| lucien pyrus |
I noticed the light cantrip specifies that
This spell causes a touched object to glow like a torch, shedding normal light in a 20-foot radius, and increasing the light level for an additional 20 feet by one step, up to normal light (darkness becomes dim light, and dim light becomes normal light). In an area of normal or bright light, this spell has no effect. The effect is immobile, but it can be cast on a movable object.
Meanwhile Sunrod states
This 1-foot-long, gold-tipped iron rod glows brightly when struck (a standard action). It sheds normal light in a 30-foot radius and increases the light level by one step for an additional 30 feet beyond that area (darkness becomes dim light and dim light becomes normal light). A sunrod does not increase the light level in normal light or bright light. It glows for 6 hours, after which the gold tip is burned out and worthless.
So these are both different sources of light. Does this mean that if light is cast on the sunrod would expand the normal light distance from 30 for the sunrod to the combined 40 with the overlap? Thus expanding the sunrod's normal light radius from 30 to 40?
| Pizza Lord |
Vision and Light
Short answer
Light sources can work in combination to increase illumination (up to their maximum illumination) unless they specifically say otherwise or how they interact with ambient or prevailing illumination in an area. So yes, you can space light sources out to where their 'increased illumination' overlaps and make 'virtual' areas of normal illumination.
This can be more easily demonstrated using candles rather than torches. A candle only illuminates to dim light in a 5-foot radius. So if you only have one lit candle, you have basically dim, shadowy illumination around you (everything technically has concealment). From candle's description, we can read that a candle can increase illumination up to normal light. The only way this can happen is with a light source or prevailing illumination already in place making the area dimly illuminated (possibly sunlight filtered through a tree canopy or from another source like a torch between 21 and 40 feet away).
We know (common sense) that numerous candles can more brightly illuminate an area to where you have no trouble seeing what's around them. Like when you walk into a church or see a shrine covered in candles (and you're all like "Who the hell lights all these candles?"). We know that enough candles can do so. Obviously we aren't talking about little birthday candles, but house-type candles and Adventuring Gear section-type candles. So you could carry or use multiple candles to increase your vision and illumination range. In this instance, let's say you light two candles, your GM could then say that you have normal illumination within 5 feet of you as long as you keep both candles burning and effectively 'boosting' each other (ie. not having one in front of your body and the other behind). It would also be their call whether there's then a 5-foot around of increased (dim) illumination around you (I would likely rule so in this example), but that's not always the case with all light sources; like a glowstick might illuminate very little around it, even though its location and shape is very distinctive at making itself visible (like those illuminated strips on stairs in movie theaters).
Assuming you are in an area of normal, ambient, or prevailing darkness (not magical), like a cave. The light/illumination would not stack in the 'normal' radius of the light sources, since they both cap at 'normal illumination). If both were in roughly the same position (ie, let's say you cast light on the end of the sunrod and then ignited it), you would use the sunrod's illumination since it has the larger radius. Same as if you cast light on the end of a torch (which both have the same illumination radius) and light it. You'd end up with 20' normal illumination and 20 more feet of dim illumination (one step up from darkness.
Using the graphic that you linked, where there's a sunrod 40 or 50 feet away from a torch or light spell, then the illumination beyond the normal radius would improve by one step (up to a maximum of normal). This means you could basically double the distance between light sources for having normal illumination. It's a little tough to spatially explain in an open area.
Imagine you have a 100 foot long corridor or hallway (naturally dark) and two 20 foot rooms at either end (also unilluminated). If you [human without darkvision or lowlight vision] are standing at one end of the corridor and a torch or light spell was at the center of the corridor, it will illuminate to normal light within 20 feet and 20 more feet beyond that will illuminate by one step to dim light (basically shadowy and concealment). Basically you would see nothing from 0 to 10 feet into the corridor. You can't make really make out anything in that area.* (But note below)
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Non-basically, you might see the silhouettes or shapes of things between you and the light, like you would see an outline of a creature standing in the darkness between you and the normal or dim illumination, but you couldn't make out details. For example, if there was a large STOP sign placed in the hallway facing towards or away from you, you could see its shape there (an octagonal object) but couldn't tell if it was facing towards or away from you or what color it was (normally red) or what it said, even if the lettering on it was highly-reflective.
From 11 to 30 feet away, it would be dim light and creatures (or objects) would be in shadow and you'd have a 20% concealment miss chance against them in most cases. Then from 30 to 50 (where the light is at the center of the corridor's length) and then beyond that to 70 feet away from you, would be considered normal illumination. Anything in there would at a normal chance for you to see (distance penalties to Perception notwithstanding). Then from 70 to 90 feet would be more dim light and the final 10 feet of the corridor (and the room beyond it) would be darkness and unperceivable or observable to you.
With one light source it's pretty easy. If you were to move it one-third the length of the corridor, you can probably figure out the same basics. If there's two torches, you could use their overlapping 'Increased illumination' area to make the corridor be 'Normal illumination', since their light will increase each other's increased area (not their normal, 20-foot radius, of 'normal' illumination).
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With you standing in one room at the end of a 100 foot corridor and placing one torch at 30 feet down the corridor and another at 70 feet away, would result in 'normal' illumination to you between 10 and 50 feet away (from the closest torch), and dim illumination between there and you (and rendering parts of your room dimly-lit, and then normal illumination (it would be continuous) from 50 to 90 feet away from you (from the second torch), with dim or shadowy illumination the remaining 10 feet of the corridor, and some into the room beyond (barring maybe the nearest corners or angles into the room where the light entering the doorway wouldn't 'spread' but more like 'burst' their illumination).
If the two torches were instead placed at either end of the corridor (0 and 100 feet from you), then you would have 'normal' illumination with 20 feet of both torches (0 to 20 feet away and 80 to 100 feet away) and then dim light 21 to 40 feet away, and darkness from 41 to 60 feet away, then dim light again from 61 to 80 feet away (where the normal light would resume for the second torch).
The two rooms at either end would also be normally lit.
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If the torches were placed 20 feet into either end of the corridor, where their increased radius (normally dim light) would both overlap at the center, then you'd also have normal light (unless the light source itself specifies it only increases 'ambient' light). So normal illumination from 0 to 40 feet as usual (for the first torch) and normal illumination at 60 to 100 feet as usual (for the second torch) and then in the area between from 41 to 60 feet you'd have normal illumination, where the two dim light would normally be.
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| lucien pyrus |
Thank you. That covers exactly what I wanted to know
Giving some of my teammates a torch or sunstick can still be useful and grabbing a ranged weapon to be able to use light to illuminate where enemies might be hiding could be useful in some situations. I'm playing Second Darkness and assume we might spend time underground