Personally, my issue with darkvision is that WotC gave it out too freely so that it feels more like you're penalized for taking a race that doesn't have it rather than getting a bonus for taking a race that does.
I like that so many races have darkvision, because then darkness isn't a concern in many D&D adventures. The characters already have plenty of other stuff to worry about, so it's nice to remove darkness from the equation.
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Brains over brawn? Mind over matter? These canny warriors rightly answer, "Why not both?" - Tasha
A hooded lantern is a wonderful item for the party (member) that wants to switch between a bright radius of light and a 10-ft radius of dim light (and vice versa) with a single action. And it can be worn on a backpack or belt. Beats a torch big time, and can be hooded and hidden around a corner to avoid alerting enemies to your presence.
Then whenever you want to be stealthy, you would have to leave that human or halfling behind, or they could come and have difficulty functioning. What if initiative starts while the hood is up? The character without darkvision would lose one turn, as they have to use their action to open up the lantern.
In combat, the light will prevent many rogues from hiding.
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Brains over brawn? Mind over matter? These canny warriors rightly answer, "Why not both?" - Tasha
Darkness is not "I can't see", at least not necessarily. Usually there's at least enough light in darkness for characters without Darkvision to move about without walking into walls or whatever. It's mostly when combat is engaged that it becomes really important that everyone can see, and unless one or more PCs rely on darkness to get an advantage it's perfectly ok to light a torch or fire off a Light spell at that point. Darkvision isn't necessary at all, not for everyone anyway. It's pretty good to have a few characters with it, particularly ones that do scouting and the like, but PCs without are not a burden or liability.
Exactly! In combat, not having darkvision in darkness is a serious hindrance. It means you are blinded according to RAW. Plus, you won't be able to carry a light source around while in combat, as you need your hands for other things (arcane foci, spell components, weapons, shields, etc). It also means you would HAVE to spend a cantrip slot on light. Well, light is a great spell to have either way, because some monsters have Light Sensitivity. The main issue is you would be making it harder for the rogue to hide when you have to always have a light source active.
Assuming optional rules, a rogue can sit there and just bonus action Aim to get constant always on sneak attack via range attacks. Or they can just stand next to an enemy that has a threatening target/ally near them.
Not every combat is going to be in a dark cave.
In short, I just don't agree that it's as debilitating as you do because both the PCs and the enemies are going to utilize light sources at my tables. Darkvision has its purposes but to be adventuring in perfect total darkness all the time is just silly.
Many creatures that live underground have darkvision, and as a result won't need light sources. Their lairs might be plunged into darkness as a result. It's not just underground. At night wihtout a full moon, the entire surface is darkness (if you aren't in a city or town).
Steady Aim is an optional rule. What if your DM doesn't allow it? Also, think about Gloom Stalkers. They need to be in complete darkness to be invisible, so a nessasary light source would make it difficult for them.
Many creatures that live underground have darkvision, and as a result won't need light sources. Their lairs might be plunged into darkness as a result. It's not just underground. At night wihtout a full moon, the entire surface is darkness (if you aren't in a city or town).
Steady Aim is an optional rule. What if your DM doesn't allow it? Also, think about Gloom Stalkers. They need to be in complete darkness to be invisible, so a nessasary light source would make it difficult for them.
Any creature intelligent enough to create light is going to do it most of the time, darkvision or not. Sitting in darkness will give penalties to detect intruders and will make it generally hard to see. How many people in modern times would sit around in dim lighting all the time (losing track of time and not noticing the lighting degrade doesn't count) even though you can arguably still see everything and it's more energy efficient.
When I was in the army we would sit around waiting for the enemy all the time in total darkness.
If you sit still, you know where things are. You can see silhouettes of people approaching even if you can't see their faces. And it freaks the heck out of them when you say, "Hi." from total darkness, sometimes using their name because you can tell who it is.
I know my RL experience isn't enshrined in RAW, but being in total darkness at night isn't as if you are totally blind.
Of course, when the moon is out and you're in a field, it is more like the description of darkvision. You can't tell colors very well, but you can tell the difference between shapes and textures of things. To describe it as disadvantage on perception for sight is pretty accurate.
It is also amazing how well you can hear when you sit quietly at night. I could tell the difference between a diesel pickup truck and a diesel delivery truck from a hundred yards.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
A hooded lantern is a wonderful item for the party (member) that wants to switch between a bright radius of light and a 10-ft radius of dim light (and vice versa) with a single action. And it can be worn on a backpack or belt. Beats a torch big time, and can be hooded and hidden around a corner to avoid alerting enemies to your presence.
Then whenever you want to be stealthy, you would have to leave that human or halfling behind, or they could come and have difficulty functioning. What if initiative starts while the hood is up? The character without darkvision would lose one turn, as they have to use their action to open up the lantern.
