Micah Sweet
Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
They put them on weapons too.
D&D General Wearing a lantern on your belt?
- Thread starter Distracted DM
- Start date
Hey if one of my players' PC wanted to tie a torch onto their sword, I'd let them.
Last time I checked flashlights do not get hot enough to burn and don't typically spill burning oil. On the other hand a common magical item with continual flame can be yours now for the low, low price of just 100 GP at your local Fantastic Fred's, only a few left in stock so hurry on down!
It is an investment for generation though.Last time I checked flashlights do not get hot enough to burn and don't typically spill burning oil. On the other hand a common magical item with continual flame can be yours now for the low, low price of just 100 GP at your local Fantastic Fred's, only a few left in stock so hurry on down!
CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing (He/They)
It doesn't even need to be more expensive. A fire beetle in a jar might cost the same as a regular lantern.Last time I checked flashlights do not get hot enough to burn and don't typically spill burning oil. On the other hand a common magical item with continual flame can be yours now for the low, low price of just 100 GP at your local Fantastic Fred's, only a few left in stock so hurry on down!
Paul Farquhar
Legend
Get a magic elven sword, and play a goblin. That way it would glow all the time.Hey if one of my players' PC wanted to tie a torch onto their sword, I'd let them.
Even ignoring the problems of tech level... The funny thing to me is that people keep showing examples of specialized light sources used by trained individuals to prove a lantern on a belt could work, but those same examples are the ones that I would use to show that it wouldn't.
"The exception that proves the rule" is often misquoted, but this is the rare case where it can be used in its standard capacity. If you have to find a specialized tool to show an example, it's proof that the general, common, standard lantern that's available in the normal Equipment list (or a normal D&D shop) won't work that way. You need a special item. And in most versions of D&D, it makes more sense for that item to be magical than try and hand wave away half a millenia of technological advancement as a rounding error.
Often forgotten rule: in 3e, 30% of all magic weapons gave off light as if from the spell, with no way to turn it off.
"The exception that proves the rule" is often misquoted, but this is the rare case where it can be used in its standard capacity. If you have to find a specialized tool to show an example, it's proof that the general, common, standard lantern that's available in the normal Equipment list (or a normal D&D shop) won't work that way. You need a special item. And in most versions of D&D, it makes more sense for that item to be magical than try and hand wave away half a millenia of technological advancement as a rounding error.
Often forgotten rule: in 3e, 30% of all magic weapons gave off light as if from the spell, with no way to turn it off.
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CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing (He/They)
From what I can tell, folks who are opposed to this idea fall into two camps.
One camp rejects it for practical or simulationist reasons: it's a fire hazard, it's not very reliable, your own body will block half the light, etc. Lanterns on the belt are a bad idea because you'd burn yourself all the time, possibly seriously, and for little benefit. (This is my camp.)
The other camp rejects it for gameist reasons: darkness is an environmental hazard that the character(s) must overcome, and overcoming it should carry a cost, and that cost is usually a free hand or a cantrip. Lanterns on the belt are a bad idea because they allow you to acquire a light source without paying the game's "cost."
Is that about the shape of it?
One camp rejects it for practical or simulationist reasons: it's a fire hazard, it's not very reliable, your own body will block half the light, etc. Lanterns on the belt are a bad idea because you'd burn yourself all the time, possibly seriously, and for little benefit. (This is my camp.)
The other camp rejects it for gameist reasons: darkness is an environmental hazard that the character(s) must overcome, and overcoming it should carry a cost, and that cost is usually a free hand or a cantrip. Lanterns on the belt are a bad idea because they allow you to acquire a light source without paying the game's "cost."
Is that about the shape of it?
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