AsenRG
#FuckWotC #PlayNonDnDGames
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- Apr 28, 2018
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Well, I need to re-check my books*, but I seem to remember around 25-30 meters for human-sized silhouettes with stars and not-full moon (i.e. very little illumination). Adjust by moon phase, new moon is a different story, because near-complete darkness drops your vision to around 10 meters
.Campfires and torches might actually reduce your vision area to about the area they illuminate, IME, because the eye adapts to darkness slowly. Like, it takes about (or up to?) 30 minutes after even a sudden flash of light. That's why sentries shouldn't stay too close to campfires, and in no case should look directly at light sources.
That much my sources cover, now for some speculation
.Now, if they haven't looked at the fire, the campfire doesn't reduce the vision. But it also doesn't extend it much, unless its area is broader than normal vision with little illumination (see above). Admittedly, that part is based purely on my limited camping experience, but none of my players has ever contested it, including those that had army experience.
BTW, my PCs used to use said data for my once-notorious fighting-in-darkness routine: close one eye, flash some light, open the eye, fight them while their eyes are unaccustomed to the darkness...
When PCs do likewise, I use the following ruling: 3 rounds when the opponent has "total darkness" penalties, 3 rounds where you have the difference with low-light penalties split down the middle, afterwards revert to normal low-light penalties. So if total darkness is -40% and low-light is -20%, it would go -40, -40, -40, -30, -30, -30, -20...and it's unlikely to ever get to even the -30 stage
.*Laugh all you want, I'm using a couple Russian "nin-jutsu" books that are otherwise of very dubious value regarding stuff like, say, history of ninja. OTOH, they had reference tables like this, which I found later replicated in Soviet-era army manuals (that predate the publishing date of said books), so I can guess where the ninja got their data from...
