D&D 5E Ideas for a "fun" way to handle Darkness

[WarpedAcorn]

Hey Guys!

I'm looking for some feedback on some more exciting ways to handle combat and/or activity in pure Darkness (as per the spell).

Currently, per rules, I am marking off the section of the map covered in Darkness. Anyone making an attack is at Disadvantage unless they have Blindsense/Tremorsense/etc. To me, this is boring and doesn't really add mystery of pure darkness. If you've ever been in a basement when the power went out and there was no light, you know that you lose your orientation super fast, you move slower, you end up not moving in the direction you thought you were, and so on. So just adding Disadvantage, the same as attacking an Invisible creature, doesn't seem like enough.

I am thinking of continuing to mark the Darkness zone on the map, then removing the player mini's from the map. From there I am considering adding in "Movement" checks vs. their Passive Perception to hear movement and make an educated attack. Maybe a Dex check vs. tripping on a flagstone or bumping into something. I want the rules to be consistent and fair, because NPC's will be under the same restrictions.

What are some ways you guys handle Darkness in your games?

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

The way that you describe as "boring and doesn't really add mystery of pure darkness"

Because my main concern when adjudicating darkness is that it doesn't cause the players to feel that they may as well not really try anything, which is a result that can happen when things like checks not to fall on their face and guessing where they and their enemies actually are (which can result in attacks that are definite fails without a roll, and thus completely wasted actions), and is made more likely to happen should they ever have to deal with realistically difficult to handle and mysterious darkness while their opponents are entirely unhindered by it.

It's probably a bit odd to say, but letting the effects of darkness be "boring" is actually the thing that results in the most fun, in my opinion.

 

[jaelis]

Don't make it too powerful an effect, or you'll end up with an unstoppable party full of warlocks with devil's sight

 

[cas206]

Players Handbook page 194, Unseen Attackers and Targets, "When you attack a target that you can't see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. This is true whether you're guessing the target's location or you're targeting a creature you can hear but not see. If the target isn't in the location you targeted, you automatically miss, but the DM typically just says that the attack missed, not whether you guessed the target's location correctly."

So it's more than just Disadvantage. If the area is darkened, I remove the enemy mini and make them pick a spot to target. I give players with a high enough passive perception some idea of where they heard the enemy. Those with low passive have to make a blind guess.

 

[Hriston]

You seem to have forgotten this bit: "When a creature can’t see you, you have advantage on attack rolls against it", which cancels out this bit: "When you attack a target that you can’t see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll", so fighting in darkness is the same as fighting in a lighted area, especially in magical darkness where darkvision isn't a factor.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

So it's more than just Disadvantage.

That's not the only way to read the quoted passage you provide.

It is also a reading that kind of contradicts the passage in the sidebar on page 177 that says, "An invisible creature can't be seen, so it can always try to hide. Signs of its passage might still be noticed, however, and it still has to stay quite." Emphasis mine, and especially focused on the word "try" there.

If darkness means always having to guess the target's location, creatures invisible because of darkness have no reason to try to hide.

 

[Hriston]

Players Handbook page 194, Unseen Attackers and Targets, "When you attack a target that you can't see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. This is true whether you're guessing the target's location or you're targeting a creature you can hear but not see. If the target isn't in the location you targeted, you automatically miss, but the DM typically just says that the attack missed, not whether you guessed the target's location correctly."

So it's more than just Disadvantage. If the area is darkened, I remove the enemy mini and make them pick a spot to target. I give players with a high enough passive perception some idea of where they heard the enemy. Those with low passive have to make a blind guess.

This pertains only if the target is hidden. Otherwise, you don't need to guess the target's location because it is known.

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

I tend to poke the darkness with a stick to see if it reacts. When the DM finally gets annoyed and has it have some kind of reaction, I cast magic missile on it.

This nearly killed the party once when it turned out to be a gelatinous cube filled with negative energy. All of that unleashing at once? Ouch.

As DM, I generally just give both sides penalties because they can't see each other.

 

[Flamestrike]

Hey Guys!

I'm looking for some feedback on some more exciting ways to handle combat and/or activity in pure Darkness (as per the spell).

Currently, per rules, I am marking off the section of the map covered in Darkness. Anyone making an attack is at Disadvantage unless they have Blindsense/Tremorsense/etc. To me, this is boring and doesn't really add mystery of pure darkness. If you've ever been in a basement when the power went out and there was no light, you know that you lose your orientation super fast, you move slower, you end up not moving in the direction you thought you were, and so on. So just adding Disadvantage, the same as attacking an Invisible creature, doesn't seem like enough.

I am thinking of continuing to mark the Darkness zone on the map, then removing the player mini's from the map. From there I am considering adding in "Movement" checks vs. their Passive Perception to hear movement and make an educated attack. Maybe a Dex check vs. tripping on a flagstone or bumping into something. I want the rules to be consistent and fair, because NPC's will be under the same restrictions.

What are some ways you guys handle Darkness in your games?

I call for the occasional Dex [acrobatics] check in the darkness or you fall over. Plus th occasional Wisdom [perception] check to avoid 'blue on blue' in there. 'To your horror, you seem to have stabbed the Elf by mistake'

I do it whenever the players 'game' darkness effects. Its surprisingy effective.

 

[BoldItalic]

Just turn the lights off in the room. No-one can see their dice rolls, check their character sheets, see the map, ...

That's Disadvantage .