I was thinking about torches and light spells and how they dont really have quite the same effect in game as PnP and I was trying to think of ways it could be improved.

Heres some ideas. Feel free to aim shots at them :D

Torches: +1 to search , +1 to spot (when equipped) (this could scale with intensity of the light, the feeble ones may indeed not give any bonus or just +1 to search.)

Light spell: +2 to search , +2 to spot on the target (for as long as the spell lasts)

I'm not sure how LIGHT gemed items would work if at all, but I think ACTIVE using of light effects (rather than passive ones) like weilding a torch in the off hand, and casting a light spell itself should be rewarded a little bit.

On the subject of other standard non-magical items. You could have 2 types of common footwear.

Soft Shoes : +1 to move silently, -1 to cold saves. Hard Boots: -1 to move silently, +1 to intimidate

Might be cool for those light sensitive Underdark dwellers (Drow!) to have some penalty when fighting someone with a bright light

I believe light sources do have some sort of bonus at engine level. Alot of stealth is done there, including tiny little modifiers based on tileset, time of day (is it dark and outside?) and a few other things. I assure you if you have someone in your radius of torch, you are more likely to see them than if not. It's better than +1 I think

But, try looking around into the darkness whilst standing next to something bright. Your nightvision is shafted and I bet you can't see much further than the limits of the torch properly, so it's effective bonus is really only in the area it illuminates.

Fish I believe light sources do have some sort of bonus at engine level.

I'm just curious- does Darkvision give you the same bonus? Seems like it should.

Also- is darkvision cancelled out/affected by light sources?

Darkvision is NOT the infravision of 2nd edition D&D, you can see normally beyond the areas of light, you just see it in black and white (colours are not seen), At least thats how it's supposed to work I dont think NWN went that far in their implementation.

Low light vision is affected by other light sources, it only works when there is a low light situation, the more ambient light around the less into the "dark" areas you'll see.

I don't honestly know about darkvision mechanics beyond better graphical representation.

yes light has an effect on drow infact in DandD the spell called daylight blinded them.

As to whether or not this has been coded into EfU, I'm not sure. It's generally only particularly bright lights, and daylight itself that stuns or dazes Underdark races.

On a slightly different note, we could give Flare a boost. It's the most underused cantrip ever. A bonus vs Drow, Duergar, Svirfneblin and various other underdark races would make that spell useful.

Another thing would be to add other useful things, such as some sort of flash bombs (for an example an eggshell filled with some suitable substance) that give a visual effect of a bright flash (should be possible to script with a light-effect flashing briefly) and a flare effect on those in the vicinity. Should those effected be of light-sensitive race, they'd be either "flared" or something along those lines, recieving a temporary -4 to attack rolls (which I think was the original form of the Light Blindness effect in D&D - I don't have the books with me at the moment).

a -1 to hit isnt really that bad, but I agree with the extension to the light sensitive sorts. Dazing them may be a bit too powerful but giving them a -1 to saves in addition to -2 to hit may be reasonable for light sensitives.

Since you cant cast LIGHT as a weapon in NWN against a shadow creature, flare may be the next best thing.

Hey just a question what are all the different types of vision??

Ultravision True Seeing Infravision Darkvision Low-light vision

And what makes them different? :wink:

We have in order of least to best:

Normal Vision Light 5m Low light vision Light 10m Darkvision Light 15m Light 20m Ultravision

Normal vision, weakened when near a light emitting object but can see well in lit area.

Light Any: Lights a radius according to it's strenght, can see well in the area and not so well out of it. Can be seen by other creatures.

Low light vision, about 10 to 15m effective radius. No real bonus in total darkness, more effective on the surface in starlight and very low levels of light. Useless near light sources other than really low light.

Darkvision. Around 10 to 15m effective radius. Allows good sight up to radius in total darkness but useless beyond that. Also useless near light sources.

Ultravision. about 20m effective radius. Reduced effectiveness near light sources. Equivilent of one way light. Can see very well in darkness and total darkness. Not detectable by creatures.

And then there's Tremor sense/Effect_true_seeing: no bonus to vision, show stealth and invisible/sanctuary/ethereal creatures up as normal.