D&D General Wearing a lantern on your belt?

[Distracted DM]

OK so I've tussled with this a bit as a GM, I've gone back and forth... lanterns: Wear them on your belt, yes or no? Is it RAW (assume 5e or 5e-derivative such as A5E or ToV)? Is there anything supporting or denying it? Is it stupid and dangerous so no, it's not an option (because you'd have to assign some pain in the arse penalty to keep track of like On Crits It Breaks And You Get Set On Fire)?

This means, from what I can tell, that as soon as the party can afford a lantern that lighting becomes a non-issue (as it sort of is already with plentiful light cantrips etc).

This had come up previously in my games, and at first I was thinking ?Dark Souls? yeah it's fine, wear it on your belt... and then I realized that it wouldn't be too practical for a few reasons, and further minimizes light management.

Finally, the party got a Lantern of Revealing.. OK so now, hands-free, the person with the lantern has near-infinite invisibility-revealing (still needs oil, reveals in their area) and it doesn't even take a hand if you allow it on the belt.

 

[sevenbastard]

Magic lantern maybe, but oil burning lantern no way.

 

[Deset Gled]

A lantern on your belt? Only if you want to take constant fire damage ... in your pants.

Just cast Light. It's a cantrip (frankly, illumination is too cheap in 5e, but that's another discussion).

 

[Koloth]

The basic oil lantern is very hot. If the character insists, apply a point of fire damage every so often. Also, the thing will be bouncing around with each step so the shadows caused by the character's body will be constantly jumping about. Probably enough to give the critters hiding in shadows a bonus on surprising the party due to the near constant motion. Bonus issue: assuming the standard D&D type oil lantern is similar to the classic western type kerosene lantern, the adjustment knob is nearly perfectly placed to be often bumped with each step. Take a few steps and it gets really bright and hot. A few more and things go dark.

 

[Tessarael]

Fine for a magic lantern, which is why I voted yes. No for a standard lantern.

 

[Charlaquin]

Lantern on belt is a sure way to burn your legs.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I gotta agree with the general consensus: It's entirely impractical. You'd burn yourself AND knock it around with every step.

 

[Hussar]

Gotta admit, this is a new one to me. I've never had a player even suggest this one.

Yeah, no. Lantern on belt is a no-no. It just wouldn't work.

 

[MNblockhead]

I'm willing to allow anachronistic head-worn, hands-free lighting, especially with fantasy cultures known for engineering and mining. But worn on a belt, backpack, or chest gear, I'm inclined to rule against that. While it is perhaps not entirely out of the realm of possibility, especially in a fantasy setting, there is a reason that humans world wide never seemed to do this. I mean there have been some amazing innovations like the Edo-era Japanese gyroscopic lantern (Gando), which had a gimbal to keep the candle upright, shrouded to project light forward. It allowed illumination of objects while keeping the user’s face hidden, similar to a flashlight.

There are medieval manuscripts that show lanterns mounted on poles, which I suppose could be fastened as a wearable. But that would still be cumbersome and hazardous, which is why they are also depicted with the poles being held by hand.

In bog-standard modern D&D I don't much see the point as light is made trivial with magic and with how common dark vision is.

I run WFRP in which many places in the setting are more Renaissance-level tech than medieval. Mining helmets with candles or special lantern helmets exist, but are not common outside of specific use cases (mining). It is just more practical to carry candles and lanterns.

If it is really something a player is into and if they come up with an idea that doesn't totally break immersion in the setting, and have the skills, and resources to invent something, I'd try to find a way to make it work. There was a time when I was an annoying GM who enforced reality-based rules on torches (short lifespans, choking fumes and smoke in poorly ventilated and confined spaces, etc.), but in most fantasy games most players just hand-wave that away. If I can hand-wave the common use of torches in fantasy games and accept magic, I don't see why I should poop on the possibility of some ingenious, wearable, fantasy lantern.

 

[Horwath]

Yes, if "light" spell is cast in it. For better radius.

No, if regular oil lantern
Maybe, if it's some kind of solid fuel, like candle

Yes, if used out of combat, for lockpicking, searching or similar. No sudden movements.

Just use lantern shield: