguses or insects in them that provide some illumination, but those are typically restricted only to one or perhaps a few connected rooms.

 

[Seramus]

I've always been a fan of the Avernus / Escape from Exile games, which means vast caverns with phosphorescent fungi. Not enough to brightly illuminate the entire cavern, but to make networks of dimly lit areas that contrast sharply with the nooks and crannies that are frighteningly terribly dark. The fungi always takes curious fractal or spider like shapes as well, like you can almost read some kind of pattern within it.

Alright, I might also be a fan of Uzumaki by Junji Ito.

 

[Li Shenron]

Are there any light sources in "general" for the regions not otherwise lit by torches/lanters

There are absolutely artificial light sources in the underdark wherever there are humanoid creatures. Because every creature native to the underdark can see in the dark but only up to a short range. If the area is large enough, they want to have light sources around such as wall torches so that they can see also beyond their own range. They probably also see better in some light anyway when searching for something.

Does anything emanate light or is it pitch black and your party needs infravision or a light source?

I've seen glowing fungi or similar mentioned in many adventures but they're not everywhere so you pretty much need your own way to see in the dark if you want to survive.

If someone has a torch up, do you force them to figure out if they are still going to hold the torch during a fight?

Coming from old-school D&D as my first RPG experience long ago, the idea that your "free hands" are a limited resource that should be managed and tracked somewhat accurately is one of the earliest that got imprinted on me

However I don't go too hard with it on my players, mostly because 5e accidentally botched this option by having that "one object free interaction" rule which sounds reasonable but effectively rules out many levels of accuracy that some groups might actually like.

I would have preferred a rather simpler, less ambiguous default: choose what you wield in each hand and stick with it during a fight. And then let the DM allow changing objects as she sees fit.

 

[aco175]

We tend to handwave most, but not all of the darkness. Recent parties have been blended in terms of how many have or have not darkvision so there tends to be a torch or lantern lit. I guess I could hit them with attacks where some of the bad guys look to knock out the light rather than hit the PCs. The threat of disadvantage on attacks would make goblins more scary. Then there are light spells cast all the time on arrows and rocks that can be thrown into the room so we tend to just go with a lot of it.

Eventually monitoring light becomes less at mid levels since most of my magic weapons emit light on command. Still does not stop monsters from farther away from seeing them or smelling the torches at lower levels. The noise of plate armor more than cancels the light aspects in the darkness. That is another thing that does not get the attention it deserves.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Are there any light sources in "general" for the regions not otherwise lit by torches/lanters

Yes, but these are rare (phosphorescent moss, glowing crystals, etc.) and typically only provide dim light in a small (maybe 10 feet) radius--but sometimes they might be stronger.

Does anything emanate light or is it pitch black and your party needs infravision or a light source?

As mentioned, mostly pitch black. So, PCs need a light source (torch, lantern, continual flame). Hooded lanterns are the most popular with the ability to reduce or expand the light available.

If someone has a torch up, do you force them to figure out if they are still going to hold the torch during a fight?

Oh yes! It means not having a shield so it is a big hinderance to the PC holding it. If they are a caster, they can't have a weapon in their other hand while holding a light source if they want to cast spells with somatic components (without War Caster feat anyway).

Or do you handwave darkness as not an interesting part of the game?

Never. Darkness is one of the thematic elements that is great for creating atmosphere and tension. Not being able to see what lies beyond your light source creates the unknown and personally I feel it pity for DMs who ignore this powerful tool.

We played yesterday and it makes for a significant issue when the PCs were moving through a goblin lair.

Now, I should clarify house-rules:

1. Nearly all PC races with darkvision no longer have it. I did a poll a while ago because something like half of more of the PC races have darkvision, which is ridiculous IMO.

D&D 5E - Too Many PC Races With Darkvision? (a Poll)

According to my quick run of PC races I know of (I am sure I might have missed some...), more than half of all PC races get darkvision. IMO, this is a shame because darkness is one of the greatest elements for creating mystery and suspense, etc. For exploration, it is also a key component. And...

www.enworld.org

So, for PHB races, we now have Dragonborn (60'), Tiefling (60'), Half-Orc (30'). Elves have shadowsight (dim light is bright, doesn't help in darkness) (60') and Half-Elves have 30'. All subraces with superior darkvision keep it.

2. Dancing Lights and Lights are 1st level spells, not cantrips. No more infinite light sources (short of continual flame, which at 50 gp represents hundreds of days (or nights) worth of light, but finding ruby dust to cast it is controlled by the DM (well, usually me... ). Again, using a hooded lantern for the continue flame is commonly used. We have had PCs put it on weapons (quarterstaffs with a leather cover you could place or remove as needed) or swords (so light would be available when the weapon is drawn), allowing them to carry their weapon and light source.

 

[cavetroll]

1. Nearly all PC races with darkvision no longer have it. I did a poll a while ago because something like half of more of the PC races have darkvision, which is ridiculous IMO.

D&D 5E - Too Many PC Races With Darkvision? (a Poll)

According to my quick run of PC races I know of (I am sure I might have missed some...), more than half of all PC races get darkvision. IMO, this is a shame because darkness is one of the greatest elements for creating mystery and suspense, etc. For exploration, it is also a key component. And...

www.enworld.org

So, for PHB races, we now have Dragonborn (60'), Tiefling (60'), Half-Orc (30'). Elves have shadowsight (dim light is bright, doesn't help in darkness) (60') and Half-Elves have 30'. All subraces with superior darkvision keep it.

Right, thats a great poll which aligns with my thought of giving darkvision to nobody except creatures or races that specifically live underground.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I've stolen some things from the wonderous Veins of the Earth guide where light is rare and used a as currency to trade between the different races. Luminous bugs or shrooms, lichens, shards of weird artifacts, flickering soul-flame of a dead adventurer, etc are all necessary to venture into the depths.

Of course, basic torches and cantrips can do the trick sometimes, but the mysterious underdark contains other dangers than the normal darkness. Fumes from torches may choke the characters in tight tunnels, gas pockets are plentiful enough that using fire is not always a a good idea. Howling Caverns where the winds are strong, may snuff normal torches.

Sometimes even the darkness feel alive, working more or less like a Darkness spells or a Maddening Darkness spells covering the whole region. Also, lighting a single torch in a dark space is a good way to become the target of weird insects such as Stone-plagued Stirges, Angler Spiders, Seer Worms and other nasties.

This kinda answer the question has to why Drow cities living under a stupidly rigid cast system can even work without crumbling unto itself: because out-there is even worse.

You dont live in the Underdark, you survive.

 

[iserith]

I make it so dark that even darkvision is half as effective except for denizens of the Underdark. So dark that cantrips that create light lack the magical power to work at all in the face of the oppressive darkness.

The monsters hate and fear the light. For some of them, it hinders them or does them damage. Often a torch is all that is keeping a slavering horde of unseen monstrosities outside the radius of your torch from tearing you apart. Don't let it go out!

Those monsters brave enough to step into the light cast by your torch try to snuff it out at all costs. Hold onto it tightly, protect it, and bring many with you.

That's the Underdark of my games.