Darkvision: preserve the difference between dark and dim
Darkvision upgrades lighting within a specified range. It does not make every dark scene look like daylight or restore color information in Darkness.
Use it at the table
- Read the feature’s actual range.
- Within that range, treat Dim Light as Bright Light and Darkness as Dim Light.
- In that Darkness, describe colors only as shades of gray; other rules and effects can add limitations.
Make the call
A character uses Darkvision to look at two identical ribbons, one red and one green, in Darkness within range. Does Darkvision itself supply their colors?
The ruling
No; colors in that Darkness are discerned only as shades of gray.
Darkvision changes Darkness to the equivalent of Dim Light and specifically limits colors there to shades of gray. Other visual differences might still distinguish the ribbons, but identifying them by their actual red and green colors requires information this sense does not supply in that lighting.
Watch for this mistake
Do not silently extend Darkvision beyond its stated range. Also read a magical darkness effect’s own text before deciding how it interacts with a particular sense.
Ask the table
What is the actual light level, what lies within range, and does the task depend on color?
The source rule
SRD 5.2.1, page 180. Read the official PDF.
If you have Darkvision, you can see in Dim Light within a specified range as if it were Bright Light and in Darkness within that range as if it were Dim Light. You discern colors in that Darkness only as shades of gray. See also “Playing the Game” (“Exploration”).
Source and reuse
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
The explanation, example and table prompt are Table Ready adaptations; source text has been reflowed. This guide and its printable card are available under the same CC BY 4.0 license. Independent reference; no official affiliation. These rules are optional for our system-neutral adventures.