Magical Light and Darkness

[slaughterj]

In HERO, Darkness trumps Light (via Change Environment, Images, etc.). However, in many fantasy settings, whichever was last, trumps the other. I see a couple of ways to handle this:

1. For Darkness, create Darkness spell. For Light, create a MP with 1 slot to create light (CE or Images), and another slot for Dispel Darkness. This is a bit cumbersome though, and also wouldn't create light in the darkness area, it would simply dispel Darkness (i.e., you were in a very dark setting naturally, but someone cast Darkness, one casting would not be enough to light up the area - first you'd have to dispel darkness, then create light).

2. Another solution I thought of was to apply a limitation to magical darkness spells, such that they were automatically dispelled by subsequently cast magical light spells. This seems smooth, but what would the lim value be? Also, it would have to be worked out what happens when two people are walking around with a pre-created darkness and light fields?

 

Thoughts?

 

Also, what'd be best for the magical light spell, images (like for flashlight in the book) or change environment, and why?

[Derek Hiemforth]

If you want all light and darkness effects in a particular world setting to work this way, I think it's easier to just apply it as a ground rule. Rather than buying extra Powers or applying extra Limitations, you could just make it an axiom of the world that darkness and light effects cancel each other out up the Active Points in the power.

 

So if someone cast a 40 Active Point light effect on a 30 Active Point darkness effect, there would be a net 10 Active Points of light remaining (which you could then increase if you wished by casting again). If the darkness was 50 Active Points, then the light spell would have diminished it to 10, but it would still be dark, and so on.

[Old Man]

There's a special effect component to this matter, though. Frequently the darkness is not just an AD+D patch of black, it's a thick fog or a cloud of dust or a swarm of locusts. Whereas light is usually just light.

[slaughterj]

Originally posted by Old Man

There's a special effect component to this matter, though. Frequently the darkness is not just an AD+D patch of black, it's a thick fog or a cloud of dust or a swarm of locusts. Whereas light is usually just light.

 

Good point - the dispelling effect would just be on patches of darkness, more than likely.

[The Mad GM]

Originally posted by slaughterj

Good point - the dispelling effect would just be on patches of darkness, more than likely.

 

A very bright light in a dense fog just makes bright dense fog. Other than providing some sense of direction (knowing where the light is coming from), it doesn't alleviate the problem of being in 'darkness'.

 

Another 'darkness' effect I've come across is a visual blur - stepping into the area makes your vision incredibly nearsighted. There was some sort of defense that made you immune, though I can't recall what it was. Again, light would have no effect, even locally.

 

Another one i've thought of is a darkness that makes fairly bright light come from everywhere - essentially mild snowblinding. It was linked to a small flash attack that only happened as you left the 'darkness' area.

[pawsplay]

The multipower version is how it works in D&D, most of the time.

 

Personally, I'd link a Dispel darkness to the CE (light). Or just let the CE reduce the penalties imposed by darkness as its effect.

[wlfjstr]

I have always thought that light should not be bought with images or change environment. It is more or less covered under the senses power. When you buy a sense you can define it as active or passive. Sight is always bought passive. If you buy it active then you can be seen by anyone who can see. It seems to me that the active portion of sight is a light transmitter of some sort.

 

In this case a darkness power would effectively negate the active sense. The only way to trump that is for someone to have a dispel vs. darkness.

[The Mad GM]

Originally posted by wlfjstr

I have always thought that light should not be bought with images or change environment. It is more or less covered under the senses power. When you buy a sense you can define it as active or passive. Sight is always bought passive. If you buy it active then you can be seen by anyone who can see. It seems to me that the active portion of sight is a light transmitter of some sort.

 

In this case a darkness power would effectively negate the active sense. The only way to trump that is for someone to have a dispel vs. darkness.

 

How much do you charge for active sight?

 

At first blush it seemed sort of munchkinny, since essentially everyone around you gets to use it and you didn't have to buy Usable By Others. But heck, it's just a flashlight/light spell. It really shouldn't cost much in any case, and only one person has to have it. I'm curious about your writeup.

[wlfjstr]

I haven't done a write-up. I don't usually do that for things like a torch or a flashlight and no-one has ever asked about a light spell.

 

Having looked it up, 'Transmit' under enhanced senses is the thing. 2 pts for a single sense 5 for the group.

 

This really doens't answer slaughterj's worry of how a magical light spell would take away a magical darkness. But I think then that you define it just as a dispel separate from the actual light.