In all the PC race descriptions, the wording of darkvision is:
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of yourself as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
The placement of the "within 60 feet" is quite clearly placed in the middle of the phrase "you can see in dim light ... as if it were bright light". This leaves the ", and in darkness as if it were dim light" as a separate part of the "You can see in..." start to the overall sentence, meaning that seeing in darkness has unlimited range (or at least, not restricted to the 60 ft of "dim as if it were bright").
Within a specified range, a creature with darkvision can see in dim light as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light, so areas of darkness are only lightly obscured as far as that creature is concerned.
Maybe if no range is specified, a creature with darkvision can't see in darkness at all! Or maybe we just use the previously specified range for both dim light and darkness.
In all the PC race descriptions, the wording of darkvision is:
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of yourself as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
The placement of the "within 60 feet" is quite clearly placed in the middle of the phrase "you can see in dim light ... as if it were bright light". This leaves the ", and in darkness as if it were dim light" as a separate part of the "You can see in..." start to the overall sentence, meaning that seeing in darkness has unlimited range (or at least, not restricted to the 60 ft of "dim as if it were bright").
Your rendition of the PC version (I didn't vet it): <Creature> can see in dim light within <distance> as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light."
<Creature> is "You"
<distance> is "60 feet of yourself"
"Monster" version: <Creature> can see in dim light within <distance> as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light.
Parsing aside, i always interpretated the range of Darkvision to be equal for each categories of illumination mentioned.
Me too!
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TL,DR: PHB definition of darkvision - moved this to the top since this fundamental definition of darkvision from the PHB is the basis for all darkvision and makes it clear that both effects are limited by the radius.
The PHB general entry for darkvision p 183 (this entry also appears in the basic rules).
"DARKVISION Many creatures in the worlds of D&D, especially those that dwell underground, have darkvision. Within a specified range, a creature with darkvision can see in dim light as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light, so areas of darkness are only lightly obscured as far as that creature is concerned. However, the creature can't discern color in that darkness, only shades of gray."
This entry also applies the range restriction to both of the benefits of darkvision. In addition, since this is the base PHB entry, it applies to both PC darkvision and that provided by the darkvision spell.
In addition, this is also the entry for darkvision that D&D Beyond should be referencing whenever Darkvision is encountered in the rules rather than the one that refers to monsters.
The bottom line would be that despite the ambiguous phrasing, the intent is that both the benefits of darkvision are limited to the specified radius.
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In addition, the twilight cleric feature uses the following slightly different wording which is consistent with this interpretation while still referring to it as darkvision.
"You can see through the deepest gloom. You have darkvision out to a range of 300 feet. In that radius, you can see in dim light as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light."
The wording of this feature specifies that "Within that radius" the effects of darkvision apply - and it applies to both capabilities.
Based on this wording, I would say that the intent of the darkvision references is that the special vision capabilities only apply within the one radius even if the other phrasing can be interpreted otherwise (which I think is also a valid reading).
"You can see in dim light within 60 feet of yourself as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray."
I've always considered the 60' range to limit both seeing in dim light as if it were bright light AND seeing in darkness as if it were dim light. However, grammatically, I agree that they could be interpreted as two separate and distinct clauses.
"You can see "
"in dim light within 60 feet of yourself as if it were bright light,"
"and in darkness as if it were dim light."
with the range limitation only applying to the first capability. This wording is consistent for both the PC and NPC versions of darkvision EXCEPT for the first sentence.
"A monster with darkvision can see in the dark within a specific radius. The monster can see in dim light within the radius as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. The monster can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. Many creatures that live underground have this special sense."
The first sentence implies that all of the vision effects are limited to the specific radius despite the ambiguous grammar of the second sentence that appears to limit only the first effect.
The quoted wording from the Twilight cleric feature seems to be unambiguous, I'm wondering why they didn't change the wording in the MotM races to the same clear wording.
BTW, our group has always played that the 60 ft applies to both - but the wording of the description isn't necessarily clear on this matter.
In all the PC race descriptions, the wording of darkvision is:
The placement of the "within 60 feet" is quite clearly placed in the middle of the phrase "you can see in dim light ... as if it were bright light". This leaves the ", and in darkness as if it were dim light" as a separate part of the "You can see in..." start to the overall sentence, meaning that seeing in darkness has unlimited range (or at least, not restricted to the 60 ft of "dim as if it were bright").
Note that the wording of the Darkvision spell calls out the monster definition of Darkvision, which is worded differently to the PC version, as seen here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/monsters#Darkvision
Maybe if no range is specified, a creature with darkvision can't see in darkness at all! Or maybe we just use the previously specified range for both dim light and darkness.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Do you have a rules question?
That's not at all true.
They have the same wording.
Parsing aside, i always interpretated the range of Darkvision to be equal for each categories of illumination mentioned.
Me too!
--------------------------------
TL,DR: PHB definition of darkvision - moved this to the top since this fundamental definition of darkvision from the PHB is the basis for all darkvision and makes it clear that both effects are limited by the radius.
The PHB general entry for darkvision p 183 (this entry also appears in the basic rules).
"DARKVISION
Many creatures in the worlds of D&D, especially those that dwell underground, have darkvision. Within a specified range, a creature with darkvision can see in dim light as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light, so areas of darkness are only lightly obscured as far as that creature is concerned. However, the creature can't discern color in that darkness, only shades of gray."
This entry also applies the range restriction to both of the benefits of darkvision. In addition, since this is the base PHB entry, it applies to both PC darkvision and that provided by the darkvision spell.
In addition, this is also the entry for darkvision that D&D Beyond should be referencing whenever Darkvision is encountered in the rules rather than the one that refers to monsters.
The bottom line would be that despite the ambiguous phrasing, the intent is that both the benefits of darkvision are limited to the specified radius.
-------------
In addition, the twilight cleric feature uses the following slightly different wording which is consistent with this interpretation while still referring to it as darkvision.
"You can see through the deepest gloom. You have darkvision out to a range of 300 feet. In that radius, you can see in dim light as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light."
The wording of this feature specifies that "Within that radius" the effects of darkvision apply - and it applies to both capabilities.
Based on this wording, I would say that the intent of the darkvision references is that the special vision capabilities only apply within the one radius even if the other phrasing can be interpreted otherwise (which I think is also a valid reading).
"You can see in dim light within 60 feet of yourself as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray."
I've always considered the 60' range to limit both seeing in dim light as if it were bright light AND seeing in darkness as if it were dim light. However, grammatically, I agree that they could be interpreted as two separate and distinct clauses.
"You can see "
"in dim light within 60 feet of yourself as if it were bright light,"
"and in darkness as if it were dim light."
with the range limitation only applying to the first capability. This wording is consistent for both the PC and NPC versions of darkvision EXCEPT for the first sentence.
"A monster with darkvision can see in the dark within a specific radius. The monster can see in dim light within the radius as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. The monster can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. Many creatures that live underground have this special sense."
The first sentence implies that all of the vision effects are limited to the specific radius despite the ambiguous grammar of the second sentence that appears to limit only the first effect.
When in doubt, just look at your character sheet. It tells you the range of your darkvision.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
The quoted wording from the Twilight cleric feature seems to be unambiguous, I'm wondering why they didn't change the wording in the MotM races to the same clear wording.
BTW, our group has always played that the 60 ft applies to both - but the wording of the description isn't necessarily clear on this matter.
Although clarification might be useful, until it is provided, the rules we have can easily be parsed as David42 and quindraco pointed out.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
This seems almost familiar to me.