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I don’t like darkvision.
In my opinion, every game mechanic should either matter, or not matter. Take encumbrance for example. One of my players asked why I never give out the famed Bag of Holding. I told them…
Either Encumbrance matters, and giving you the Bag of Holding removes the challenge, or it doesn’t matter, and I could give you a cooler magic item instead. So what’s the point?
Take that same approach, and apply it to darkness. Either it matters, and half the players feel more powerful than the others, or it doesn’t matter, and those same players are down a feature. Besides, while you and I both know that Darkvision is technically only (checks notes) 60 feet, players want it to work like night vision goggles in the movie Zero Dark Thirty.
Instead, I’ve opted to remove Darkvision from my 5e game almost entirely. So what’s the alternative?
Well, as you might know from my previous articles, I like non-magical Rangers, Bards, and Clerics by choosing spells that can be easily flavored as mundane. So I am going to replace almost every Darkvision feature with a spell instead, many of which are flavored as mundane.
For the following Races, this is the core mechanic:
As a feature you can cast the following Cantrip as a Bonus Action a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.
- Dwarf – Blade Ward, for their thicker skin.
- Elf – Prestidigitation, for their Fey ancestry
- Gnome – Shillelagh, as they can rely on their cleverness, rather than their strength.
- Half-Elf – Either the Elf’s Prestidigitation, or +1 to two more Ability Scores, from the Human half. Or whatever other half they have.
- Tiefling – Eldritch Blast, from their infernal background. Also, this can help curb the necessity for Tiefling players to also be Warlocks all the time.
- Half-Orc/Orc/Hobgoblin – True Strike, as they are better fighters.
- Goblin/Bugbear – Infestation, to represent their inherent filth.
- Kobold – Resistance, based on what kind of dragon their kin served.
- Eladrin – Druidcraft, from their seasonal vibes.
- Genasi – Shape Water OR Create Bonfire OR Gust OR Mold Earth, depending on their type.
- Sea Elf/Triton – Shape Water
- Yuan-ti – Friends, to represent their charming ability, as seen in Against the Cult of the Reptile God.
- Aasimar – Guidance, from their celestial background.
And lastly, just to mix things up, I’m going to add the Halfling Lucky trait on there too, because Nat1s are fun for everyone! They instead have a passive ability to Detect Magic, though without knowing the school. Bilbo in The Hobbit movie is constantly aware of the presence of magic.
The following races get to keep their Darkvision.
- Drow/Duergar/Deep Gnomes – They are from the Underdark, and have evolved like cave fish.
- Shadar-kai – They are from the Shadowfell, and are magically designed for darker spaces.
- Tabaxi – It’s a cat person.
- Shifter – It’s a wolf person.
This article is full of hot takes, so I don’t expect everyone to adopt this style, this is just my style of gaming.
The Nerdd 