Dealing with darkvision.

[Throne12]

So no matter how I tell my players they keep using darkvision wrong. Then complain when I tell them they cant see something cause it out of there range or it to dim and have to make a roll and with disadvantage.


So I was thinking that at my next game I'm taking darkvision from every race but the under dark classes. Drow, duragar, deeley gnome.

Have anyone done this if so how has it gone.

[Millstone85]

Those are races, not classes.

And well, darkvision is far too common anyway, so it is not a bad idea.

[Throne12]

Those are races, not classes.

And well, darkvision is far too common anyway, so it is not a bad idea.

Lol thanks for that catch.

[Coffee_Dragon]

If I did this I would resurrect Low-Light Vision for predominantly surface-dwelling races, and keep true Darkvision for dwarves and Underdark races. The difference mainly being that LLV doesn't do anything if there's no light whatsoever. However, I don't know that this would solve your actual problem. Was it your intention that nobody should ever take the Underdark races, so that you won't have to ever deal with Darkvision on PCs, and so it won't matter that your players cannot accept/retain the rules for it?

[nickl_2000]

If these are players who have been around for awhile you may hear some grumbling, but they would get used to it.

Are you planning on adding anything into the races with darkvision to counteract the slight power loss?

[RSP]

So no matter how I tell my players they keep using darkvision wrong. Then complain when I tell them they cant see something cause it out of there range or it to dim and have to make a roll and with disadvantage.


So I was thinking that at my next game I'm taking darkvision from every race but the under dark classes. Drow, duragar, deeley gnome.

Have anyone done this if so how has it gone.

I don’t think you’re adequately solving your problem. Do you use a grid, or just theatre of the mind? I’d take some time showing them that Darkvision, same as any AoE (like spells), only works to such a distance, using grid squares to demonstrate how it works. “When standing here, you can see this far in the dark” and show the distance with the rest of the sheet colorred in (or, have grid paper with a dungeon drawn out and use black construction paper with the grid equivalent of 60’ cut out and track the cut out area over the map, showing how Darkvision only ever shows that distance).

Then describe how Darkvision works in relation to dim light and dark. That is, dim light becomes like a well lit area, but dark on let becones dim. You point out the example of the Warlock invocation Devil’s Sight to show an ability that makes dark like well lit and show the difference between the two. Explain that even the underdark races use torches or other light sources to read and not be a Disadvantage in dim light, and only rely on Darkvision when needing to be stealthy.

Changing the rules in your next campaign, rather than explaining them now, doesn’t help you in this campaign and will probably just cause more issues in the next one.

[Man_Over_Game]

That's fair advice. One of the reasons the Variant Human is considered "balanced" is because of the fact that it doesn't have Darkvision. Additionally, options like the Gloom Stalker Ranger, Assassin Rogue and the Devil's Sight Warlock Invocation are dramatically changed with this change in vision.

Just tell your players Darkvision is an aura that lets them see around them. They can't see past that aura.

Alternatively, have more penalties for not being in the light. Make enemies that cause psychic damage when you can see them in the dark (when you see them in their "true" form) because of how grotesque they are. Bugs that are weak to light but eat everything they can. Offer more incentives for players to rely on light.

[ad_hoc]

Darkvision is a ribbon. It's there because it is a D&Dism.

It's fine to just remove it.

[CrunchyCHEEZIT]

mechanically, I always thought darkvision was just the equivalent of a character having their own personal something-ft torch that only they can see through, so i don't know what the confusion was with your players. did they just think that they could still perfectly see things beyond their range because ?????

[Man_Over_Game]

mechanically, I always thought darkvision was just the equivalent of a character having their own personal something-ft torch that only they can see through, so i don't know what the confusion was with your players. did they just think that they could still perfectly see things beyond their range because ?????

A lot of people assume that Darkvision = seeing in pitch black like it was dim lighting. What you're describing is accurate.

[ChildofLuthic]

The rules around darkvision are so poorly understood that in my game I just make sure there's a light source nearby. It doesn't help that I have 2 Vumans in my game so I would have to deal with half of them having weird limited sight and half of them not being able to see at all. I'm going to bring it up pretty soon, but it seems like an added layer of complexity that I'd have to think about.

[DarkKnightJin]

I'm not sure why they are having trouble understanding it.. If you have Darkvision, your eyes are adept at taking in less light, giving you a fairly rudimentary view of the surrounding area while in darkness. And giving you no trouble at all if there's a candle burning, letting you perceive colors from the reflected light.

Then again, I made an Aasimar Barbearian that picked Eagle at 6th level. And I still insisted on bringing a torch everytime we went into something with dim light at best. Mostly because he was pretending to be a Human, but still.