List of Light sensitive creatures

[Hunch]

One of my players has a sword that can cast Sunbeam. In the description of the spell near the bottom is states...

"In addition, the beam results in the destruction of any undead creature specifically harmed by bright light if it fails its save."

We've been playing for a few years now and we have yet to encounter a creature that specifically says it is sensitive to light, which always draws a frown for my player when she tries to use the sword on a new type of creature and I tell her, "Nope, not sensitive to light."

Is there a list by chance somewhere that lists creatures that are specifically sensitive to light, or can someone give me some examples of some?

Or are most undead naturally sensitive to light and I'm overlooking something?

Thanks!

[Bob Bob Bob]

Vampires. Duh.

[Hunch]

Bob Bob Bob wrote:

Vampires. Duh.

Doh! I must admit, that one totally slipped by me.

What are some other light sensitive creatures, or are vampires the only one?

[Bob Bob Bob]

Damage: Bodak. Gaki.
Con Damage: Derro. Fuath.
Death: Vampires and most variants.
Maybe? Rock Troll is petrified. Drives out a Shadow Demon. Shadow Golems take extra damage from the spells that use it.

Lots of other stuff has Sunlight Powerlessness (staggered and cannot attack) but those are the only ones I can really call "harmed".

[kadance]

But it only affects undead.

[Kayerloth]

I personally would call any negative effect as being "harmed" and would add any Undead with Sunlight Powerlessness to the list ... which definitely includes Wraith and Wraith variants. At least I would strongly object if my character was staggered and the GM tried to call/treat that as "not harmful"

And just to note it does effect more than Undead. It also effects "Fungi, Mold, Oozes and Slimes just as if they were Undead" though a quick search I did not seeing any that were effected specifically by Sunlight/Light. It will, in fact, harm pretty much any creature caught in its area blinding and doing 4d6 at minimum on a failed save.

I believe the mechanics got semi-lost in translation from earlier editions of D&D where the distinction of infrared and ultraviolet light (and its effects on vision and creatures) was sometimes made.

Edit:
I'm realizing by my 'definition' of harmed any creature, such as Orcs, with Light Sensitivity would be considered harmed and as such take additional damage from Sunbeam or the definition needs tweaking and I'm more okay with that than saying staggered is 'not harmful'.

[Jeraa]

Kayerloth wrote:

And just to note it does effect more than Undead. It also effects "Fungi, Mold, Oozes and Slimes just as if they were Undead" though a quick search I did not seeing any that were effected specifically by Sunlight/Light. It will, in fact, harm pretty much any creature caught in its area blinding and doing 4d6 at minimum on a failed save.

Yellow mold is rendered dormant in sunlight, while green slime is destroyed by it.

Those things don't have to be harmed by light, however. Sunbeam harms them all, regardless of whether they have any special vulnerabilities to light. All undead (and all fungi, mold, oozes, and slimes) will be damaged at 1d6/caster level. They just won't automatically be destroyed unless they have a special vulnerability to light.

[Matthew Downie]

Flumphs are light, sensitive creatures.

Wait, is that what we're talking about?

[GM Rednal]

Kobolds, Mites, Duergar, Orc, Dhampir, Kuru, Akaname, Giant Cockroach, Grioth, Orog, Executioner's Hood, Shadow Drake, Dark Spitter Beetle, Deep Merfolk, Penanggalen (Undead!), Carrion Claw (apparently vulnerable to magical light), Cave Giant, Owb, Lurker Above, Manananggal...

(A few from the Tome of Horrors, I think, but these all have Light Sensitivity.)

That said, Sunbeam in general does appear to be awfully narrow in its list of targets for that added effect... XD

[Hunch]

GM Rednal wrote:

That said, Sunbeam in general does appear to be awfully narrow in its list of targets for that added effect... XD

That was my thought as well. It seems by the wording that that special effect only affects UNDEAD that are sensitive to light.

[GM Rednal]

That is the correct reading - and it's not simply undead sensitive to light, but those actively harmed by it. As I said... that's a rather narrow group of foes. XD

(Sadly, Light spells are a bit limited. Take the Solar Spell feat, for example, which requires spells with the Light descriptor that also do damage. There aren't very many.)

[Kayerloth]

Might be time to add a Vampire npc as a long term foe. Or worse some GM created Slime Lord and getting all gooey with the party and your sword wielder ... if this is a sandbox type campaign.

There are several categories of targets.
Normal-> taking 4d6+Blinding
'Sensitive'-> taking 8d6+Blinding
Undead-> taking d6/caster level (of the sword)
Undead which are also harmed by 'bright light'-> destruction.
And that final note which adds Fungi, Mold, Oozes and Slimes which are treated as Undead (which effectively adds 2 potential results when Sunbeam strikes them)

The spell does not define what qualifies as bright light.
The only place I've found anything further noting what qualifies as bright light is under Additional Rules->Exploration->Vision and Light which mentions the Daylight Spell and direct Sunlight as sources of bright light.