Darkness Penalties

Darkness, or Darkness Penalties, is a penalty applied to vision rolls (and sight-based attack rolls) when a character is in a dark environment.Basic Set: Campaigns, p.358Darkness as a penalty, mentioned on Basic Set: Campaigns, p.547 
== Using Darkness ==
While more gritty, simulationist games might use darkness rules in every encounter, some more "gamified" settings will use darkness penalties only in dramatically appropriate, such as giving a bonus to Stealth (for allies and enemies) when moving in the dark, or blending into the crowd in the shadiest corner of a tavern.
== Technical Darkness ==
Penalty 	Light Level 	Streamlined
0 	Daylight. 	From dawn to dusk, and in most weather, daylight is enough to avoid penalties.
-3 	Torchlight. 	No combat penalties, but feel free to give a penalty to notice smaller things, such as eyes hiding within a suit of armor. Small text can still be read, if close by a light source, such as reading by lamplight.
-4 to -6	Moonlight. 	Enough to avoid obstacles, or see foes, although not both at the same time. Maps and text becomes unreadable. Lockpicking has to be done by touch around -5, but it can be improved as a technique.Basic Set: Campaigns, p.344
-7 to -9	Starlight. 	Even moving around becomes treacherous to a normal human, resulting in trips and falls. Open roads are safe, but uneven terrain reduces Move to a walk as a traveler carefully moves over half-seen obstacles.
-10 	Total darkness. While darkness is everywhere, this level of darkness is hard to find naturally, outside of caves. Just a tiny bit of light can boost this to -9.	Complete guesswork, if unfamiliar. A character will need to find a light source--or quickly familiarize themselves with probing the area in front of them with a long tool. Characters who have been blind in the past will likely already know this method of navigation. Remember to try hearing, as well...
adaptation Time also applies in HT
== Lights in Darkness ==
Light sources are more obvious in darkness, effectively reversing darkness penalties. Beacon fires,Low-Tech, p.49 searchlightsHigh-Tech, p.228 (from helicopters, or pointed upwards front of noir-era theaters), and lighthouses are at their most obvious and dramatic when the night is darkest.
== Bypassing Darkness ==
High-Tech and Ultra-Tech technologies allow night vision, infrared vision, and all kinds of ways of detecting foes without using visible light.
== See Also ==
* Darkness (spell) -- Creates supernatural darkness
*
== References ==
category:rules