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Ridding Elves and Half-Elves of Darkvision
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<blockquote data-quote="epithet" data-source="post: 7531701" data-attributes="member: 6796566"><p>Back in the old days, you had infravision and ultravision representing the ability to see in the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums, respectively. That's no longer how things see in the dark in D&D, and we now have darkvision instead. That means, necessarily, that we have to have a new wavelength added to the electro-arcano-magnetic spectrum, right? This actually makes a fair bit of sense, and solves a few other problems along the way.</p><p></p><p>D&D magic and spellcasting taps into a sort of background radiation that suffuses the worlds, like The Force in some ways. 5th Edition products call this "the weave," though I think it must be more chaotic except in certain extraordinary areas, like ley lines. Darkvision, then, must be an ability to perceive Octarine (the color of magic) along with the normal visible spectrum. Much like the presence of magic suppresses the need for technological innovation and lets the worlds of D&D persist for millenia in a state of flux between iron age and Renaissance levels of development, so too would it influence the evolution of species and provide an option for gods and titans who undertake to shape races of followers. If you need to see in the dark, evolving the ability to see Octarine gives you a big advantage.</p><p></p><p>Clearly, magical radiation doesn't have the same properties as light, which is why darkvision typically only extends to 60 ft. It scatters, bouncing off of itself. The ability of dark elves and others to see up to 120 ft isn't the result of a refinement in the eye, necessarily, but it more likely reflects an advancement in the visual center of the brain that allows a creature to interpret the octarine vista, cutting through the interference and boosting the signal like modern radar equipment compared to older cold war models.</p><p></p><p>Thinking of darkvision as an ability to see in octarine also leads to a better understanding of the ecology of the underdark. In a realm without sunlight, how can life flourish? Simple: arcanosynthesis. Simple is the right word for it, actually, because the power of the background magical radiation is much less than that of sunlight, and therefore the fundamental building block of deepearth food chains is primordial algae, lichens, and maybe ferns that have replaced photosynthesis with an ability to spin sugar out of magic. The weakness of octarine relative to the visible spectrum is why bright light fouls your darkvision, as well.</p><p></p><p>The big problem with seeing in a magical spectrum is that you can now see magical effects and spells, right? Well, not necessarily. Spells don't radiate magical energy, they draw in the magic and hold it to be used or released in other ways. There might be an octarine burst in a fireball, but you're gonna see that fireball in other ways first. You might think then that you would see a spell being cast as a dark spot as it draws in the magic that powers it, but that's like drinking seawater at the bottom of the ocean--you can't darken weave more easily than you can make a dry place below the Nyr Dyv. Possible, sure... but not easy. Anyway, magic doesn't have to obey familiar physical laws, which is why it's called magic. It's behavior as a particle, wave, or medium should remain somewhat mysterious and unintuitive.</p><p></p><p>All that aside, <em>of course</em> dragonborn should have darkvision. That seems like a no-brainer. I also think there is no reason to remove or replace darkvision in elves, because darkvision is a DM's friend. Whenever a party is relying on darkvision, they are limiting themselves to dim light. This makes it much easier to spring hidden things upon them, including traps and ambushes. Dwarves moving through the underdark using darkvision is like humans moving along above ground under a full moon without any other light source, which is to say they're asking for trouble.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="epithet, post: 7531701, member: 6796566"] Back in the old days, you had infravision and ultravision representing the ability to see in the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums, respectively. That's no longer how things see in the dark in D&D, and we now have darkvision instead. That means, necessarily, that we have to have a new wavelength added to the electro-arcano-magnetic spectrum, right? This actually makes a fair bit of sense, and solves a few other problems along the way. D&D magic and spellcasting taps into a sort of background radiation that suffuses the worlds, like The Force in some ways. 5th Edition products call this "the weave," though I think it must be more chaotic except in certain extraordinary areas, like ley lines. Darkvision, then, must be an ability to perceive Octarine (the color of magic) along with the normal visible spectrum. Much like the presence of magic suppresses the need for technological innovation and lets the worlds of D&D persist for millenia in a state of flux between iron age and Renaissance levels of development, so too would it influence the evolution of species and provide an option for gods and titans who undertake to shape races of followers. If you need to see in the dark, evolving the ability to see Octarine gives you a big advantage. Clearly, magical radiation doesn't have the same properties as light, which is why darkvision typically only extends to 60 ft. It scatters, bouncing off of itself. The ability of dark elves and others to see up to 120 ft isn't the result of a refinement in the eye, necessarily, but it more likely reflects an advancement in the visual center of the brain that allows a creature to interpret the octarine vista, cutting through the interference and boosting the signal like modern radar equipment compared to older cold war models. Thinking of darkvision as an ability to see in octarine also leads to a better understanding of the ecology of the underdark. In a realm without sunlight, how can life flourish? Simple: arcanosynthesis. Simple is the right word for it, actually, because the power of the background magical radiation is much less than that of sunlight, and therefore the fundamental building block of deepearth food chains is primordial algae, lichens, and maybe ferns that have replaced photosynthesis with an ability to spin sugar out of magic. The weakness of octarine relative to the visible spectrum is why bright light fouls your darkvision, as well. The big problem with seeing in a magical spectrum is that you can now see magical effects and spells, right? Well, not necessarily. Spells don't radiate magical energy, they draw in the magic and hold it to be used or released in other ways. There might be an octarine burst in a fireball, but you're gonna see that fireball in other ways first. You might think then that you would see a spell being cast as a dark spot as it draws in the magic that powers it, but that's like drinking seawater at the bottom of the ocean--you can't darken weave more easily than you can make a dry place below the Nyr Dyv. Possible, sure... but not easy. Anyway, magic doesn't have to obey familiar physical laws, which is why it's called magic. It's behavior as a particle, wave, or medium should remain somewhat mysterious and unintuitive. All that aside, [I]of course[/I] dragonborn should have darkvision. That seems like a no-brainer. I also think there is no reason to remove or replace darkvision in elves, because darkvision is a DM's friend. Whenever a party is relying on darkvision, they are limiting themselves to dim light. This makes it much easier to spring hidden things upon them, including traps and ambushes. Dwarves moving through the underdark using darkvision is like humans moving along above ground under a full moon without any other light source, which is to say they're asking for trouble. [/QUOTE]
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