Vision Penalties in light for fantasy night creatures

phayman53 · 01-30-2018, 01:51 PM

I am building a series of races for a campaign and I was wondering about fair pricing for a native light level for their eyes that results in penalties when it is above that level. My thought (and something I have seen in unofficial write-ups) is that I could set a native light level as a 0 point feature with levels above that receiving penalties. However, I am wondering if this is fair since the "no penalty" to to vision range is HUGE compared to each individual level of penalty. For reference, I am using the light table found in this official post to base it off of, though I understand it is almost the same as what is found in Tactical Shooting and Mysteries.

For instance, I want my orcs to be able to see in deep twilight (normally -3) and "full moon" (-4) at no penalty, but to take penalties both above and below that. As a result, I gave them the 0 point feature of a native light level of -3 and night vision 1 for 1 cp so that they take no penalty at either light levels -3 or -4, but any darker or brighter than that, they start taking penalties. Is this fair, or should setting their native light level at -3 be a disadvantage worth some points?

Thanks!

Refplace · 01-30-2018, 01:57 PM

Yep that sounds fair to me. I dont recall seeing exactly that set up before but setting the base level at something different is official enough.

Gadget · 01-30-2018, 02:02 PM

im sure ive seen this as a 0 point feature in one of the fantasy supplements in Orcs ?

Gadget · 01-30-2018, 02:06 PM

its a feature in the dungeon fantasy next level for trolls its called night adapted vision its basically what you described

whswhs · 01-30-2018, 02:12 PM

It was first defined in GURPS Fantasy, with slightly different rules but in a similar spirit.

Anthony · 01-30-2018, 02:18 PM

RAW, changing your default light level is a zero point feature. Realistically, it should probably be a net disadvantage if it applies to the entire zero penalty range; if you want to be a bit fairer, I would use my original light level table here and assume that you can shift your zero penalty range (levels +0 to +4) as a zero point feature. Thus, a purely nocturnal species might be fine at light levels -1 to -5, and would be at -5 in full sunlight.

phayman53 · 01-30-2018, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whswhs

It was first defined in GURPS Fantasy, with slightly different rules but in a similar spirit.

I thought I had seen it somewhere official before! Fantasy p. 130, thank you. It would have been much easier if in my early GURPS acquisitions I had bought everything in pdf so that I could search them (and take them with me without a really heavy backpack). Oh well, live and learn.

01-30-2018, 01:51 PM	#1
phayman53 Join Date: Dec 2012	Vision Penalties in light for fantasy night creatures I am building a series of races for a campaign and I was wondering about fair pricing for a native light level for their eyes that results in penalties when it is above that level. My thought (and something I have seen in unofficial write-ups) is that I could set a native light level as a 0 point feature with levels above that receiving penalties. However, I am wondering if this is fair since the "no penalty" to to vision range is HUGE compared to each individual level of penalty. For reference, I am using the light table found in this official post to base it off of, though I understand it is almost the same as what is found in Tactical Shooting and Mysteries. For instance, I want my orcs to be able to see in deep twilight (normally -3) and "full moon" (-4) at no penalty, but to take penalties both above and below that. As a result, I gave them the 0 point feature of a native light level of -3 and night vision 1 for 1 cp so that they take no penalty at either light levels -3 or -4, but any darker or brighter than that, they start taking penalties. Is this fair, or should setting their native light level at -3 be a disadvantage worth some points? Thanks!

01-30-2018, 01:57 PM	#2
Refplace Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Yukon, OK	Re: Vision Penalties in light for fantasy night creatures Yep that sounds fair to me. I dont recall seeing exactly that set up before but setting the base level at something different is official enough. __________________ My GURPS publications GURPS Powers: Totem and Nature Spirits; GURPS Template Toolkit 4: Spirits; Pyramid articles. Buying them lets us know you want more! My GURPS fan contribution and blog: REFPLace GURPS Landing Page My List of GURPS You Tube videos (plus a few other useful items) My GURPS Wiki entries

01-30-2018, 02:02 PM	#3
Gadget Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Scotland	Re: Vision Penalties in light for fantasy night creatures im sure ive seen this as a 0 point feature in one of the fantasy supplements in Orcs ?

01-30-2018, 02:06 PM	#4
Gadget Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Scotland	Re: Vision Penalties in light for fantasy night creatures its a feature in the dungeon fantasy next level for trolls its called night adapted vision its basically what you described

01-30-2018, 02:12 PM	#5
whswhs Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Lawrence, KS	Re: Vision Penalties in light for fantasy night creatures It was first defined in GURPS Fantasy, with slightly different rules but in a similar spirit. __________________ Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more.

01-30-2018, 02:18 PM	#6
Anthony Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Berkeley, CA	Re: Vision Penalties in light for fantasy night creatures RAW, changing your default light level is a zero point feature. Realistically, it should probably be a net disadvantage if it applies to the entire zero penalty range; if you want to be a bit fairer, I would use my original light level table here and assume that you can shift your zero penalty range (levels +0 to +4) as a zero point feature. Thus, a purely nocturnal species might be fine at light levels -1 to -5, and would be at -5 in full sunlight. __________________ My GURPS site and Blog.