Visibility
NOTE: maybe every 10% below 60% visibility is a -1 (so -1 at 50%, -2 at 40, etc. -5 at 10% and then a -10 at 0% to simulate total blindness)
Visibility refers to how hard it is to see and respond to an opponent. It is broken into two interacting elements - Light and Concealment.
Contents
Light
Light is considered the base-line of Visibility - the more light, the more characters are able to see before Concealment interferes. Light Sources and Vision Types alter the Light Level.
| Light | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | Light | |||||||||
| 0% | Total Darkness, Sealed Cave or Tomb | |||||||||
| 10% | Stormy Night | |||||||||
| 20% | Faint Stars Out | |||||||||
| 30% | Starlight | |||||||||
| 40% | Cloudy Night | |||||||||
| 50% | Moonlight, Shuttered Room during Daylight, Blackout Curtains | |||||||||
| 60% | Twilight | |||||||||
| 70% | Dawn or Dusk, Thickly Curtained Room during Daylight | |||||||||
| 80% | Sunrise or Sunset, Thinly Curtained Room during Daylight | |||||||||
| 90% | Cloudy Day, Windowed Room during Daylight | |||||||||
| 100% | Daylight | |||||||||
Light Reaching Indoors
If a room does not have a Light Source within it, it will block some of the light. If a room has has windows (or open doors) that are not obscured from a light source, reduce the effective Light entering the room by 10%. If a room has curtained windows, reduce the effective Light entering the room by 20% if they are thin, 30% if they are thick or 50% if they are blackout curtains. The same applies for curtained doorways. If a room has shuttered windows, decrease the effective Light entering the room by 50%. Most doors will do similarly.
Note, this does not mean a room that has a solid door and shuttered windows has -100% Light entering the room, only that the windows and door reduce any Light Sources penetration by that amount - 50% each in this case. Naturally, this has no effect Light located inside the room.
Magical Light and Magical Darkness
Magical Light increases the effective Light of an area as a Light Source whilst Darkness decreases the effective Light of a room. Only Magical Light can penetrate Magical Darkness.
Concealment
Concealment decreases the effective Visibility of a given target.
| Concealment | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concealment | Concealment Modifier | |||||||||
| Target is Completely Exposed | +0% | |||||||||
| Target is up to 1/4 Concealed (Dead Birch Tree, Light Scrub) | +20% | |||||||||
| Target is 1/4 to 1/2 Concealed (Waist High Fence, Bushes) | +40% | |||||||||
| Target is 1/2 to 3/4 Concealed (Shoulder High Wall, Pine Tree) | +60% | |||||||||
| Target is more than 3/4 Concealed (Solid Wall, Redwood) | +80% | |||||||||
| Precipitation | Concealment Modifier | |||||||||
| Cloudy or Light (Drizzle) | +10% | |||||||||
| Moderate (Rain or Snow) | +20% | |||||||||
| Heavy (Sleet, Snowstorm) | +30% | |||||||||
| Very Heavy (Storm) | +40% | |||||||||
| Torrential (Tropical Storm or Blizzard) | +60% | |||||||||
| Inescapable (Heavy Blizzard, Magical Storm) | +80% | |||||||||
| Fog or Mist | Concealment Modifier | |||||||||
| Light Fog, Mist or Smoke | +20% | |||||||||
| Dense Fog, Mist or Smoke | +40% | |||||||||
| Mists of Ravenloft, Paraelemental Plane of Smoke | +80% | |||||||||
Visibility Effects
To determine the Visibility level, subtract the value of the Concealment from the amount of Light. Multiple levels of Concealment may stack.
Light above 100% has no effects but counteracts greater amounts of darkness. Similarly, Light below 0% has no effect but counteracts greater amounts of Light.
If Light is above 100%, consider it to be 100 for purposes of subtracting Concealment to determine Visibility.
Visibility has no further effects below 0%.
| Visibility | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | Effects | |||||||||
| 100% | No Effects | |||||||||
| 90% | Hide in Shadows receives +5% vs Character | |||||||||
| 80% | -1 To-Hit, -1 Reflex Saves, Hide in Shadows receives +10% vs Character | |||||||||
| 70% | -1 To Hit, -1 Reflex Saves, -1 AC, Hide in Shadows receives +15% vs Character | |||||||||
| 60% | -2 To-Hit, -2 Reflexes, -2 AC, Hide in Shadows receives +20% vs Character | |||||||||
| 50% | -2 To-Hit, -2 Reflexes, -2 AC, -1 on Sight-based Checks, Hide in Shadows receives +25% vs Character | |||||||||
| 40% | -3 To-Hit, -3 Reflex, -3 AC, -2 on Sight-based Checks, Hide in Shadows receives +30% vs Character | |||||||||
| 30% | -3 To-Hit, -3 Reflex, -3 AC, -3 on Sight-based Checks, Hide in Shadows receives +35% vs Character | |||||||||
| 20% | -4 To-Hit, -4 Reflex, -4 AC, -4 on Sight-based Checks, Hide in Shadows receives +40% vs Character | |||||||||
| 10% | -4 To-Hit, -4 Reflex, -4 AC, -5 on Sight-based Checks, Hide in Shadows receives +50% vs Character | |||||||||
| 0% | -5 To-Hit (Melee), -10 To-Hit (Ranged), -5 Reflex, -5 AC, Sight-based Checks cannot be made if Light is 0%, otherwise -10, Hide in Shadows automatically succeeds against Character, Poor Footing +1 if Light is 0%, Flatfooted | |||||||||
Note that some modifiers will apply only to the character when dealing with an opponent who is concealed from them. For example, a character who is at Visibility 0% to one enemy but Visibility 90% otherwise will not suffer a -10 To-Hit penalty against their other opponents. They are not Flatfooted against their non-concealed opponents either and can take Reactions normally except against their opponent, nor do they suffer Poor Footing. If this character were in total darkness, however, they would suffer these penalties.
