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View Full Version : Does darkvision require eyes?


JeenLeen
2016-09-03, 02:13 PM
I know that darkvision, as the racial feature of dwarves, elves, orcs, etc., requires eyes and thus being blinded impacts it negatively.

What about darkvision such as that supplied by a warlock's invocation (the 120 sees in magical darkness and regular darkness), or the darkvision spell?
From a mechanical perspective, I'm wondering how being blinded interacts with magically having darkvision.
From a fluff perspective, I'm envisioning a character (either a boss or PC in an evil campaign) who is a warlock that gouged their eyes out and uses the darkvision invocation to see.

Also, how does the blinded status interact with other senses (true sight, blindsight, tremorsense, etc.--not sure what all is in 5e sense-wise)?
Sigreid
2016-09-03, 02:30 PM
In my campaign I have a NPC oracle whose eyes are clearly blind but you can tell by how she moves that she has a complete and accurate awareness of the environment around her.
Erys
2016-09-03, 02:31 PM
I think if you read the various descriptions of these you will find many need vision (like darkvision, true seeing), and some don't (like tremorsense and blindsight).

I don't think any are written in a way to not be known if they rely on actual vision or not.
Ninja_Prawn
2016-09-03, 03:47 PM
I think if you read the various descriptions of these you will find many need vision (like darkvision, true seeing), and some don't (like tremorsense and blindsight).

I don't think any are written in a way to not be known if they rely on actual vision or not.

The rules don't make it explicit as far as I know, but that's how I'd rule it. Darkvision and true seeing require functioning eyes, tremorsense and blindsight don't.
Bohandas
2016-09-03, 04:12 PM
I think it depends on the specific type of creature. Skeletons, for example, have darkvision, but with many other monsters, especially those with light sensitivity, it seems implicit that damage to the eyes would impede them
EvilAnagram
2016-09-03, 05:52 PM
The Warlocks in the cult controlled by my BBEG all have their eyes sewn shut, but operate as though their Devil's Sight works. I decided that their particular pact allows them only to see an ethereal echo of the material plane, rather than seeing things normally. If my players ever figure this out and figure out how to house it against them, yay for them!