Darkvision
Intro
Darkness and light are core mechanics and themes in His Majesty the Worm, so much so it’s in the Game Principles, under the heading The Deadly Underworld page xi in the introduction.
Darkness is always dangerous. No adventurer can see perfectly in the dark.
Right before this the game says,
As such, there are no abilities that mitigate the essential dangers of the dungeon.
The spell Heavenfire, does allow the caster to create light by casting it on an item, it lasts until torches gutter.
Dwarves, and Orcs do not have darkvision, Elves do not have low-light vision. This stands in stark contrast with D&D 5th 2024 ed, where out of the core 10 species, only 3 (Goliath, Halfling, and Humans) do not have darkvision.
Avoiding being stuck in darkness is a core tension of the game.
So why mess with that? To give players more interesting painful choices in a moment where it might matter.
I’m not sure if this is a good idea, but I’m here to fuck around and find out, it’s my preferred learning style.
Ideas
New optional Kin talent:
Dwarf Talent: Stone Sight
You may eat a gem, worth at least 100gp, to gain darkvision for a number of watches per 100gp in value of the gem rounded down.
If the gem is part of an item, the item is notched. If it is magical check the Miscast / Maleficence Table.
Dwarves who consume too many gems become addicted to them.
Wands Talent: Blood Flame
Take a 1 Piercing Wound, the blood from that wound burns with an eerie red light equivalent in strength to a lantern.
When ever torches gutter test wands with disfavor. If you fail the light goes out, on a critical failure take a wound and the light goes out.
Further Thoughts
In my setting Dwarves are more akin to elemental spirits of earth, stone and metal than they are short humans as they are portrayed in many other fantasy settings. Stone Sight fits in with this theme.
I can easily see a sword granting a warrior the same ability as Blood Flame, and this might be even more interesting, especially if that character has a poor wands score.