The group of early humans decided to hunt the beast that hunted them.
They found its lair, deep in a series of caves along a cliffside. Seven hunters from the tribe navigated the cave by torchlight, unsure of what they were going to find down at its end. Not everyone had a light source; some were carrying larger spears with both hands. The passage began to narrow, a pit of pure black stood before them, signaling either the end of the cave or something much more beyond.
They never found out.
A great gust of air erupted from the darkness with a hush, utterly eradicating the torchlight. All was black until two golden slits opened up, peering around the room to assess the threat level.
Null.
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A more dynamic environment
To paraphrase page 183 of the PHB, there are three levels of light in an environment: bright, dim, and dark.
Dim light, such as navigating a long road by full moonlight or the scarce amounts provided by the moments of dawn and dusk, is a hindrance for adventures. Creatures that cannot see in the dark and do not have a source of light have disadvantage on Perception checks that rely on sight. Luckily, many races have darkvision, most casters can take a “light” cantrip, and there are always torches.
Dark darkness, such as a subterranean environment, creates a heavily obscured area, and creatures act as though blinded. This means, according to PHB p 290:
- They cannot see, and auto fail any check that relies on sight
- They attack wildly with disadvantage, while attacks on them have advantage
As per the PHB, only three races are without darkvision: Humans, Dragonborn, and Halflings. It makes sense for some races to have the ability, and not the others, and it should have some effect on how their mix of traits interact with one another. Some creatures have access to blindsight or truesight, and I think the first could be used for a PC. Though the second would be game-breaking.
How darkness can affect your game of dungeons and dragons
In case you wanted to know how much I like to torture my players… I like throwing in “magical darkness” that not even those with darkvision can see through, just because it adds a bit more fog-of-war and provides yet another aspect of the battle that the players need to work around.
So, how do you manipulate the light setting more to work for you? How does interacting with a less-than-well-lit sort of environment in such a way change play?
Because, it can definitely add a little spice.
The most obvious choice would be the Darkness spell, or the first half of Blindness/Deafness. There are a lot of creative things you can do with this spell, many schemes and tricks, that I’ll let you come up with them instead of ruining the fun.
Holding a torch in one hand, or a magical light, should change how a character moves and attacks. As it goes in many video games, you won’t be able to make a proper heavy attack without holding your weapon in both hands, and it would likely change up the animations. In DnD, players can use different descriptions to illustrate this.
Manipulate the umbrae fringe areas where light and darkness meet. This adds multiple dimensions to the game. Such as, where do the shadows gather? Where can things hide?
All these things make the game more engaging and can provide some awesome visuals in your player’s minds. So, a fight in a tomb navigated by torchlight will cast lines of light and silhouettes all around the room as the players scramble. This changes pacing, and can allow for tension and fear of the unknown. And, in a game like DnD, literally anything could come out of nowhere.
Of course, it’s only fair for darkness to work for both the DM and players. Since the environment is a shared space it should be even ground. It’s where the player’s imaginations interact with the DM’s machinations. So, what works for one should for the other, too. That’s why these mechanics exist, to keep balance.
Next up on Mechanics Monday: dropping to 0HP.