Saturday, April 19, 2014

LIGHT SOURCES IN THE DUNGEON AND NEW ITEM: THE CANDLE

Candles are a common item found in the castle, and I have not found AD&D rules for them, although I would not be surprised if there is something that I missed. However, since I have placed candles I thought I might as well give a rule for them. Since I have not given lengths for each candle that can be found in the castle, you can assume each will be between 7 and 12 inches long (d6+6). In some places I may specify the particular lengths of each candle.  The candles are wax, not tallow, unless mentioned otherwise.  Here is the new item entry.

NEW ITEM:  CANDLE

Candles give good illumination to 5', and a normal wax candle will last for 3 turns (one half hour) for each inch in height. Special candles can be made to burn at a very controlled rate, acting as time-keepers.



Since I went ahead and talked about something as mundane as a candle, I might as well add content.  I went through the Players Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide and found the common (and uncommon) light sources available to players.  Here is a table:

Light Source Radius of Illumination Duration Cost
Candle, tallow 5' 3 turns/inch 1 cp
Candle, wax 5' 3 turns/inch 1 sp
Lantern, bullseye 80'** 24 turns* 12 gp
Lantern, hooded 30' 24 turns* 7 gp
Torch 40' 6 turns 1 cp






Magic dagger 10' infinite
Magic short sword 15' infinite
Magic long sword 20' infinite
Magic broad sword 20' infinite
Magic bastard sword 25' infinite
Magic two-handed sword 30' infinite
Flame tongue sword 40' on request




Cleric Spell


Continual Light 120' infinite
Light 20' 6 turns +1 turn/level




Druid Spell


Produce Flame 40' 2 rounds/level




Magic User/Illusionist Spell


Continual Light 60' infinite
Light 20' 1 turn/level

*Illumination for a hooded or bullseye lantern is from burning 1 pot (pint) of fine oil.

** Illumination for a bullseye lantern is 1” wide only and can be masked by shutter


Here are some prices for equipment associated with light sources:
Oil, flask of 1 gp
Tinder box, with flint& steel 1 gp

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