Darkvision

[Granamere]

OK can someone point me to an official post from TSR that explains Darkvision. Mainly if you are next to a light source and have darkvision how far can you see? I have been reading lots of back and forth on the internet but I would like something official. Gary Gygax in this article link here said X would be great!

Thanks in advance!

[LordEntrails]

Since you mention TSR, I assume you mean maybe OD&D? Perhaps B/X? Maybe Holmes edition? Depending upon the edition, you're going to get different answers.

[Zacchaeus]

There is no explicit rule anywhere that states that darkvision doesn’t work in light. In earlier editions darkvision was termed infravision and was described as seeing in the infra red spectrum - basically heat. A light source would spoil infravision. However that became darkvision in 3.5 (I think it was) and became a more light enhancing thing. There was an explicit rule at that time that light did not interfere with darkvision. In 5e there is nothing to say that light does or does not interfere with darkvision. But as ever the DM can rule one way or another.

[Granamere]

Thanks I have been reading all of this in the forums of back and forth. I am just kind of amazed that there is no official answer.

LordEntrails I forget there are millennials here. TSR was the company that started Dungeons and Dragons. Gary Gygax was one of the founders.

I do realize that things have changed over the years but something official from the beginning or even from 5th edition or directly from Ed Greenwood, etc is what I am looking for.

[LordEntrails]

Remember, Ed and even Gary are no longer 'official' sources, except in very limited means (Gary hasn't been 'official' for decades, and Ed on in certain aspects of the FR). Even Gary himself has been quoted to say that in effect every DM needs to rule on things themselves. I understand the desire for something definitive, but even a quote from Gary would only be applicable to previous editions, and probably only at his table or those tables that wished to mimic his :)

So I can't point you to something you'd like.

Maybe someone over at Tenkar's Tavern could though? I believe they are pretty old school and probably lots of old quotes. Maybe even someone over at EnWorld, though less likely, imo than TT.

[Eltrym]

OK can someone point me to an official post from TSR that explains Darkvision. Mainly if you are next to a light source and have darkvision how far can you see? I have been reading lots of back and forth on the internet but I would like something official. Gary Gygax in this article link here said X would be great!

Thanks in advance!

Go on Twitter and ask Jeremy Crawford. He's the principal rules designer for 5E. If anyone's going to have a "definitive" answer for you, it's him.

[Nylanfs]

For 1e 2e you could ask Jim Ward on FB (https://www.facebook.com/james.m.ward.7). :)

[GavinRuneblade]

I do realize that things have changed over the years but something official from the beginning or even from 5th edition or directly from Ed Greenwood, etc is what I am looking for.

First, part of the reason there is a back and forth is that different editions have different rules, so it matters which you use. And within a single edition, some races have special rules that are different from other races. So if I tell you the general rule, and you look up the Drow with a special rule, we might start arguing about who is right not realizing we both are correct. Now imagine this with multiple editions too.

In the beginning, OD&D didn't have a form of darkvision.

In 1st edition there was still no darkvision but there was infravision. I don't have a 1e book to check what the rules were. Sorry. Basic, though, which came out at the same time as 1e says this:
"Infravision is the ability to see heat (and the lack of heat). Dwarves have infravision in addition to normal sight and can see 60' in the dark. Infravision does not work in the presence of normal and magical light. With infravision, warm things appear red, and cold things appear blue. A creature could be seen as a red shape, leaving faint reddish footprints. A cold pool of water would seem a deep blue. color.
Characters with infravision can even see items or creatures the same temperature as the surrounding air (such as a table or a skeleton), since air flow will inevitably show the viewer their borders, outlining them in a faint lighter-blue tone. Until they move, they will be very faint to the eye; once they start moving, they become blurry but very obvious light-blue figures.
Infravision isn't good enough to read by. A character can use his infravision to recognize an individual only if they are within 10' distance... unless the individual is very, very distinctive (for example, 8' tall or walking with a crutch). but then the Schattenaelfen and shadow elves and other creatures had different rules. So, while this was the generic guideline, it wasn't absolute.

2e was similar to Basic (and I'm pretty sure 1e) but added Ultravision for a handful of creatures that worked only outdoors and was ultraviolet light. It also had undead with lifesight which worked in the dark but only to identify living things vs dead things (but a cold living thing couldn't hide from them like it could from infravision). And liche's had a better version you could read with in the dark. but you had to be not only a lich but a lich from Ravenloft for this version of darkvision. And there was truesight which worked in the dark plus saw invisibility and through illusions and shapeshifting and even into the ethereal.

3e scrapped all that and started over with darkvision. Then made it even more complicated over time as they published more and more and more rules. I'm not even going to try to explain it. Too messy.

4e was the simplest, only the distance you could see changed between creatures. Pretty simple.

5e is a little more complex than 4e, but not bad.
Accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. that is the default, but some creatures have as short as 10' and as long as 120'. Sometimes sources of darkvision combine, like the gloomstalker ability. Other times it doesn't, like the 2nd level spell darkvision. You have to read each one to know if they stack or not. Sometimes only part stacks, like one ability gives 30' if you have no darkvision, or increases your existing darkvision by 15'. Sucks if you only have 10' to start. Outside this range there isn't a "gradual loss of vision", outside this range you can't see. Then there is devil's sight (and a warlock invocation) that lets you see in magical darkness.

So it is complex, and this is why you see the arguments.

[Nylanfs]

Well, that and we are gamers and we'll argue about the exact same wording. :D

[LordEntrails]

Well, that and we are gamers and we'll argue about the exact same wording. :D
So now you are calling me a "gamer"? Uh, what right do you have to label me?

*lol* couldn't resist :)

[GavinRuneblade]

Well, that and we are gamers and we'll argue about the exact same wording. :D

lol, so true. If nothing else I've actually overheard a convention argument "I'm not agreeing with you, you're agreeing with me".

[Granamere]

GavinRuneblade Thank you. That is a great write up and refresh some stuff I had forgot.

[deer_buster]

Well, if you can ask Gary anything (and get an answer), you are already skilled at necromancy, or divination.

[Granamere]

Agreed, Hence why I was looking for a statement in an article.

[GavinRuneblade]

Well, if you can ask Gary anything (and get an answer), you are already skilled at necromancy, or divination.
Can't ask new questions, but we have a lot of old answers:
https://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=50&sid=4af28f13180018c7d440d753e856da06
hundreds of pages of Q&A with Gary. Everything from rules to history, to funny stories, to trolling.

[Granamere]

Awesome Thanks!