Candle and Lowlight Vision [Archive] - Wizards Community

Candle and Lowlight Vision [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
dorpond
11-26-07, 11:51 AM I have been playing D&D for the longest time but believe it or not, my players have never used candles.

First the facts:
-Candle: A candle dimly illuminates a 5-foot radius and burns for 1 hour.

-Characters with low-light vision have eyes that are so sensitive to light that they can see twice as far as normal in dim light. Low-light vision is color vision. A spellcaster with low-light vision can read a scroll as long as even the tiniest candle flame is next to her as a source of light.

Characters with low-light vision can see outdoors on a moonlit night as well as they can during the day.

Now for the question:
Does a character with Low Light Vision see a candle as 10' shadowy or 5' bright? More importantly, is there anything official on this?
DiceGolem
11-26-07, 12:24 PM A candle does not provide bright illumination, only shadowy illumination.

So, that's 10 ft. shadowy illumination.
dorpond
11-26-07, 02:07 PM Yeah, I would have to agree with you although I always thought of a humans shadowy light being bright light to elves.
Amaril
11-26-07, 04:24 PM I was always under the impression that lowlight meant double bright light and shadowy illumination. Thus a candle would be 10' bright/10' shadowy.
dorpond
11-26-07, 04:49 PM But a candle is 5' shadowy only so with your logic wouldn't it be 10' shadowy, Amaril? Where does the bright light come from - unless you are saying that shadowy light is bright light to an Elf..
Amaril
11-26-07, 04:54 PM Gah! I forgot about the shadowy illumination only description of the candle. So if it were a torch or sunrod, it would be double bright and shadowy, correct?
DiceGolem
11-27-07, 08:53 AM That's right.

So a torch (20 ft. bright / 40 ft. shadowy) is 40 ft. bright / 80 ft. shadowy to someone with the standard low-light vision. Even better are the creatures, like dragons, that have low-light vision at greater than double!
Keenath
11-27-07, 09:33 AM Since it also says an elf can read by the smallest candle flame, I would tend to (house-) rule that a candle produces 5' of bright light and 5' of shadow, for an elf.

This tends to be logical -- if you have a torch that produces 20' bright and 20' shadowy, an elf would see 40' of bright light -- the shadow becomes bright -- and 40' shadow where humans would see only darkness.
dorpond
11-27-07, 11:51 AM Since it also says an elf can read by the smallest candle flame, I would tend to (house-) rule that a candle produces 5' of bright light and 5' of shadow, for an elf.

This tends to be logical -- if you have a torch that produces 20' bright and 20' shadowy, an elf would see 40' of bright light -- the shadow becomes bright -- and 40' shadow where humans would see only darkness.

And that makes a lot of sense too.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
dorpond 11-26-07, 11:51 AM	I have been playing D&D for the longest time but believe it or not, my players have never used candles. First the facts: -Candle: A candle dimly illuminates a 5-foot radius and burns for 1 hour. -Characters with low-light vision have eyes that are so sensitive to light that they can see twice as far as normal in dim light. Low-light vision is color vision. A spellcaster with low-light vision can read a scroll as long as even the tiniest candle flame is next to her as a source of light. Characters with low-light vision can see outdoors on a moonlit night as well as they can during the day. Now for the question: Does a character with Low Light Vision see a candle as 10' shadowy or 5' bright? More importantly, is there anything official on this?
DiceGolem 11-26-07, 12:24 PM	A candle does not provide bright illumination, only shadowy illumination. So, that's 10 ft. shadowy illumination.
dorpond 11-26-07, 02:07 PM	Yeah, I would have to agree with you although I always thought of a humans shadowy light being bright light to elves.
Amaril 11-26-07, 04:24 PM	I was always under the impression that lowlight meant double bright light and shadowy illumination. Thus a candle would be 10' bright/10' shadowy.
dorpond 11-26-07, 04:49 PM	But a candle is 5' shadowy only so with your logic wouldn't it be 10' shadowy, Amaril? Where does the bright light come from - unless you are saying that shadowy light is bright light to an Elf..
Amaril 11-26-07, 04:54 PM	Gah! I forgot about the shadowy illumination only description of the candle. So if it were a torch or sunrod, it would be double bright and shadowy, correct?
DiceGolem 11-27-07, 08:53 AM	That's right. So a torch (20 ft. bright / 40 ft. shadowy) is 40 ft. bright / 80 ft. shadowy to someone with the standard low-light vision. Even better are the creatures, like dragons, that have low-light vision at greater than double!
Keenath 11-27-07, 09:33 AM	Since it also says an elf can read by the smallest candle flame, I would tend to (house-) rule that a candle produces 5' of bright light and 5' of shadow, for an elf. This tends to be logical -- if you have a torch that produces 20' bright and 20' shadowy, an elf would see 40' of bright light -- the shadow becomes bright -- and 40' shadow where humans would see only darkness.
dorpond 11-27-07, 11:51 AM	Since it also says an elf can read by the smallest candle flame, I would tend to (house-) rule that a candle produces 5' of bright light and 5' of shadow, for an elf. This tends to be logical -- if you have a torch that produces 20' bright and 20' shadowy, an elf would see 40' of bright light -- the shadow becomes bright -- and 40' shadow where humans would see only darkness. And that makes a lot of sense too.