Duke of Urrel
2019-07-23, 07:10 PM
Can you read in shadowy illumination? Why or why not?
I am following the general rule that when in doubt, we should assume that physics works the same in D&D as in the real world. So if light is so dim that our attacks against a creature are 20% likely to miss, we may assume that this light is dim enough to make reading difficult or even impossible. On the other hand, a text doesn't try to dodge when you read it, so maybe dim light doesn't make reading any harder.
I am thinking about the possibility of reading by the shadowy light of the Darkness spell, of reading 30 feet away from a torch if you are a human, or of reading 60 feet away from a torch if you are an elf. Can you do it, or is shadowy illumination too dim for you to read by?
If you come across Explosive Runes but only the shadowy light of the Darkness spell falls upon them, can you try to read them and trigger the explosion? Or are the Explosive Runes impossible to read in light this dim, so that you are protected?
Does it matter how big the text is? For example, if you have only the light of the Darkness spell to read by, can you complete a spell by reading the text of a magic scroll, which is probably written in very big runes? Using only the light of the Darkness spell, can you prepare a spell by studying a spelltext in your spellbook, which is probably written in much smaller runes?
What do you think?
I am following the general rule that when in doubt, we should assume that physics works the same in D&D as in the real world. So if light is so dim that our attacks against a creature are 20% likely to miss, we may assume that this light is dim enough to make reading difficult or even impossible. On the other hand, a text doesn't try to dodge when you read it, so maybe dim light doesn't make reading any harder.
I am thinking about the possibility of reading by the shadowy light of the Darkness spell, of reading 30 feet away from a torch if you are a human, or of reading 60 feet away from a torch if you are an elf. Can you do it, or is shadowy illumination too dim for you to read by?
If you come across Explosive Runes but only the shadowy light of the Darkness spell falls upon them, can you try to read them and trigger the explosion? Or are the Explosive Runes impossible to read in light this dim, so that you are protected?
Does it matter how big the text is? For example, if you have only the light of the Darkness spell to read by, can you complete a spell by reading the text of a magic scroll, which is probably written in very big runes? Using only the light of the Darkness spell, can you prepare a spell by studying a spelltext in your spellbook, which is probably written in much smaller runes?
What do you think?