In combat, the light will prevent many rogues from hiding.
The human/halfling/dragonborn/otherracewithoutdarkvisionsincetheyexisttoo can be the one holding the hooded lantern, staying slightly behind a bend so someone else can stealth ahead. And again, the hooded lantern has 10ft radius of dim light, beyond which is darkness, where the Rogue can hide (or, like, in light but behind something that provides cover? That often exists, and a Rogue would want to note such hiding spots anyway.) A personal dim light source doesn't prevent the human/halfling/etc. from making a melee attack against an enemy that they know is there, and will be able to see and attack without disadvantage when they're within melee range.
And then yeah, depending on the situation, of course they could use an action to unhood the lantern, and take away some advantage from the enemies with darkvision. It's nice to be able to take that option if it seems warranted. Sure beats being otherwise left behind by the party who could well get into a major battle where the "useless" party member would've made a difference in numbers.
(Speaking as someone who's played a Gnome Rogue that used said hooded lanterns.)
Darkness is not "I can't see", at least not necessarily. Usually there's at least enough light in darkness for characters without Darkvision to move about without walking into walls or whatever. It's mostly when combat is engaged that it becomes really important that everyone can see, and unless one or more PCs rely on darkness to get an advantage it's perfectly ok to light a torch or fire off a Light spell at that point. Darkvision isn't necessary at all, not for everyone anyway. It's pretty good to have a few characters with it, particularly ones that do scouting and the like, but PCs without are not a burden or liability.
Exactly! In combat, not having darkvision in darkness is a serious hindrance. It means you are blinded according to RAW. Plus, you won't be able to carry a light source around while in combat, as you need your hands for other things (arcane foci, spell components, weapons, shields, etc). It also means you would HAVE to spend a cantrip slot on light. Well, light is a great spell to have either way, because some monsters have Light Sensitivity. The main issue is you would be making it harder for the rogue to hide when you have to always have a light source active.
Assuming optional rules, a rogue can sit there and just bonus action Aim to get constant always on sneak attack via range attacks. Or they can just stand next to an enemy that has a threatening target/ally near them.
Not every combat is going to be in a dark cave.
In short, I just don't agree that it's as debilitating as you do because both the PCs and the enemies are going to utilize light sources at my tables. Darkvision has its purposes but to be adventuring in perfect total darkness all the time is just silly.
Many creatures that live underground have darkvision, and as a result won't need light sources. Their lairs might be plunged into darkness as a result. It's not just underground. At night wihtout a full moon, the entire surface is darkness (if you aren't in a city or town).
Steady Aim is an optional rule. What if your DM doesn't allow it? Also, think about Gloom Stalkers. They need to be in complete darkness to be invisible, so a nessasary light source would make it difficult for them.
Again, we just play different games. Magical light or torches are used in every single one of my games, and it doesn't pose issues. Sure, ambushes happen sometimes because of light but you know what? D&D has combat. So be it, let's roll the click clacks.
IF I were playing/dming a game with gloom stalkers, sure, now we have an edge case where the one subclass that gets invisibility in darkness exists, but considering rangers are one of the least played classes? It's just that, an edge case.
A hooded lantern is a wonderful item for the party (member) that wants to switch between a bright radius of light and a 10-ft radius of dim light (and vice versa) with a single action. And it can be worn on a backpack or belt. Beats a torch big time, and can be hooded and hidden around a corner to avoid alerting enemies to your presence.
Then whenever you want to be stealthy, you would have to leave that human or halfling behind, or they could come and have difficulty functioning. What if initiative starts while the hood is up? The character without darkvision would lose one turn, as they have to use their action to open up the lantern.
In combat, the light will prevent many rogues from hiding.
Generally speaking it doesn't matter if the rogue hides or not. Halfling rogues in full bright light can hide behind the party if needed.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
If you aren't trying to be sneaky, Control Flames is probably your best low to mid level option, as it makes a hooded lantern as bright as daylight. At high levels you can probably afford to just burn spell slots on daylight.
A hooded lantern is a wonderful item for the party (member) that wants to switch between a bright radius of light and a 10-ft radius of dim light (and vice versa) with a single action. And it can be worn on a backpack or belt. Beats a torch big time, and can be hooded and hidden around a corner to avoid alerting enemies to your presence.
Then whenever you want to be stealthy, you would have to leave that human or halfling behind, or they could come and have difficulty functioning. What if initiative starts while the hood is up? The character without darkvision would lose one turn, as they have to use their action to open up the lantern.
In combat, the light will prevent many rogues from hiding.
Generally speaking it doesn't matter if the rogue hides or not. Halfling rogues in full bright light can hide behind the party if needed.
