Lighting

Lighting & Visibility

Most of the skills assume that the characters are in a well illuminated place. However, very few dungeons and caverns have many natural light sources. Depending upon the race of the character, the source of lighting, and her distance from it, certain skills could become far more difficult. These modifiers and additional rules should be used whenever the characters are not in optimal lighting conditions.

No player race can see in absolute darkness. Any sealed area without any light will effectively blind every PC unless they have some sort of magical vision. Races with night-vision require at least a small amount of light, equivalent to starlight, to see.

This light must remain in line of sight of the character to be effective. In other words the light emanating from the light source must radiate far enough to be seen by the PC. If the light stops just short of a bend in the passage. No light will radiate around that corner for the character to use for night-vision. Even then they will not be able to see as well as they would with moonlight or sunlight.

Consult the table below to determine the current relative lighting that the characters are adventuring with. For incandescent (man-made) sources this is the distance from the light source. Those with night-vision should add their night-vision range to the listed value.

Incandescent Source	Bright	Dim	Shadowy	Dark	Blind
Candle	under 6"	6" to 7.5'	7.6' to 12.5'	12.6' to 17.6'	17.6' +
Torch / Oil Lamp	under 2.5'	2.5' to 12.5'	12.6' to 17.5'	17.6' to 22.5'	22.6' +
Campfire (3-5' diameter)	under 2.5'	2.5' to 15'	15' to 25'	26' to 40'	41' +
Create Light Spell	under 7.5'	7.5' to 17.5'	17.6' to 22.5'	22.6' to 27.5'	27.6' +
Daylight Spell	under 50'	50' to 75'	76' to 80'	80 to 85'	86' +

Natural, or omni-present, sources will always have constant conditions. Check under the appropriate heading to determine the current quality of vision for the character based on her night-vision range. Adding a pinpoint source to an omni-present source will increase the vision level to the brightest allowed between the two. Overhead cover and inclement weather conditions should lower the source's brightness level.

Natural Source	Level of Outside Lighting from Moon or other Celestial Objects
Racial Night-vision (in ft)	Starlight	1/4 Moon	Half Moon	3/4 Moon	Full Moon
00 - 04	Dark	Dark	Shadowy	Shadowy	Dim
05 - 19	Dark	Shadowy	Shadowy	Shadowy	Bright
20 - 59	Shadowy	Shadowy	Shadowy	Dim	Bright
60 - 99	Shadowy	Shadowy	Dim	Bright	Bright
100 - 110	Shadowy	Dim	Bright	Bright	Bright
111 - 119	Dim	Dim	Bright	Bright	Bright
120 - 129	Dim	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright
130 +	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

Bright Conditions are identical to daytime in sunlight. There are no penalties in bright conditions, and small details can be noticed up to the appropriate vision in feet. Bright conditions includes well-lit buildings at night, most structures during the day, and a few powerful spells.
Dim Conditions are rarely seen during the day. Barely enough to read by, dim conditions have a penalty of -10 to most skills. Well-lit streets and public areas, adequately lit buildings at night, and darker corners of buildings during daytime hours all fit dim conditions.
Shadowy Conditions are those just at the edge of the light. Easy to hide in, difficult to peer through, and becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. Most actions in shadowy conditions have a penalty of -25. Anyone wishing to move faster than a walk must roll a full agility check without penalty. Failure means that the character tripped, while a critical failure sprains a leg. The victim may not run until healed naturally.
Dark Conditions have only a hint of light remaining. Well past the shadows, in the dark even the most well adjusted eyes can only see a few inches. Most skills and actions have a penalty of - 40 due to the difficult seeing anything. Moving faster than a run requires a quarter agility roll to keep from tripping. Failure means that the character tripped, while a critical failure sprains a leg. The victim may not run until healed naturally.
Blind. There is no light for the character to see by. Most skills and actions have a penalty of -80 as the character fumbles around trying to feel what she is doing. Any character stupid enough to try moving faster than a walk deserves what they get.

When switching from one level of lighting to another it will take any character a few rounds to adjust their eyes. Those expecting and prepared for the change in lighting will only require 1d10/5 actions. Those with night-vision above 40' will only require 1d10/5 rounds. All others will require 1d10/2 rounds for their eyes to re-adjust to their new surroundings. While adjusting to the change in illumination, all characters suffer as if they were in shadowy conditions.