Darkness and Blindness

When things are really dark, characters have a hard time finding and attacking their foes . . . and defending against their enemies' attacks.

Characters and monsters don't start suffering penalties in darkness until it's very dark indeed. When it becomes very dark, they suffer penalties to hit their enemies. And if their enemies can see better than they can, their enemies get bonuses to attack rolls.

On page 117 of the Player's Handbook is a chart of Visibility Ranges.

Let's add one line to that chart: Total Blackness. In Total Blackness, all Visibility Ranges are 0.

Combat Modifiers for

Darkness and Blindness

Condition
Mel.
Mis.
Infr.



Bonus
Clear sky



(daytime)
–0
–0
+0
Fog, dense



or blizzard
–3
–4
+0
Fog, light



or snow
–1
–2
+0
Fog,



moderate
–2
–3
+0
Mist or



light rain
–0
–1
+0
Night,



full moon
–2
–4
+2
Night,



no moon
–3
–6
+3
Total



darkness
–4
–6
+3
Twilight
–1
–2
+1

On the chart above, you'll see all those same Visibility Ranges in the first column.

The second column indicates the character's attack penalty when he's attacking someone in melee combat in that sort of visibility.

The third column lists the penalties for shooting at someone in ranged combat in those visibility conditions. This penalty is taken once at Short Range, again at Medium Range, and once more at Long Range (see Table 45 on page 69 of the Player's Handbook).

The fourth column is the Infravision Bonus. If a character has Infravision, his bonus is applied against his attack penalty for Melee, and against his attack penalty for Missile attacks suffered at each range step.

How This Works

When a character is in a situation where he suffers a penalty to attack rolls in melee combat, he's obviously in some dark area. He, and everyone else with similar vision, suffers the penalties to attack rolls in melee and missile combat.

Example: Rathnar is in a fight in pea-soup fog. He can barely see his hand in front of his face. An enemy looms up in the fog. Rathnar strikes at it—but suffers a –3 to attack rolls. The fog is so thick that it's difficult to strike exactly the right place. He rolls an attack that would barely have hit his foe in ordinary circumstances; in these circumstances, his blow is a clean miss.

The missile penalty gets worse and worse the further away the attacker is from his target.

Example: Sir Amstard, at the head of an army, is firing at the oncoming army of orcs, which is half-way across the plain. The orcs are at 200 yards, barely in range of the heroes' long bows. The weather, however, is drizzly and rainy, considered to be Mist on the chart above.

The chart says that Amstard and allies take a –1 to attack rolls—at each range step. That's –1 at short range, another –1 at medium, and a last –1 at long range. Amstard and friends take a –3 to attack rolls when firing at the orcs.

Suddenly, the cloud breaks and a heavy rain falls on everyone. The DM rules that it's the equivalent of light fog or snow. The orcs haven't yet gotten within 140 yards, so they're still at long range. Amstard and friends fire again. Now, they're at –2 to attack rolls per range step, or –6 total to attack rolls their enemies.

How Infravision Works

(The Simple Way)

The simplest way to use Infravision in these circumstances is to ignore that fourth column on the chart above and just say that Infravision cancels out all darkness penalties. This is simple, easy to remember, and doesn't cause any combat hassles.

How Infravision Works

(The Complex Way)

If you prefer more realism and complexity, then Infravision is a help, but it's still not quite as good as being in broad daylight.

With these optional rules, Infravision can be a big help in times of darkness. A character with Infravision isn't as disadvantaged by poor lighting conditions.

First, in melee combat, in any condition of darkness where one person has better vision than the other, he gets a bonus to attack rolls. This bonus is equal to the other fellow's attack penalty. (The character with infravision is still subject to the normal penalty—in effect, this bonus cancels the character's own penalty.)

Example: It's dark and moonless outside, and Rathnar is fighting Aspendale the Elf. Rathnar doesn't have Infravision; Aspendale does. Rathnar, because it's dark and moonless, is taking a –3 penalty to attack rolls Aspendale in melee. Aspendale, therefore, has a +3 when striking at Rathnar. (–3 for bad lighting, +3 for Rathnar's handicap, +3 for infravision bonus).

Second, in missile combat, in similar conditions, the character with the better vision gets a bonus to hit his target. This, also, is equal to the other fellow's melee, not missile, penalty to attack rolls.

Example: Taking a beating, Rathnar runs off into the darkness and gets to his bow. Aspendale accommodates him. Firing at Medium Range, Rathnar is at a –12 to attack rolls! That's –6 each at Short and Medium ranges, according to the chart above.

Third, the third column of the chart above gives a bonus for Infravision. This is applied to the character's penalty for melee combat, and to his penalty for missile combat at each range step.

Example: Aspendale returns fire. He would be at a –6 per each range step, too, but he has Infravision. He gets a –6 at Short and at Medium Range, but that's offset by a +3 at Short and a +3 at Medium Range. His penalty: –6. And because he can see better in the dark than Rathnar anyway, he gets a bonus equal to Rathnar's melee penalty: +3. His final penalty: A mere –3. He shoots back at Rathnar, hitting him clean on.

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