Catullus64
2021-03-28, 03:40 PM
So, I went off on a bit of a complaining tangent in somebody else's thread about Darkvision, how much I dislike its current implementation and think it detracts from gameplay. This is meant to be a constructive approach rather than another complaint thread, but I should still sum up my objections to Darkvision as it currently exists in the game, just so you understand my design objectives
Problem #1: Darkvision robs darkness of its tension and drama.
D&D involves a lot of adventuring in dark environments, where danger could lurk in every shadow. Widespread darkvision eliminated a lot of that sense of danger, and sharply divides the darkvision and non-darkvision races in terms of how they experience the adventure environments.
Problem #2: The Stealth-Visibility Dilemma
I think that it's a compelling problem to have to choose whether to use light sources (and therefore attract more attention and make stealth harder) or to creep along in the darkness (making stealth easier at the cost of exploration). As is, Darkvision mostly eliminates that dilemma. This problem is further exacerbated by...
Problem #3: Ubiquity
Six out of the nine races in the player's handbook have darkvision. That ratio gets slightly better when you add in other sourcebooks, but it's still almost an even split. Combined with the above points, it contributes to a feeling that darkvision is less of a useful tool than lack of darkvision is a handicap. The custom lineage rule from Tasha's Cauldron makes this even more of a problem.
So, my aim with this bit of homebrew is to come up with racially-unique features, all still themed in some way around sight or vision, that replace darkvision without distorting the balance too much. To make balancing them easier, I'm going to start by simply making traits for the PHB Darkvision Races: Gnome, Dwarf, Elf/Half-Elf, Tiefling, and Half-Orc.
Darkness does not trouble you, so long as you have the earth to warn and guide you. While you are in contact with a surface made of earth or stone, creatures within 10 feet of you do not gain advantage on attack rolls against you as a result of being unseen by you, and you do not suffer disadvantage on attack rolls against them. You do not gain this benefit against flying or incorporeal creatures.
Far Seeing – Elf/Half-Elf: Your gaze ranges far, allowing you to pick out distant details. You can see up to 1 mile with no difficulty, even making out fine detail as if objects within that distance were no more than 100 feet away. Additionally, dim light doesn’t impose disadvantage on your Wisdom (Perception) checks.
Note: Because of Sunlight Sensitivity, I think I'm fine with Drow retaining normal-Elf Darkvision, and being the only race to have it.
Fondness for crafts and small creatures have left you with a keen ability to examine fine details up close. You have advantage on sight-based Intelligence (Investigation) checks to examine objects within 5 feet of you, and advantage on attack rolls against objects at any range.
You can briefly open up your fiendish senses to see the world beyond. As an action, you gain Truesight out to a range of 30 feet until the end of your next turn. While you have this Truesight, your eyes emit dim light out to that same distance. Once you have used this feature, you cannot use it again until you have finished a short or long rest.
You can carefully pick out heartbeats, breathing, and other sensory cues of nearby living things. As an action, you become aware of the location of living creatures within 60 feet of you, even those behind total cover, until the end of your next turn. This feature does not detect undead, constructs, or creatures that do not need to breathe. Once you have used this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
I may revisit this later, taking a stab at Darkvision replacement features for the non-PHB races, as well as darkvision replacements for class features, but this is all I have time for at the present. Thank you for your feedback.
Problem #1: Darkvision robs darkness of its tension and drama.
D&D involves a lot of adventuring in dark environments, where danger could lurk in every shadow. Widespread darkvision eliminated a lot of that sense of danger, and sharply divides the darkvision and non-darkvision races in terms of how they experience the adventure environments.
Problem #2: The Stealth-Visibility Dilemma
I think that it's a compelling problem to have to choose whether to use light sources (and therefore attract more attention and make stealth harder) or to creep along in the darkness (making stealth easier at the cost of exploration). As is, Darkvision mostly eliminates that dilemma. This problem is further exacerbated by...
Problem #3: Ubiquity
Six out of the nine races in the player's handbook have darkvision. That ratio gets slightly better when you add in other sourcebooks, but it's still almost an even split. Combined with the above points, it contributes to a feeling that darkvision is less of a useful tool than lack of darkvision is a handicap. The custom lineage rule from Tasha's Cauldron makes this even more of a problem.
So, my aim with this bit of homebrew is to come up with racially-unique features, all still themed in some way around sight or vision, that replace darkvision without distorting the balance too much. To make balancing them easier, I'm going to start by simply making traits for the PHB Darkvision Races: Gnome, Dwarf, Elf/Half-Elf, Tiefling, and Half-Orc.
Darkness does not trouble you, so long as you have the earth to warn and guide you. While you are in contact with a surface made of earth or stone, creatures within 10 feet of you do not gain advantage on attack rolls against you as a result of being unseen by you, and you do not suffer disadvantage on attack rolls against them. You do not gain this benefit against flying or incorporeal creatures.
Far Seeing – Elf/Half-Elf: Your gaze ranges far, allowing you to pick out distant details. You can see up to 1 mile with no difficulty, even making out fine detail as if objects within that distance were no more than 100 feet away. Additionally, dim light doesn’t impose disadvantage on your Wisdom (Perception) checks.
Note: Because of Sunlight Sensitivity, I think I'm fine with Drow retaining normal-Elf Darkvision, and being the only race to have it.
Fondness for crafts and small creatures have left you with a keen ability to examine fine details up close. You have advantage on sight-based Intelligence (Investigation) checks to examine objects within 5 feet of you, and advantage on attack rolls against objects at any range.
You can briefly open up your fiendish senses to see the world beyond. As an action, you gain Truesight out to a range of 30 feet until the end of your next turn. While you have this Truesight, your eyes emit dim light out to that same distance. Once you have used this feature, you cannot use it again until you have finished a short or long rest.
You can carefully pick out heartbeats, breathing, and other sensory cues of nearby living things. As an action, you become aware of the location of living creatures within 60 feet of you, even those behind total cover, until the end of your next turn. This feature does not detect undead, constructs, or creatures that do not need to breathe. Once you have used this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
I may revisit this later, taking a stab at Darkvision replacement features for the non-PHB races, as well as darkvision replacements for class features, but this is all I have time for at the present. Thank you for your feedback.