Hi All,
I'm loving the new edition of dnd but am a little disapointed that 5 out of the 8 races have darkvision and there was only one type of darkvision.
So I'm thinking of adding Elven Vision for elves and half elves, maybe gnomes and call it Fae Vision.
Fae Vision: You can see in dim light as if it was normal light and can see in colour.
OR
Fae Vison: You can see in dim moonlight as if it was normal light and can see in colour.
This would have a standard range of 300 feet of which half elves get get half. I chose this distance because long bows have 150 foot range. This has both story and game mechnics ideas behind it. Elves are creatures of the night and love singing and plucking daiseys under moonlight. Darkvision would not give them this sense that the moonlit forest is a daeutiful place to work and play in. It would also give them a reason to be out at night where they won't be disturbed by as many creatures (ie, humans). Game mechanic wise, they could use a bow perfectly normally at 150' which would give them a tactical advantage on their home turf but leave them at a disadvantage in a dungeon.
I too have been considering adding "Lowlight" as a weaker version of Darkvision. I would also have it work only to negate dim light (albeit in full color). Having no effect on full darkness.
Any race with which I reduce their Darkvision into Lowlight (like elves, for example), I will simply double the range. So elves will get Lowlight 120 ft.
Mostly only underground creatures will retain full Darkvision (like dwarves). Also, iconic things like certain undead and dragons, etc. But a lot of surface-dwelling creatures who would be good at seeing at night will switch to Lowlight.
Haven't thoroughly mulled it over yet. Still in its infancy as a house rule idea.
If either of you enact this in a game, let me know how it goes. I've been trying to decide if I want to mix things up or not. Part of me wants to just play the RAW game to start, before I tinker, but part of me thinks it'd be easier to START with these kinds of house rules in place, rather than try to implement them somewhere down the road.
I think too many creatures have darkvision. It only makes sense for something that never uses any light and spent all its existance evolving in total, or near-total, darkness. A few only underground monsters. Umber hulks, Aboleths, cave fishers, etc. That's it. Low light makes sense for everything else, including Drow, Dwarves, Goblins, etc.
Also, anything with darkvision, would be blinded by light (ie: have disadvantage). So...use that light cantrip on its gear, or anything near it. 
Besides, humans (and everything else with 'normal vision') are at disadvantage in low light and total darkness. From a simulationist point of view, carrying torches, lights, etc. in dungeons would make you stand out for an ambush 100% of the time. That gets unfair for PC's really quickly.
In 3e/3.5e/PF every other monster had darkvision...and none were hindered in sunlight. It was rediculous.
As far as undead go, they should have something called 'life sense', ie: they can 'see' living things in a 60-120 foot radius.
Personally, I don't have an issue with it, but as a grognard, I mentally replace "Darkvision" with "Infravision"
Damn, beaten to the infravision statement. Infact I'm disappointed that it wasn't put back in as infravision.
Moirdryd2 wrote:
seti wrote:
I think the decision to make it all "dark vision" was an attempt to simplify things a good deal. Instead of worrying about what sort of 'see in the dark' ability a creature has, you can just think of the 'see in the dark' flag as either on or off.
Besides... there are some creatures where... well....
Take Goblins for example.
For whatever reason we only get one entry and description of goblins. Why? Well.... they aren't standard PC races who were heroes in LotR so they don't get subraces or opposing alignment versions.
But we could have whitish-gray skinned guys who have lived for a hundred generations 500 feet below the ground in absolute darkness and scurry about down there, looking like some sort of albino half-reptillian monstrousities that eat fungus and swarm any wanderers and eat them too. And we would call those things 'goblins'.
Or we could have green-skinned little barbarians living out in the middle of the deep, deep forest who ride around in the backs of wolves and bears, shoot things with little crudely crafted bows or stab them with spears and they ambush travelers and rob them as little brigand bands which means.... while they might hunt at night, they are mostly active during the day. And we would call those things 'goblins' too.
But we only get one entry for 'Goblins', so what sort of vision would they have?
It doesn't matter if one is a Drow or a High Elf, if part of your concept is that you can see in the dark-- that's enough.
But things like Umber Hulks and Aboleths that just don't rely on sight at all? Well, obviously some other rules involving 'seeing without seeing' are needed to cover those sorts of things.
Personally I think way way too many creatures are given Dark Vision. I would like to see it as a rare ability.
Darkvision may have been a throwback to TSR era D&D where elves, Dwarves etc could see in the dark. It might matter if they reprint some of the Dragonlance novells for example so the novel descritions match up with the game rules.
Its a nice bonus as well since racial powers are a no no and Humans were the best race in 3.5 and 2nd class citizens in 4E.
I've decided and have implemented Fae Vision in my game now. Elves and Forest Gnomes are getting the full range and Half Elves are get (!!) half range.
I might add it to other Ferie type monsters and NPC's as I find them.
Fae Vison: You can see in dim moonlight as if it was normal light and can see in colour to a range of 300', in other low light you can see to 150'.
Yeah, one of the house rules I'm making is bringing back low-light vision and taking Darkvision away from a whole bunch of things, including non-Drow Elves.