Hello All,
I'm a bit confused how vision rules work and need your expert advice how to rule this situation.
Human PC is walking in cavern in total darkness. And suddenly he sees light (torch) in 60 feet on the wall and enemy (let's say drow) near it. Drow also sees human.
Roll for initiative and drow goes first. He shoots a bolt from his crossbow. What modifiers should I apply to human in this situation? He sees enemy shooting, but he is standing in total darkness.
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Can the attacker see the target?
Under what light conditions can the attacker see the target?
In your example the drow gets no penalties because he has darkvision 120ft. There is no cover/concealment for the PC because the drow sees him.
The PC can shot at the Drow without penalties too because the drow is standing in a light. The PC sees his target .. no concealment.
Since the human is aware of the drow, I would say he is not flat-footed or denied his dexterity bonus.
Wait...actually depending on who goes first you are normally flat-footed the first round of combat...so reverse my earlier position.
If it wasn't the first round of combat though, he wouldn't be denied his dex to AC.
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I think that the implied question is: "The human get his dexterity bonus to AC?"
I would say that he get it. He see the drow making the attack, so he is aware of it.
How is that any different than two separate people attacking each other in a surprise round.
PC A makes perception check and sees monster A.
Monster A makes perception check and sees PC.
Moster A rolls higher on initiative and attacks PC. Would not the PC be flat-footed because they haven't acted yet? How is that any different than this scenario?
Yes, the human would be flatfooted the first round, not because he is in darkness but because he has not acted yet. After that both can see their attacker so no problem. Should the drow move away from the light later in the fight it would change.