Cavern monsters and dark vision

[phiwum]

A number of critters are found in caverns (basilisk, ogre, troll, to name a few). Now, the thing is, a cavern tends to be dark. No, really dark.

The only discussion of cavern-dwellers and seeing in the dark is on ITL 68:

Light’s Effect on Combat
Human beings need light to go bashing about in the
tunnels, especially if they plan to fight. So do most other
creatures. Dwarves, many orcs, and lots of other creatures
live underground, but they light their caverns. Wolves and
bears den underground, but can’t see in total dark.

Long Lankins and Shadowights are described explicitly as seeing in the dark. In Old School Monsters, Gnolls and a few other critters can see in total or near-total darkness.

My general rule is that intelligent humanoids can't see in the dark unless the rules say explicitly otherwise (so Ogres can't see in the dark). I make an exception for Trolls, because they aren't the kind to use fire. Ghouls are another obvious exception. The text doesn't say they can see in the dark, but clearly they must. The more monstrous, the more likely I'll say that it sees in the dark (if it lives in caverns).

But I often puzzle over things like the basilisk. He's intelligent and I presume that he can manipulate tools with his forelimbs, though the drawing on the monster cards doesn't support that interpretation. But I don't see a quadruped handling a torch, so if he lives in caverns, he has to stay where there's a light source (fungus, near the surface, whatever) or else see in the dark.

It's easy enough to presume a dragon carries his own light source (an occasional exhalation), but a hydra also lives in caverns. Again, unless he relies on natural light sources, he gotta see in the dark.

How do y'all settle these questions? I feel like I should have some consistent way to determine whether a critter can see in the dark, but sadly the rules don't usually give a hint. I don't care much for flinging luminous fungi around, 'cause that just seems kinda cheap and also I like the dark.

Thanks.

[TippetsTX]

I think this is an excellent issue that I would hope sees clarity in the upcoming TFT Bestiary.

In the meantime, I don't see any harm in granting 'Dark Vision' as a species trait for any labyrinth-dwelling creature you deem appropriate. I think you've made a number of well-reasoned arguments for other GMs to build on.

[Shostak]

I make dark vision pretty rare, and am guided by real-world examples like animals that have IR sensing, such as pit vipers or ones that use echolocation to form a mental 3d model of their surroundings.

[phiwum]

So, Shostak, what about Trolls? Are they limited to the bits of caverns with natural light (including phosphorescent mosses, say)?

I'm also a bit reluctant to have a whole slew of critters that can see in the dark, but unless I light up labyrinths willy-nilly, I have trouble stocking them with the standard monsters. That's why this is on my mind.

[TippetsTX]

To Shostak's point, the 'dark vision' you use could be a different sense for different types of creatures. They could each provide very similar effective awareness of surroundings or opponents. Maybe trolls track their prey by smell, for example.

[hcobb]

Give trolls dark vision and -4 DX in sunlight to keep them underground.

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by TippetsTX

To Shostak's point, the 'dark vision' you use could be a different sense for different types of creatures. They could each provide very similar effective awareness of surroundings or opponents. Maybe trolls track their prey by smell, for example.

Exactly.

You could have animals sensing electrical fields, heat, mana, or with supersensive hearing or smell that gives them a holographic mental picture of their surroundings. What we think of as the visible spectrum is merely one small slice of potential sensory stimuli.

Trolls, for instance (or any dark-dwelling hunter) could have cat-like eyes that are very good at seeing in low light, coupled with one or more of the following that could work in what we see as total darkness:

hypersensitive stereo olfactory
echolocation
IR sensing
manafield disturbance
hypersensitive vibration sense

etc.

[TippetsTX]

I miss infravision.

[phiwum]

I understand Shostak's point that there are other ways of sensing, but I guess I'm not too keen to bother with how these critters actually sense in the dark. Oh, there are instances where this might be interesting, but most of these guys are drawn with eyes, even those who are found exclusively in dark places (like Ghouls), so I'm okay with figuring it's some sort of visual apparatus, whether it's infrared or the color of magic or whatever.

So, my question isn't how I should explain the ability to "see" (in some broad sense) in the dark, but how you've picked out which critters can do it.

Not that Shostak hasn't raised some good suggestions. It's just not the details I'm interested in.

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by phiwum

So, my question isn't how I should explain the ability to "see" (in some broad sense) in the dark, but how you've picked out which critters can do it.

The simple answer is “Which beasties do you want to have the ability to “see” in darkness?”. The related game mechanical issues are how far and how well they “see” with whatever ability they have, whether being in either light or darkness impose a DX penalty, and if there are conditions that interfere with whatever sensory ability they have.