"Human" With Darkvision

[Jeebs]

The non-Variant Human seems to be one of the least popular races. Personally, I like the idea of +1 to all stats (I'm not fond of dump stats), and might even use it for a Pact of the Blade build.

However, I'm obsessed with Darkvision, and wondered what you folks thought a race with the Human's chassis and Darkvision should look like. My own idea of what the Fluff would be is a little bit vague, but I've mostly imagined it as a Variant Half-Elf or Half-Orc. Maybe an alternate Aasimar.

Essentially though, I want to know how many +1's you think Darkvision is worth. Would it mean only increasing 4 stats by one? Or, is the Human weak enough that tacking Darkvision on won't unbalance anything? Frankly, for most builds, I'd probably take the actual PHB version of the Half-Elf over the regular Human plus Darkvision.

[Toadkiller]

It's very campaign dependent. In city castle intrigue not such a big deal. Underdark....

[Ninja_Prawn]

and might even use it for a Pact of the Blade build.

Is there room in your build for the Devil's Sight invocation? That would be a neat solution.

Or you could get hold of some Goggles of Night; they 'uncommon' and they don't require attunement.


Hmm... just comparing variant human to half-elf, I get:

60' Darkvision + 1 skill + Elvish language + 2 CHA + Fey Ancestry = 1 feat

and if 1 feat = 1 ASI... well. Darkvision clearly isn't worth all that much.

[gameogre]

In my game there is a magical fungus(Nighteyes) that grows on rare cave walls that if eaten grants Darkvision. It's pretty expensive, costing 10 gold for one days worth of Nighteyes. Also note that nighteyes can cure some types of blindness.

I like this house ruled Darkvision idea for several reasons.

First it lets humans see in the dark and removes the (to us) tracking of torchs and other light sources. It also eats up pc wealth (every little bit helps).

Also from time to time I will remove it.

See Nighteyes can only be used up to 30 days after it is removed. After 30 days it losses it's ability if ingested. This means that unless the pc's have a supply line of some sort then after 30 days they can no longer see in the dark.

Also any cure poison type spell or effect removes the ability.

Nighteyes can be taken from them, stolen, a disease can hit this years crop, the price can shoot through the roof, it can be faked(it looks and tastes like it but it isn't it, Nighteyes takes two hours after ingesting to work). The Taxes on Nighteyes can be raised! Nighteyes may be illegal in some locals!

Last and not least! Prolonged use of Nighteyes leads to a tolerance build up. It slowly takes more and more nighteyes to give the darkvision effect. Also note Nighteyes is addicting if taken in large dosses.

In order to avoid the unpleasant effects of tolerance build up and addiction it is recommended that you stop taking Nighteyes for at least seven strait days per month.

[TheOldCrow]

In my game there is a magical fungus(Nighteyes) that grows on rare cave walls that if eaten grants Darkvision. It's pretty expensive, costing 10 gold for one days worth of Nighteyes. Also note that nighteyes can cure some types of blindness.

I love this idea, so-- YOINK! It reminds me of the faerie sight ointment some elves of mythology would have to apply to their children's eyes in order to give them faerie sight, since it was not an innate ability. So ths has a lot of flavor, and gives adventurers something interesting to harvest or seek out.

[coredump]

I think there is too much darkvision.... I would rather take it away from some races.

[SouthpawSoldier]

I like this too. Reminds me of Dresden Files; an unguent smeared below the eyes that grants a version of Truesight; it neutralizes the effect of fae glammers.

Maybe add other herbs that extend the effect, help prevent illness from overuse, etc. Or a skilled alchemist/herbalist can extract the active chemicals, creating a potion of Darkvision.


There's a homemade herbalism supplement from a reddit thread I've been sharing (credit to burninatortrog for bringing it to my attention) that allows custom brewing of potions. Each ingredient provides a certain effect, and you can mix and match ingredients for your potions (one base effect + 3 modifying ingredients). https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7C...0zSnFJNEE/view

[rollingForInit]

I think there is too much darkvision.... I would rather take it away from some races.

Yeah. It's gone from being a nice feature for some races, to being a handicap for the few races that don't have it.

[rollingForInit]

Yeah. It's gone from being a nice feature for some races, to being a handicap for the few races that don't have it.

Why do Tieflings, Half-Orcs and Gnomes (aside from Deep Gnomes) need it, for instance? Do Half-Elves need it - they get so much already?

[Wezlie]

I can see in the dark and I'm human, they could make it a racial feat for human that you can gain darkvision

[Arkhios]

Human with Darkvision?


Riddick:

[ImproperJustice]

Yeah. I ran a human that was raised by Dwarves, who dreamed of defending their underground homeland just like his foster Dad. He trained every day as hard as he could despite his “disability”, this beginning play with the Dungeon Delver feat to represent his heightened awareness of his surroundings learned through painful experience.

Eventually, his persistence paid off as he was blessed by the Dwarven deities themselves with Darkvision that was greater than that of his peers upon obtaining his 3rd level as a Ranger, and becoming a Gloomstalker.

His ties to the dark did not stop there either, as he would later become a Druid of the Underdark, but that is a story for another time.......


(So yeah, Gloomstalker, Warlock, Shadow Monk, and Shadow Sorceror can all net you some Darkvision for a human).

[JackPhoenix]

I'm sure these are all very important insights worthy of raising 3 years old thread from its grave.

[DanyBallon]

I'm sure these are all very important insights worthy of raising 3 years old thread from its grave.

At the very least it got me to read on the "Nighteyes" houserule which I might consider in my game

I might rework it that the drug allows "true" darkvision so it will be valuable to everyone, even creatures with darkvision.