Combat in darkness

[MonkeyX]

Do characters without night vision suffer a -2 penalty to combat rolls in darkness, the same as if their targets have cover or am I missing a rule somewhere?

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Do characters without night vision suffer a -2 penalty to combat rolls in darkness, the same as if their targets have cover or am I missing a rule somewhere?

It all depends on how the night is described, where the characters are, and what each player says their character is doing at that moment? A -2 is typically a hard-wired DM that has no way around it.

 

[NOLATrav]

In twilight, +1 Range Band; in full dark, +2 Range Bands. Sometimes it doesn’t make a difference but sometimes it’s a huge difference.

 

[arcador]

Which edition? The 2nd doesn't state a specific penalty (or at least I didn't find any).

In low-vision I would impose bane.
In no vision, I would impose chance to miss (1-5 out of 6) and -2 to hit (as if the target is hiding), in case of a hit. Of course, no aiming.