D&D 5E Light Emanating from an Invisible Character

[Esker]

I'm planning out tactics for a boss fight my group just started at the end of our last session, and trying to figure out how to think about what should happen if a creature who is invisible is also shedding light. In my specific case, the creature would hypothetically have Greater Invisibility up and then cast Crown of Stars, a side effect of which is shedding bright light. How would that look? Would the light give away the creature's location (assuming a successful hide check) despite the invisibility? Would it make a difference if Crown of Stars were cast before Greater Invisibility?

And then I got to thinking about variations on this: What if a creature without darkvision is in the dark holding a torch and then goes invisible? If the light becomes invisible too, can the creature still see? Can their allies who were depending on that torch? If the creature can see because of the torch light, is their location deducible because of the light even if they roll high on stealth?

 

[DND_Reborn]

Interesting. Well, of course each person will have their own solution, but my take is this:

If the source of light, such as a light stone, is held openly by an invisible creature, the light is seen. If the stone was closed within the creature's hand, it would not be seen. Given the spell in question, Crown of Stars, I would say the light would definitely be seen. Now, you might allow a hood to cover them? I don't know, that depends too much on how the table envisions the spell working.

Hiding with such a spot-light (sorry for the pun) on a creature would probably have those looking for the creature getting advantage on their checks to notice.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Wow, that's an age-old question. IIRC, back in the day, the line was that the light was still shed, but the source could not be located - much like a light spell cast into the air.

 

[Rabbitbait]

If light is invisible then it can't be seen, therefore is not light at all.

Therefore either the light can be seen so the source can also be seen, or the light can't be seen so unless you have darkvision or another source of light you are in the dark. I'd let the player decide which they prefer and then that is canon.

 

[MarkB]

The invisible creature sheds light, but still can't be seen. If they're the only source of illumination, a smart creature can deduce their position as being the centre of the circle of illumination, or the spot of floor that's most brightly lit.

 

[Blue]

I don't think there is a definitive answer. The way I run it is that light is still shed, and if someone makes an attempt to locate the source - say looking at shadows for two things that are far apart and figuring where it had to be from there - then the square the invisible character is in will be known.

 

[Oofta]

I rule that a caster with a light source still shows a a glowing light emanating from nowhere because the illusion just makes it so that you can't see the target. There's no reason to think the caster is in a bubble that stops light in either direction.

In this case since the illusion just stops people from seeing the caster and anything they are holding the stars are visible. The caster is not holding the stars in the crown, they orbit around his head and are visible.

 

[aco175]

I would rule that you give off light, the light is still seen by everyone else. If you have light radiating off you, you should not cast greater invisibility since you may be invisible, but you would have an outline of light still giving your location to others. Sometimes in the search for an advantage, you just need to say no.

If the invisible PC is holding a torch it would look like a ball of light floating along. I'm not sure if I would take away the disadvantage to attack the PC, but as a minimum the attacker would have -2 to hit. I can see where you could fool the attacker and they would still have disadvantage to hit you, but it is not quite the same as being totally invisible.

 

[darjr]

By a strict reading of the rules the invisible creature is still completely invisible. The stars are not.

So people can easily guess what square the invisible character is in, always, while the stars are there.

They still can not see them. So spells that require seeing the target won’t work and attackers have disadvantage to hit and the creature has advantage to hit.

Also while the invisible creature can try and hide, the stars will be a dead giveaway to what square/squares the creature is in.

 

[darjr]

On the question of a torch held by a creature that casts greatest invisibility or invisibility, the torch becomes invisible.

However nothing is blocking the light from the torch. Invisibility doesn’t do that. So the light from the torch still works and lights up the area around it. You just cant see the torch.

Game wise i’d give advantage to try and guess where the invisible creature is if it was hidden, but that’s up to the DM imho.