Wasnt sure if this should be posted in rules or advice, so please don't hate me :3
I've got a campaign going, with a big emphasis on being a little spooky. Easiest way of doing that is to keep my party guessing on what is going to attack them. They've got a few dungeons to crawl that will be very dark, and the players will have to bring the light source. The idea i was toying with was to have the monsters remain just at the edge of light, afraid of the flame. Then, when the party sets off a water or wind based trap, the monsters scurry in and attack, only to flee when a new light source presents itself. My question is this. How is the best way, on the grid, to show how far a players light travels, without revealing a portion of the dungeon they have yet to explore?
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That depends on the grid itself. If it's dry erase, I suggest protracters or circle guides. If light hits a wall, then, well they see that wall. Technically speaking, light doesn't travel around corners. So if you keep your corridors loooong but tight, the light shouldn't be an issue.
If it's on roll 20... I have no idea.
i wish i had a dry erase. I'm working with a three foot by four foot pieces of paper. To save time, i normally pre-render the dungeons, rather then draw them as we go.
It is almost impossible without a projector or monitor and a Virtual Table Top. I know that isn't the answer that you want to hear, but it is true. All the light and vision rules treat each PC differently.
For instance, take a space 65' away from a torch. The humans and Half Orcs can't see it at all. The elves see it as dim light.
Now at 50' away from the torch all three see differently. The human can't see it at all, the elf sees it as dim light and the half-orc sees it clearly, but in black and white.
It gets even more complicated when the PCs start moving the light sources around.
The only real way to do it is to measure from each point of light when the player is trying to see something. As DM you are going to have to do a lot of that in your head if you want to create the level of suspense you appear to be looking for.