Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Light Spells and Vision Penalties -- Spells and Exploits Contradiction

rknop · 09-25-2017, 10:59 PM

Exploits and Spells seem to contradict each other on the subject of what vision penalties (that would apply to vision and attack rolls) are.

Spells, p. 45, says that when magic is the sole source of illumination, there are Vision modifiers. For instance, Moonlight is -5, Torchlight is -3.

Exploits, p. 19, says that a light eliminates darkness penalties out to a certain radius. Moonlight is a radius of 1 yard, torchlight is a radius of 2 yards. Then, there is a penalty of -3 out to 3x the radius.

So, how does it work?

As examples: if I have a torchlight-strength Continual Light on a rock and throw that rock into a hex, (a) what is the vision penalty in that hex and all adjacent hexes (radius 2), and (b) what is the vision penalty out to a radius of 6 hexes? Spells suggests the answer to (a) is -3, Exploits suggests the answer to (a) is 0 and the answer to (b) is -3.

A second example: dos the spell Glow have a radius that it helps outside its area? Suppose I cast a Radius-2 Glow spell with torchlight strength. Exploits explicitly says that it eliminates penalties over its entire radius of effect, so there'd be a 7-hex region with no vision penalty. However, Spells says the penalty is -3. What's more, if we go with Exploits, can we actually say that the Glow spell eliminates penalties out to an additional hex (3-hex radius), given that all those hexes are within the right range of a glowing hex?

09-25-2017, 10:59 PM	#1
rknop Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: New Castle, PA (north of Pittsburgh)	Light Spells and Vision Penalties -- Spells and Exploits Contradiction Exploits and Spells seem to contradict each other on the subject of what vision penalties (that would apply to vision and attack rolls) are. Spells, p. 45, says that when magic is the sole source of illumination, there are Vision modifiers. For instance, Moonlight is -5, Torchlight is -3. Exploits, p. 19, says that a light eliminates darkness penalties out to a certain radius. Moonlight is a radius of 1 yard, torchlight is a radius of 2 yards. Then, there is a penalty of -3 out to 3x the radius. So, how does it work? As examples: if I have a torchlight-strength Continual Light on a rock and throw that rock into a hex, (a) what is the vision penalty in that hex and all adjacent hexes (radius 2), and (b) what is the vision penalty out to a radius of 6 hexes? Spells suggests the answer to (a) is -3, Exploits suggests the answer to (a) is 0 and the answer to (b) is -3. A second example: dos the spell Glow have a radius that it helps outside its area? Suppose I cast a Radius-2 Glow spell with torchlight strength. Exploits explicitly says that it eliminates penalties over its entire radius of effect, so there'd be a 7-hex region with no vision penalty. However, Spells says the penalty is -3. What's more, if we go with Exploits, can we actually say that the Glow spell eliminates penalties out to an additional hex (3-hex radius), given that all those hexes are within the right range of a glowing hex?