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Post by bestialwarlust on Mar 25, 2014 7:59:17 GMT -6
Curious how do you handle lighting in your game? Most games use flaming oil and kerosene style lanterns and torches. But since most of the d&d games are a faux medieval style game those items don't really work that way. Do you have your characters use candles or candle lanterns? Do you let them use flaming oil even though they'd be using a vegetable type oil that doesn't just explode in a ball of fire? I think it'd make dungeon crawling a lot more scary. A candle is your only source? then you'll need a lot of them and someone to carry them. No more torchbearers you have candle bearers now!
Light spell is a lot note valuable. It's radius is a lot greater than a candle or even a roman style oil lamp
So how do you handle it?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2014 9:57:52 GMT -6
My game is more Roman then medieval and the Romans had olive oil burning lanterns so that's what I use. No flaming oil for me. I have found that most games tend to make oil and candles burn out too quickly. You can buy beeswax candles that will last for 10 hours, and they aren't that big. Plus oil lanterns can be refilled while burning so they won't burn out as long as there's oil left.
As for light, when I was a little kid, we went to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. In the cave the guide has us turn off all of our flashlights and, after a few minutes of total darkness, he lit one match. That one match lit up the whole cavern, and this cavern was big enough to fit 100 people. So I'll always describe the size of the room.
One thing that most DMs don't do is allow monsters to see the party's light from much further away. There's really no way a party with torches could surprise a monster that's sitting in the dark.
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Post by bestialwarlust on Mar 25, 2014 10:00:59 GMT -6
My game is more Roman then medieval and the Romans had olive oil burning lanterns so that's what I use. No flaming oil for me. I have found that most games tend to make oil and candles burn out too quickly. You can buy beeswax candles that will last for 10 hours, and they aren't that big. Plus oil lanterns can be refilled while burning so they won't burn out as long as there's oil left. As for light, when I was a little kid, we went to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. In the cave the guide has us turn off all of our flashlights and, after a few minutes of total darkness, he lit one match. That one match lit up the whole cavern, and this cavern was big enough to fit 100 people. So I'll always describe the size of the room. One thing that most DMs don't do is allow monsters to see the party's light from much further away. There's really no way a party with torches could surprise a monster that's sitting in the dark. Interesting note about the match. That's one thing I do if they are underground I never allow the party too surprise monsters. I always remind them about that fact. |
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Post by talysman on Mar 25, 2014 10:13:16 GMT -6
I figure the cheap lantern is a candle lantern and the bullseye is an oil lantern. Flaming oil is fun, so it works the way gamers expect. But candles will burn in my games a lot longer than later systems suggest (eight hours.) The light distances typically given are for seeing detail; everything beyond that radius is spooky and indistinct.
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Post by coffee on Mar 26, 2014 8:11:08 GMT -6
As far back as World War I it was known that you couldn't light a cigarette in the open if you didn't want snipers to shoot at you. So yeah, the thing about seeing light from far away is definitely true and something to be considered.
On the other hand, I do like flaming oil as a weapon. It is a fantasy game after all, and I don't have a problem with it. (And in AD&D, it's in the book.) But I can totally see if somebody else doesn't want to allow it.
Each to his own.
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Post by aldarron on Mar 26, 2014 8:28:21 GMT -6
"lamp oil" (refined kerosene) and hurricane lamps are literally standard in D&D. The D&D world isn't a straight up medieval simulation after all and many pre-industrial periods and technologies happily co-reside.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2014 10:13:07 GMT -6
The D&D world isn't a straight up medieval simulation after all and many pre-industrial periods and technologies happily co-reside. Except for guns. We'll have none of that. In Wikipedia it talks about torches being made with sulphur and lime with them appearing as little bundles rather than the big flaming stick we think of today. Anyone know how these were made and if they stunk when burned?  Torch SellerThese little bundles appear to be used in wedding ceremonies by the ancient greeks. |
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jdjarvis
Level 4 Theurgist
Hmmm,,,, had two user names, I'll be using this one from now on.
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Post by jdjarvis on Mar 26, 2014 12:10:27 GMT -6
You can make torches with pitch. A bundle of cattails (the plant) can be dipped in pitch and will burn for a brief while, I've done it myself and it works. A bundle of sticks would be more durable and burn longer.
Oil can also be made from animal fat (such as whales) and it burns fine. A great source of non-traditional flammable oil could be dragon fat or possibly the inside of a dragon egg, of course that would be more expensive then whale oil but what self respectign Pc would opt for a whale oil fire bomb over a dragon oil fire bomb?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2014 16:43:35 GMT -6
Okay, one of you science people needs to make some lime and sulfur bundle torches and do a video of you in a cave. :-)
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