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Goggles of Night 5e: Darkvision for the Human in the Party
Goggles of Night 5e are an uncommon wondrous item that gives you Darkvision out to 60 feet while you wear them. If you already have Darkvision, its range grows by 60 feet. They don't require attunement, so they cost nothing but a headwear slot. The item is identical in the 2014 and 2024 rules. The verdict: a quiet but useful find for any party that has one member who can't see in the dark, and close to pointless for a party of elves and dwarves.
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Goggles of Night Rules Text
Goggles of Night
2014 rules
Wondrous item, uncommon
UncommonNo attunement
While wearing these dark lenses, you have darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. If you already have darkvision, wearing the goggles increases its range by 60 feet.
While wearing these dark lenses, you have Darkvision out to 60 feet. If you already have Darkvision, wearing the goggles increases its range by 60 feet.
Darkvision lets you see in darkness within its range as if it were dim light, and in dim light as if it were bright light. You see only shades of gray in the dark. Two limits follow from that:
•Darkness becomes dim light, not daylight. Dim light is lightly obscured, so Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight are made with Disadvantage. A character in goggles exploring an unlit cave can walk, read a map in gray and fight, but is still worse at spotting a hidden ambush than someone with a torch.
•Magical darkness blocks it. The Darkness spell says outright that Darkvision can't see through it, in both editions.
Adding the goggles to Darkvision you already have
If you already have Darkvision, the goggles add 60 feet to its range. Typical results:
Who
2014 SRD
2024 SRD
Human, Halfling
0 → 60 ft
0 → 60 ft
Dragonborn
0 → 60 ft
60 → 120 ft
Goliath
Not in the SRD
0 → 60 ft
Elf, Gnome, Tiefling
60 → 120 ft
60 → 120 ft
Dwarf
60 → 120 ft
120 → 180 ft
Orc (2024) / Half-Orc (2014)
60 → 120 ft
120 → 180 ft
The goggles don't care where your Darkvision comes from. A character under the Darkvision spell (60 feet in 2014, 150 feet in 2024) who puts on the goggles sees 120 feet in 2014 or 210 feet in 2024, for the spell's 8 hours.
Taking them on and off
The goggles work while worn and have no activation. Neither SRD gives a time to put them on, but the 2014 SRD's list of things you can do alongside your move and action includes "don a mask." DM ruling: goggles are the same kind of task, so putting them on or off is your one free object interaction for the turn.
The headwear slot
Both SRDs say a character can't normally wear more than one item of headwear, and leave exceptions to the GM. Neither says whether goggles are headwear. DM ruling: goggles go over the eyes and don't block a hat, circlet or helm, the same way the 2014 SRD's own example lets a circlet sit under a helmet. Saying no is just as defensible; decide before someone finds a Circlet of Blasting too.
Goggles of Night: 2014 vs 2024
2014 (SRD 5.1)
2024 (SRD 5.2.1)
Rarity / attunement
Uncommon, no attunement
Uncommon, no attunement
Effect
Darkvision 60 ft, or +60 ft
Same
Value
No price in the SRD
400 GP (uncommon)
The item text didn't change. What changed is who needs it: the 2024 species rules give Darkvision to Dragonborn and 120 feet to Dwarves, Orcs and Drow, so fewer 2024 characters start with none. A 2024 party is more likely to have exactly one character in the dark, which makes the goggles' owner easy to pick.
Who Should Use Goggles of Night?
The one character without Darkvision. In a party where three characters see 60 feet in the dark and one doesn't, the party either lights a torch (announcing itself to everything in the dungeon) or leaves that character half-blind. The goggles fix that for 400 GP and no attunement.
Scouts and archers. A ranger with 120 feet of Darkvision can shoot at targets that can't see that far into the dark. Remember that attackers who can't see their target have Disadvantage, and the target you can see might not see you.
Not for: a party where everyone already has Darkvision and nobody needs more range. Compare the Eyes of the Eagle, also uncommon, which give Advantage on sight-based Perception checks (attunement in 2014, none in 2024); or the Gem of Seeing, a rare item whose Truesight sees through magical darkness for 10 minutes per charge.
Goggles of Night for DMs
Where they turn up. Anywhere underground: a goblin warren, an abandoned mine, the camp of a creature that hunts at night. As an uncommon item with no attunement, they fit an early hoard.
What they change. Darkness stops being a problem the party solves with torches, so the dungeon's lighting matters less. Darkvision still leaves Perception at Disadvantage in the dark, and magical darkness still blinds everyone without special senses, so use those if you want darkness to keep its teeth.
Pricing. The 2024 SRD values uncommon items at 400 GP. The 2014 SRD has no magic item prices. Use the magic item rarity calculator if you're running a shop.
Hooks.
•A mining company issues Goggles of Night to its foremen, and one pair went missing along with a foreman, deep in a shaft nobody else will enter.
•A thieves' guild sells night-work lessons. The final lesson is a pair of goggles and a locked vault with no lamps.
•A dead scout's goggles are still on her face. Whatever killed her saw her coming in the dark from farther away.
Which character has the goggles this week is easy to lose track of. Loreify records the session and writes the loot into the recap.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Goggles of Night require attunement?
No. They're an uncommon wondrous item without attunement in both the 2014 and 2024 rules, so they don't count toward your three attuned items.
Do Goggles of Night stack with Darkvision?
Yes. If you already have Darkvision, the goggles add 60 feet to its range: a 60-foot Darkvision becomes 120 feet, and a 2024 Dwarf's 120 feet becomes 180 feet.
Can Goggles of Night see through magical darkness?
No. They grant ordinary Darkvision, and the Darkness spell says Darkvision can't see through its area. You need Truesight or another special sense for that.
How much are Goggles of Night worth?
400 GP under the 2024 SRD, the value of an uncommon magic item. The 2014 SRD gives no prices for magic items.
Item text: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Analysis, rulings and ideas are Loreify's own.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.