D&D General Wearing a lantern on your belt?

[plisnithus8]

Depends on what kind of game your group is playing. If it veers toward simulationist (where the group cares about rations and encumbrance), then no -- if heroic fantasy, sure.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

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.

So, no. Lanterns are big, bulky, they can break and leak oil and they get hot. If you wear a shield, it will get in the way. Hire a torchbearer or hold it.

Continual Flame can be cast on any item. As a player, as soon as I can afford it, I spend money on a custom built "clip" that can clip on a sword or shield. The clip has a small opening with a shutter and, inside, my character will pay someone to cast continual flame on the small object inside the clip. Then it can be clipped on a belt, helmet, shield or weapon and can be opened and closed to turn it on and off.

Most DMs are okay with that and let me pay 25-100gp for the custom item plus the 25gp (or 50?) cost of continual flame.

 

[Reynard]

There is so much that is either nonsensical or anachronistic in D&D, I don't see how a belt lantern is any worse than any of the rest of it.
But I do question what the point of tracking light is at all if one is going to make it that easy to overcome darkness. Why require lanterns if you are going to let them be on the belt? What is even the point?

 

[AlViking]

Lol yeah, the lantern shield was "real" and no one has any real idea of its practical purpose afaik, because it looks like something you'd get from a knife shop in a mall :'D
I think it just goes to show that everyone gets crazy ideas now and again, and the results might not be ... useful.

Some people think it may have been used for patrolling city streets at night but never for actual combat. I can't imagine trying to maneuver and block blows with something that could spill oil everywhere before setting yourself on fire would be particularly popular.

 

[AlViking]

One thing that people always forget about darkvision is that it's dim light only and disadvantage on perception checks. In addition you don't see color, just shades of gray so details can easily be missed. If you want your players to care about light, there are options.

 

[Umbran]

Never mind the heat, having this large, glass thing on your belt while you wander around sounds like an incredibly awkward thing.

Like, go to the sporting goods store, and hang a Coleman lantern from your belt, and see how that works for you as you walk around...

 

[GMMichael]

I might be reading the question wrong, but I allow PCs to do whatever they want. And suffer the consequences.

Sure, but the player will have to make occasional saving throws to avoid his pants being set aflame.

Unless the wizard (which doesn't seem to exist anymore) is wearing the belted lantern, there's going to be some armor between the lantern and the pants. And that armor will feel nice and roasty.

Didn't 3e have a mace weapon with a lantern on the end that dealt extra fire damage?

I think 3e had all the weapons. But I can see a gnomish invention like this.

 

[Stormonu]

I wonder if attached to a backplate (metal plate with leather cover) might help mitigate some of the heat, and the lantern would probably be more candle-sized. It'd definitely be a masterwork-style item. Variant might be to use a non-oil substitute - fireflies, fire beetle glands or other quasi-mystical components (remember sun rods?). Another option might be to suspend a flexible pole over the shoulder from which the lamp drapes and supplies light.

I suppose it depends on how "fantasy" you're willing to allow things to go, and if it fits your campaign world.

 

[Mistwell]

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.

Weirdly, though this has been a topic that goes back to 1e AD&D, both you and the YouTuber Pack Tactics mention this issue this week.

The truth is, people in our world hung lanterns on belts sometimes. It just makes sense to keep your hands free. This is a Flemish miner from 1906 using a lantern on his belt.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Weirdly, though this has been a topic that goes back to 1e AD&D, both you and the YouTuber Pack Tactics mention this issue this week.

The truth is, people in our world hung lanterns on belts sometimes. It just makes sense to keep your hands free. This is a Flemish miner from 1906 using a lantern on his belt.
View attachment 410881

You need to check what type of lamp it is. That looks like a carbide lamp, or possibly gas (methane). It's not an oil lamp. Oil produces a lot more excess heat and smoke.