Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 KaliRA73 May 17, 2015 16:21:06	I know this is a weird question but I have been running Phandelver for my friends and, without sharing any spoilers, there are caves and places that are goblin homes. I know that they have 60 feet of dark vision but would they still have torches, candles and whatnot in  their dens or would it be complete darkness? Darkvision only allows creatures to see in black and white. So wouldn't you at least have some light so that you could see "normally" in your own home?
#2 Proletheus May 17, 2015 16:45:35	KaliRA73 wrote:
#3 rampant May 17, 2015 18:22:40	It depends, for goblins and such such personal lighitng may well represent a luxury, or somethign reserved for those who need to read/use colors extensively. Cook fires and maybe central bonfires may well be the primary source of light for your average goblin. Candles especially would be difficult to produce underground without a rothe heard or something.
#4 Nevvur May 17, 2015 18:56:10	Goblins habitues in my setting typically have interior light sources, but much fewer than a settlement of similar density among non-darkivision races.    Having darkvision just means you treat darkness as being dimly lit. I don't move briskly through a dimly lit area in real life, because I might catch my toe on the edge of a rug, or brush up against the projecting corner of an item on a coffee table. My pace isn't significanlty slowed, but it's an inconvenience if I need to be moving back and forth, so I'm going to keep some areas brightly lit depending on their frequency of use.   Similarly, I think common thru-ways and gathering places in goblin settlements would have light sources spaced out to prevent too many bruised shins and stubbed toes. The maximum light density would be tangential or slightly overlapping zones of dim light (i.e. a torch about every 40 feet).  However, individual 'houses' probably use little or no light. Further, if the settlement comes under attack, they extinguish all light sources except where they want light-reliant creatures to go, for the purpose of ambush.    That's just how I run goblins. You may find as many behavioral nuances as you'll find DMs, and none of them are wrong.
#5 MechaPilot May 17, 2015 19:32:54	Due to the way that darkvision is worded I think that humanoids with darkvision will use torches, but they will use them at a distance.  Having a torch on your person will not extend your visual range if you have darkvision.  However, if you put that torch at a distance, you will be able to see 1) the full range of your darkvision, and 2) an 80 foot radius illuminated spot in the distance.
#6 lawrencehoy May 17, 2015 21:47:09	Nevvur wrote:
#7 Nevvur May 17, 2015 23:42:31	Ya, I spotted that after MechaPilot's post and was going to go back and edit it, but was 'meh.' My point was made. =P
#8 Torg_Smith May 18, 2015 5:15:40	I would have Goblin caves dark. I think of goblins as stupid beasts that don’t spend their afternoons perusing literary works. Darkvision covers all the stuff they need to do.
#9 Mecheon May 18, 2015 5:23:05	Goblins grow glowing fungi, of course. As do Myconids and various other Underdark races   Torches need relighting. Glowing fungi just keeps on glowing
#10 SirGrotius May 18, 2015 6:59:50	I may be biased against Goblins, but I don't envision them appreciating colors beyond black & white, so torchlight is a boon and candles should be reserved for shamans only, and maybe chieftans (although they are unsuare as to why they should have them).
#11 Razintarr May 18, 2015 7:22:44	I used the goblin cave from the Phandelver for my own campaign. It still was a hideout in hostile lands, and for that reason the goblins didn't use torches. They needed to take as much advantage of their darkvision as they could. The short corridors and the traps the goblins set worked better with darkness. There were no campfires in the descriptions and I didn't add them. It kinda makes sense, since the cave has a stream flowing through it and is probably very moist. Also it doesn't have any airvents mentioned. The goblins are probably cooking their food outside.    In other conditions the goblins would use torches. In a goblin city like shown in The Hobbit, spreadout torches allow guards to have a good view over the entire place. That place is also big enough to have campfires for heat and cooking.
#12 MrHotter May 18, 2015 9:33:40	I have the goblins use dim light from glowing bugs, embers, or glowing fungus. They may accidentaly get bright light if they have a cooking fire.    I save complete darkness for things that don't use technology like animals or undead.
#13 MechaPilot May 18, 2015 20:19:09	lawrencehoy wrote:
#14 MechaPilot May 18, 2015 20:21:14	SirGrotius wrote:
#15 Mecheon May 19, 2015 1:09:17	MechaPilot wrote:
#16 MechaPilot May 19, 2015 19:30:07	Mecheon wrote:
#17 SirAntoine May 19, 2015 19:37:21	Goblins would love torches, campfires, braziers, and anything else with fire.  They usually keep fires burning in many of my dungeons, the larger pyres, the greater the status of the tribe.  In terms of vision, if darkvision only sees black and white, that would be another big reason they would use fire light to see by; however, when they plan to fight, they often want to sneak up on their enemies, so torches would seldom be used when they're on patrol or hunting on the backs of their worgs.
#18 Rya.Reisender May 20, 2015 4:25:43	In Lost Mine of Phandelver, Goblins don't carry light sources with them for sure. The campaign is fairly specific in that they don't (see below). I also think that goblins prefer dark places. Not to mention how extremely complicated it gets for the DM to determine cover and being unseen when you have so many light sources.   Warning: Lost Mine of Phandelver Spoiler   - Cragmaw Hideout only has two light sources described: The fire pit in Klarg's Cave and the cooking fire in the Goblin Den - The module specifically says that all regions in the cave are completely dark, unless specified otherwise - Check the "Steep Passage" as example, it says there is a goblin on the bridge which is about 20ft away, it says only characters with darkvision or a light source have a chance to spot him; if he was to carry any lightsource with him, even without light source and darkvision he would be clearly visible to all characters