D&D 5E Light Emanating from an Invisible Character

[darjr]

As an aside, I think animate objects is better for this situation. It won’t give away the invisible creatures position. At 7th level it’ll have 16 independent little flying buggers with blindsight that do 1d4+4 and operate on their own.


Then, if hiding isn’t working, I’d also have it cast crown of stars.

 

[Esker]

As an aside, I think animate objects is better for this situation. It won’t give away the invisible creatures position. At 7th level it’ll have 16 independent little flying buggers with blindsight that do 1d4+4 and operate on their own.


Then, if hiding isn’t working, I’d also have it cast crown of stars.

Yeah, but that's concentration, so not compatible with greater invis

 

[Charlaquin]

As folks have been saying, I think the most intuitive solution is that the creature is invisible, but the light is not. I would rule that other creatures can easily pinpoint the invisible creature’s location, so it does not qualify to be able to hide, and it can be directly targeted by attacks. However, attacks against the invisible creature would still have disadvantage.

 

[Esker]

Yeah, but that's concentration, so not compatible with greater invis

Hopefully my players aren't reading this, but my plan is to have the bbeg (a Slaad Bard) teleport into the corner not too far from where the PCs are, go invisible, project an illusory duplicate across the room to draw them that way, then hit them from behind. I might just use Animate Objects anyway and drop invisibility though: the room is full of glass shards and body parts of slain guard creatures. It's a pretty entertaining visual to have a wall of glass and disembodied limbs protect the BBEG.

 

[darjr]

Yeah, but that's concentration, so not compatible with greater invis

Ope! Yea. No go.

 

[jgsugden]

It is magic, so to a large extent, anything not explicit in the rules is up to the DM.

In my game, a creature that is invisible, but not hidden, is easy to locate - roughly. They're still concealed so attacks against them have disadvantage, but unless they are focused on hiding, they give away their position through a variety of clues (sounds, etc...) A creature generating light can't hide, generally, so enemies will know where they are when they are invisible.

However, knowing where they are, roughly, will not reveal their exact shape, reveal their appearance, or make it easy to attack them. While you may be able to locate them, you can't see them for purposes of spells that require you to see a target (magic missile, for example, requires you to see the target).

That approach works very well.

 

[Lanefan]

My simple rule is this: no light comes out.

This means an invisible person at night or in a dark passage can't light his-her own way by carrying a light source, which has led to some interesting logistical issues in the past.

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.

Actually only one direction. Light always goes "in" to someone invisible, otherwise that person would be blind.

But light doesn't come out. By the same logic that says a staff carried by an invisible person is itself invisible, a torch carried by an invisible person is also invisible (though the smoke it generates is not), as is a continual-light stone or a glowing longsword even if uncovered or unsheathed.

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.

Absolutely right. The stars are detached from the invisible person and thus would be visible. An Ioun Stone orbiting around the caster's head would similarly be visible until-unless the caster grabbed it.

 

[ad_hoc]

Faerie Fire is a good example of an invisible creature emanating light.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

As an aside, I think animate objects is better for this situation. It won’t give away the invisible creatures position. At 7th level it’ll have 16 independent little flying buggers with blindsight that do 1d4+4 and operate on their own.


Then, if hiding isn’t working, I’d also have it cast crown of stars.

Yeah, but that's concentration, so not compatible with greater invis

Unless someone else in the party cast the greater invisibility on the PC who then casts crown...

 

[Coroc]

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?
....

Pretty transparent

Light does cancel darkness in some cases, it does not cancel invisibility. I would rule that the illumination of the area would not be traceable also shadows would not apply and give away the invisible creature.

Edit: ok so the stars are seperate? like dancing lights? yea maybe then it would give away the position eventually.