5e SRD:Vision and Light

From D&D Wiki

(Redirected from 5e SRD:Bright Light)
Jump to: navigation, search
This material is published under the OGL 1.0a.


Vision and Light

The most fundamental tasks of adventuring–noticing danger, finding hidden objects, hitting an enemy in combat, and targeting a spell, to name just a few–rely heavily on a character's ability to see. Darkness and other effects that obscure vision can prove a significant hindrance.

A given area might be lightly or heavily obscured. In a lightly obscured area, such as dim light, patchy fog, or moderate foliage, creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

A heavily obscured area–such as darkness, opaque fog, or dense foliage–blocks vision entirely. A creature effectively suffers from the blinded condition (see appendix PH-A) when trying to see something in that area.

The presence or absence of light in an environment creates three categories of illumination: bright light, dim light, and darkness.

Bright light lets most creatures see normally. Even gloomy days provide bright light, as do torches, lanterns, fires, and other sources of illumination within a specific radius.

Dim light, also called shadows, creates a lightly obscured area. An area of dim light is usually a boundary between a source of bright light, such as a torch, and surrounding darkness. The soft light of twilight and dawn also counts as dim light. A particularly brilliant full moon might bathe the land in dim light.

Darkness creates a heavily obscured area. Characters face darkness outdoors at night (even most moonlit nights), within the confines of an unlit dungeon or a subterranean vault, or in an area of magical darkness.



Back to Main Page5e System Reference DocumentExploration and Environment

Open Game Content (Padlock.pngplace problems on the discussion page).
Stop hand.png This is part of the 5e System Reference Document. It is covered by the Open Game License v1.0a, rather than the GNU Free Documentation License 1.3. To distinguish it, these items will have this notice. If you see any page that contains SRD material and does not show this license statement, please contact an admin so that this license statement can be added. It is our intent to work within this license in good faith.
Home of user-generated,
homebrew pages!


Advertisements: