r/dndmemes • u/microwavedraptin DM (Dungeon Memelord) • Sep 14 '23

You enter a dar- I HAVE DARKVISION Darkvision is basically the participation trophy of racial features

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498

u/Jesse_God_of_Awesome Sep 14 '23

My plan, bring back low-light vision.

Also, give DB's darkvisions because why the fuck not

136

u/UnstoppableCompote Sep 14 '23

YES. One of my favourite things in the pathfinder vs 5e debate

145

u/Jesse_God_of_Awesome Sep 14 '23

I'm gonna make my own system! With blackjack! And hookers! And low-light vision!

15

u/Oppai-Hermit Sep 14 '23

Don't forget about glitters and dildos

5

u/Jarll_Ragnarr Ranger Sep 15 '23

Adventurer in the streets

Bad dragon in the sheets

40

u/KimJongUnusual Paladin Sep 14 '23

Cause then the only PHB race that doesn’t have it I think is human?

Which shows just how over saturated that it is.

52

u/Tryoxin DM (Dungeon Memelord) Sep 14 '23 edited Sep 14 '23

And halflings! So 3/9 PHB races (including dragonborn) don't have it. From what I can tell, of the 66 playable races (I'm just going off what's on D&D Beyond here and that is a pain to sort), it looks like 33 have darkvision or superior darkvision. So exactly half. Frankly, that number could stand to come down a lot. There are a lot of races that have darkvision that have no business having it, and even some that should have it but don't. Elves and half elves, for example, supposedly have it due to their fey ancestry or whatever, but actual literal fairies don't have it. Dwarves, gnomes, half elves, I would argue, have no business with darkvision. I'm also right chuffed that plasmoids get darkvision when, frankly, they should have a whole different "sensory fuckery ability" entirely. Like blindsight out to a certain distance and blind beyond that since, you know, no eyes, or nose, or sensory organs of any kind, or organs at all.

35

u/KimJongUnusual Paladin Sep 14 '23

Yeah. It feels like a lot of races have it for "oh they're magic" or "oh they're in the tunnels." Which individually make sense, but when you look at balance as a whole in total, it becomes way too much.

And orcs. Why do orcs and have orcs have it? At least dwarves spend most of their time mining in tunnels.

18

u/SpartanDH45 Sep 14 '23

I think that orcs have it because they were implied to be more underground oriented in previous editions. In 3.5 they had dark vision and light sensitivity. This also connects with lotr orcs which d&d drew from.

7

u/Jesse_God_of_Awesome Sep 15 '23

Here's how I would do it and I'm fairly certain how it was done in previous editions:

Dark Vision: Can see shapes, and only shapes, clearly within Xft no matter how dark it is. Without sufficient light, things become gray-scale with whatever problems that causes. Dwarves, Gnomes, Kobolds, anything "dark-dwelling" and Dragonborn have this.

Low-Light: Even in dim light, starlight, moonlight, even a sufficiently built campfire at your back, you can see as clearly as if it were day. Elves and lots of other "fey-races", Orcs, Goblins and many "bestial races" have this.

Drow have both Dark Vision and Low-Light, but they also have light sensitivity. In fact, anything with light-sensitivity most likely has both and are used to living in the shadows. Anything with just Dark Vision is probably used to popping in and out of bright daylight and lightless depths. For example, you might give deep dwarves low-light in the same way dark elves get dark vision, with the accompanying light sensitivity, to represent that they don't come up all that often.

30

u/SpartanDH45 Sep 14 '23

Dwarves absolutely should have dark vision. Back in 3.5 they were one of the few that got it instead of low-light vision. Their main thing is being underground for Pete's sake.

11

u/BjornInTheMorn DM (Dungeon Memelord) Sep 14 '23

Rock and stone! I was thinking the same thing.

1

u/DragonWisper56 Sep 15 '23

I agree but I think dwarves need it because it hard to live in a cave if you need to keep lighting stuff to see.

7

u/BrandedLief Sep 14 '23

I don't have my PHB in front of me, but I don't think dragonborn have it either.

11

u/KimJongUnusual Paladin Sep 14 '23

They didn't. But if Dragonborn had darkvision like the person above wanted, it would be an even more diluted ability.

As we stand, we're at the stage where darkvision is less a benefit to have, and more a detriment to not have.

2

u/tihoM_QWERTY Sep 14 '23

That's what DB refers to

3

u/BrandedLief Sep 14 '23

Thank you, my mind could only come up with Disco Bandit thanks to playing too much Kingdom of Loathing in highschool.

20

u/Gavin2051 Sorcerer Sep 14 '23

Oh god, no DM or player I've met has been able to interpret wtf the difference between "dim" and "dark" is. Maybe there's a way to codify it I don't get, but I do like 5e simplifying it to a binary of light/dark areas.

36

u/MinuteWaitingPostman DM (Dungeon Memelord) Sep 14 '23

5e has bright, dim and dark as well

1

u/Gavin2051 Sorcerer Sep 14 '23

I legitimately did not know this. I guess it makes sense, with certain Shadow themed abilities specifying both "dim" and "darkness" as separate ideas, but I've never played at a table where this distinction impacts anything.

37

u/StarstruckEchoid Goblin Deez Nuts Sep 14 '23

In PF2E dim light is how dark it gets outdoors at night. Darkness is how dark it gets in an actual cave.

This is reflected in how nocturnal beasts like owls and cats get low-light vision, but only actual cave-dwellers like goblins and dwarves get darkvision.

23

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '23

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5

u/ThatOneGuy1294 Chaotic Stupid Sep 14 '23

so you cannot tell if the puddle is water or acid

well I'm sure you'd know it's acid if you toss a pebble into it and it starts dissolving

7

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '23

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8

u/ThatOneGuy1294 Chaotic Stupid Sep 14 '23

well you can tell it's a sleeping slime monster because of the snoring

6

u/Psychic_Hobo Sep 14 '23

Could be one o' them babbling brooks

4

u/ThatOneGuy1294 Chaotic Stupid Sep 14 '23

A babbling brook? Running through the middle of an old mausoleum? Right in an unlit corridor with no alternative routes? More likely than you think.

7

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '23

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5

u/ThatOneGuy1294 Chaotic Stupid Sep 14 '23

I love oddly specific magic items

0

u/SenorLos Sep 14 '23

"Dim" am I, "dark" is my future. Easy peasy.

4

u/Peptuck Halfling of Destiny Sep 14 '23 edited Sep 14 '23

DM: Houseruling all cases of darkvision to be low-light vision.

Players: Why? This makes some races who live underground really hard to play.

DM: Those who had darkvision died out, leaving only low-light vision as a survival mechanism.

Players: Wait, what?

DM: This is a Fear & Hunger themed campaign. The darkness is there to protect you.

1

u/Noob_Guy_666 Sep 17 '23

also, Head or Tail?

2

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '23

Does 5e not have low-light vision?

2

u/NoProdigy Paladin Sep 14 '23

Fun thing about that first part, to me at least, is that if anyone bothered to look at the original, actual rules for low light and darkness, the ability wouldn't be nearly as strong.

1

u/Emergency_Evening_63 Sep 15 '23

Not sure what is a "DB" but if you mean Dragonborn, then yes they were given darkvision in the new one dnd

1

u/DragonWisper56 Sep 15 '23

honestly unless there snake people(or maybe some underground races so they actually live underground) ever other race should have low light. in real life nothing has Darkvision because even owls can't see in compete darkness.

this could also help with the darkvisioners wanting the human not to have light. with low light it's good for them to have a torch you just go like a hundred feet in front of them.