A question about something I thought I knew but am now second guessing myself about. Does darkvision always begin at the creature using it or at the edge of the darkness.
So can a dwarf in a dark cave holding a torch see 60' or 80'?
From the creature. Light and vision is weird in Pathfinder but at least a bit better than 3.5
Not that I'm doubting anyone, but can someone quote the rules text that says or implies that?
I'll admit I'm a bit nitpicky about stuff like that.
(Honestly measuring from the character is how I've always played it and will continue to play it. I'm just second guessing myself.)
Sometimes rules questions are just too specific to have a strict RAW answer. If I asked "Can I use a sword while riding a horse?", there is no actual line in the rules that says "You are allowed to wield a sword while riding a horse". It's just intuitive from the context of the other rules that you are allowed to do so.
As it is with darkvision. I don't know a single person who has ever thought darkvision begins at the edge of normal or dim lighting. You will not find an actual rules line that claims this, but it is intuitive enough that nobody disagrees with it.
Not that I'm doubting anyone, but can someone quote the rules text that says or implies that?
I'll admit I'm a bit nitpicky about stuff like that.
(Honestly measuring from the character is how I've always played it and will continue to play it. I'm just second guessing myself.)
It makes no sense to have it originate from a target other than the character who possesses Darkvision. If the idea is that the character perceives through standard Darkness through their eyesight, then it would make no sense to use a different point of origin, such as a Torch or a place of Darkness, if the target (area) that's supposed to have the subject, isn't the selected target affected by the ability/effect.
If you want to be that nitpicky, then let's apply "Facing" to characters on the board, because I'm sure PCs aren't normally allowed to see 360 degrees around their person. You'll find that it will cause more headaches than it will solutions, so it's best to keep things abstract.
Quite frankly, not everything needs a RAW answer for it to make sense. You'd be left with PCs being unable to void their bladders and such, and would be treated as if they didn't have to eat, go to the bathroom, etc. Because the book doesn't cover them. But it's safe to say that when you're a level 1 PC, and a level 12 Gargantuan Red Dragon roars in your face, you're going to pee your pants.
My reasoning for wondering about this was thinking about low-light vision and darkvision. Low-light vision doubles the effective rang of light sources and so its benefits can vary wildly based on what light you have. I was wondering if some of the same concepts applied to darkvision or whether it was an entirely binary and static ability.
Edit: Also, I sensed a certain ambiguity in the darkvision wording and the devil's advocate in me wanted to shove a crowbar in there and see how much it would crack.
Also, I sensed a certain ambiguity in the darkvision wording and the devil's advocate in me wanted to shove a crowbar in there and see how much it would crack.
Let's not and say we did. We have way too much of that on the rules forums already.