And now I'm reminded of the 3.5 rogue builds of a character who was so stealthy they could hide behind themselves.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Then whenever you want to be stealthy, you would have to leave that human or halfling behind, or they could come and have difficulty functioning.
The same goes for any non-stealthy character. Are you taking the DEX 10 paladin in heavy armor on your sneaky scouting trip because they have Darkvision and won't need a lantern, even though they'll be heard coming from a mile away?
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I like that so many races have darkvision, because then darkness isn't a concern in many D&D adventures. The characters already have plenty of other stuff to worry about, so it's nice to remove darkness from the equation.
Brains over brawn? Mind over matter? These canny warriors rightly answer, "Why not both?" - Tasha
My Homebrews: Monsters, Magic Items, Spells, Races
Rhulg- Hobgoblin Gunsmith
Then whenever you want to be stealthy, you would have to leave that human or halfling behind, or they could come and have difficulty functioning. What if initiative starts while the hood is up? The character without darkvision would lose one turn, as they have to use their action to open up the lantern.
In combat, the light will prevent many rogues from hiding.
Brains over brawn? Mind over matter? These canny warriors rightly answer, "Why not both?" - Tasha
My Homebrews: Monsters, Magic Items, Spells, Races
Rhulg- Hobgoblin Gunsmith
Many creatures that live underground have darkvision, and as a result won't need light sources. Their lairs might be plunged into darkness as a result. It's not just underground. At night wihtout a full moon, the entire surface is darkness (if you aren't in a city or town).
Steady Aim is an optional rule. What if your DM doesn't allow it? Also, think about Gloom Stalkers. They need to be in complete darkness to be invisible, so a nessasary light source would make it difficult for them.
Brains over brawn? Mind over matter? These canny warriors rightly answer, "Why not both?" - Tasha
My Homebrews: Monsters, Magic Items, Spells, Races
Rhulg- Hobgoblin Gunsmith
Any creature intelligent enough to create light is going to do it most of the time, darkvision or not. Sitting in darkness will give penalties to detect intruders and will make it generally hard to see. How many people in modern times would sit around in dim lighting all the time (losing track of time and not noticing the lighting degrade doesn't count) even though you can arguably still see everything and it's more energy efficient.
When I was in the army we would sit around waiting for the enemy all the time in total darkness.
If you sit still, you know where things are. You can see silhouettes of people approaching even if you can't see their faces. And it freaks the heck out of them when you say, "Hi." from total darkness, sometimes using their name because you can tell who it is.
I know my RL experience isn't enshrined in RAW, but being in total darkness at night isn't as if you are totally blind.
Of course, when the moon is out and you're in a field, it is more like the description of darkvision. You can't tell colors very well, but you can tell the difference between shapes and textures of things. To describe it as disadvantage on perception for sight is pretty accurate.
It is also amazing how well you can hear when you sit quietly at night. I could tell the difference between a diesel pickup truck and a diesel delivery truck from a hundred yards.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
The human/halfling/dragonborn/otherracewithoutdarkvisionsincetheyexisttoo can be the one holding the hooded lantern, staying slightly behind a bend so someone else can stealth ahead. And again, the hooded lantern has 10ft radius of dim light, beyond which is darkness, where the Rogue can hide (or, like, in light but behind something that provides cover? That often exists, and a Rogue would want to note such hiding spots anyway.) A personal dim light source doesn't prevent the human/halfling/etc. from making a melee attack against an enemy that they know is there, and will be able to see and attack without disadvantage when they're within melee range.
And then yeah, depending on the situation, of course they could use an action to unhood the lantern, and take away some advantage from the enemies with darkvision. It's nice to be able to take that option if it seems warranted. Sure beats being otherwise left behind by the party who could well get into a major battle where the "useless" party member would've made a difference in numbers.
(Speaking as someone who's played a Gnome Rogue that used said hooded lanterns.)
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
Again, we just play different games. Magical light or torches are used in every single one of my games, and it doesn't pose issues. Sure, ambushes happen sometimes because of light but you know what? D&D has combat. So be it, let's roll the click clacks.
IF I were playing/dming a game with gloom stalkers, sure, now we have an edge case where the one subclass that gets invisibility in darkness exists, but considering rangers are one of the least played classes? It's just that, an edge case.
Generally speaking it doesn't matter if the rogue hides or not. Halfling rogues in full bright light can hide behind the party if needed.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
If you aren't trying to be sneaky, Control Flames is probably your best low to mid level option, as it makes a hooded lantern as bright as daylight. At high levels you can probably afford to just burn spell slots on daylight.
And now I'm reminded of the 3.5 rogue builds of a character who was so stealthy they could hide behind themselves.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
The same goes for any non-stealthy character. Are you taking the DEX 10 paladin in heavy armor on your sneaky scouting trip because they have Darkvision and won't need a lantern, even though they'll be heard coming from a mile away?
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].