(Poll) Usage of Low-Light Vision

[Oompa]

In every game i make Low-Light takes part..

I have the houserule that every bright light source will be followed with 2 squares of dim light and than total darkness...

We use Maptools for the maps and i can incorporate dim light easy. Bright Light has a whitish colour and dimlight a purplish colour, so everyone knows that when standing in the purple light incorporates a -2 to attack unless you have low light vision..

If i was to use a battlemat i would ignore it probably..

 

[Nytmare]

In every game i make Low-Light takes part..

Yeah, but without that houserule (which is one I've been arguing with myself about implementing), how frequently would it come up?

 

[Oompa]

Almost never.. i implemented the houserule cause it was easy to add the dim light in the VTT... On a battlemat i would be harder and than i wouldnt bother with it cause it would slow down a lot if used with bright light sources..

In a moonlit area it would be easy to say everything is dimlight..

 

[Shin Okada]

Low-Light was useful, especially for casters and archers, in 3.5e.
There were many encounters started in long range. And there were attacks and spells which can attack something 100+ squares. away.

Now, in 4e only archers can attack something more than 20 squares away. And most warriors are not even proficient in bows. DMG says typical encounter distance should be somewhere around 10 squares.

And sunrod sheds bright light up to 20 squares.

So I rarely see someone with low-light vision gains some benefit from this ability.

Darkvison, on the other hand, still has some potential. Someone with darkvision and good stealth may scout ahead without using any light source.

Still, scouting ahead is very dangerous. Most 4e encounters are assuming that all the party members are there to fight.

 

[Doctor Proctor]

Was this errata that I missed?

No, but the DM let him have Darkvision per the MM monster stat block, even though the one in the back for NPC's uses Normal vision. So they have Darkvision in our game...not like it matters much though.

 

[keterys]

In every game i make Low-Light takes part..

Are they just not using sunrods, though? Cause even if I houseruled it so that X bright meant X dim before darkness, I think it would still just be 'you can see everything cause of sunrods, move along' except in one of my parties.

 

[Zinovia]

I house-ruled sunrods down to the same as a lantern (10 squares IIRC) because they were just flat-out better than everything else otherwise.

Low-light vision does come into play some of the time. Right now the party's favorite trick when being sneaky is to use the Darklight ritual from the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, which I gave them awhile back. It makes a light source only they can see, although it's only 5 squares. I need to adjudicate that one pretty carefully - probably more than I have been.

The rogue wants something that grants darkvision, and asked about the Cannith goggles which I believe are from an Eberron article in Dragon.

Cannith Goggles
These goggles enhance your vision and can be empowered by magic to improve your vision even more.
Level: 1
Price: 360 gp
Item Slot: Head

Property: You gain a +2 item bonus to Perception checks.

Power (Daily): Minor action. Expend an arcane encounter or daily power to use this power. You gain darkvision until the end of the encounter or for 5 minutes if you expended an encounter power or until the end of your next extended rest if you expended a daily power.
First published in Dragon Magazine 365.

I said no because it's:
A) from Dragon, and we all know that much of what is published there isn't balanced properly.
B) From Eberron, and I am not allowing anything from that setting right now.
C) Completely broken because it makes all-day darkvision the equivalent of a level 1 daily power, and adds +2 to perception on top of that. As a level 1 item. Ya right.

 

[Oompa]

Are they just not using sunrods, though? Cause even if I houseruled it so that X bright meant X dim before darkness, I think it would still just be 'you can see everything cause of sunrods, move along' except in one of my parties.

They use sunrods but i use large open spaces.. and sometimes they don't use a sunrod but a torch or something..