Light, cover, and surfaces

[HappyDaze]

Many discussions going around about light sources, but one that rarely seems to get mentioned is the effect of cover--including that from having somebody standing in front of the light source.

I've seen my group often cast light on the cleric's shield and use it as the sole light source for the group. The cleric is usually near to the center of the group, and often other PCs are between him and opponents. If the cleric were making a ranged attack against the opponents (or if they were making ranged attacks against him), cover would apply. under the same conditions, it seems that some amount of the light should be blocked as well.

Perhaps passing through the (less-than full) cover reduces the lighting from bright to dim or dim to darkness?

I guess this would probably also depend upon the reflective qualities of the surrounding surfaces (i.e., floor, ceiling, and walls) too. In the midst of a large chamber where only the floor is reflecting the light, cover would matter more than a smaller room where the light reaches the walls and ceiling.

[DrKerosene]

I feel like the rules for determining AoE vs cover mostly works fine here.

Anything unobscured by cover within range had the normal bright/dim illumination within range. Anything behind cover and within range can benefit from dim lighting for hiding and such.



Let’s say light is shining from one hallway towards an area with some doors or 4-way intersections.

For ambient/reflecting light around, I suppose I’d allow a secondary dim light area around the unobscured bright light, within the normal AoE of bright light. Maybe reducing that range by half if I rule the surfaces are very poor for reflecting light. I’d probably eventually include some “vanta-black” dungeon surfaces eventually.