Dungeons & Dragons Gameplay - Extraordinary Senses

Extraordinary Senses

• Blindsight and blindsense: These abilities represent acute nonvisual senses, such as echolocation or an acute sense of hearing or smell. Blindsight, introduced in the 3rd edition Monster Manual, allows a creature to discern the shape of its surroundings and locate and identify creatures, negating all visibility-related combat penalties. In the 3.5 edition, blindsight is generally only possessed by creatures which lack a visual sense, such as oozes, although there are some exceptions, such as whales. Blindsense, a variant of blindsight introduced in the 3.5 edition Monster Manual, is more limited: it allows a creature to discern the rough locations of other creatures, but does not negate the other effects of concealment or poor visibility. When a creature possesses blindsight or blindsense, the specific senses represented by the ability are generally specified. No races from the Player's Handbook possess blindsight or blindsense.
• Darkvision: This refers to the ability of a creature to see in the dark. It allows the creature to discern shapes (as in normal, daylight vision) but only in shades of grey. Darkvision was introduced in the 3.0 edition of the game to replace both Ultravision and Infravision, which had become seen by some designers of the game as too logically inconsistent to continue using as-is.
• Infravision: One of the predecessors of Darkvision, in all the early editions (Original, Basic, and Advanced, in all editions thereof) of the game, which was loosely based on the premise of the infrared spectrum. It allowed some races to see in darkness by discerning the heat signatures left behind by other creatures. However, under the game rules description it was described as seeing in total darkness just as one would outdoors on a clear night under a bright full moon. This attribute was present in many demi-human races that lived above ground - such as the Elves (non Drow).
• Low-light vision: Introduced in the 3rd edition Player's Handbook, low-light vision allows a character to see better in poor lighting conditions.
• Tremorsense: Introduced in the 3rd edition Monster Manual, creatures with tremorsense have an acute ability to sense vibrations, allowing them to locate other creatures in contact with the ground or in the water. No PHB races possess tremorsense.
• Ultravision: Another predecessor of Darkvision, in the Advanced editions of the game, loosely based on the premise of the ultraviolet spectrum, was essentially identical to Darkvision in all but name. This attribute was usually only reserved for those races that lived exclusively in the dark or underground, such as the Drow (Dark Elves).