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Lantern of Revealing 5e: How It Exposes Invisible Creatures
A Lantern of Revealing in 5e is an uncommon hooded lantern that doesn't require attunement. Lit, it burns for 6 hours on a pint of oil and sheds bright light in a 30-foot radius plus dim light for 30 feet more. Any invisible creature or object inside the bright light is visible, to everyone, for as long as it stays there. Lowering the hood (an action in 2014, a Utilize action in 2024) shrinks the light to a 5-foot dim glow. The verdict: a cheap, no-concentration answer to invisible enemies, as long as you can get them within 30 feet.
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Lantern of Revealing Rules Text
Lantern of Revealing
2014 rules
Wondrous item, uncommon
UncommonNo attunement
While lit, this hooded lantern burns for 6 hours on 1 pint of oil, shedding bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. Invisible creatures and objects are visible as long as they are in the lantern's bright light. You can use an action to lower the hood, reducing the light to dim light in a 5-foot radius.
While lit, this hooded lantern burns for 6 hours on 1 pint of oil, shedding Bright Light in a 30-foot radius and Dim Light for an additional 30 feet. Invisible creatures and objects are visible as long as they are in the lantern's Bright Light. You can take a Utilize action to lower the hood, reducing the lantern's light to Dim Light in a 5-foot radius.
The revealing effect stops at 30 feet. An invisible creature 35 feet away is in the lantern's dim light and stays invisible. Stand the lantern-bearer in the middle of the party and the circle covers most of a fight; put them at the back and it covers the back line.
The effect is on the creature, not on the viewer. Everyone looking at a creature in that light can see it: the party, the monsters and any bystanders. Nobody has to hold the lantern or be attuned to it.
What "visible" does to the Invisible condition
The 2024 Invisible condition answers this directly. Its "Concealed" benefit doesn't stop effects from creatures that can see you, and its attack benefits (Advantage on your attacks, Disadvantage on attacks against you) don't apply against a creature that can see you. Inside the lantern's bright light, everyone can, so a revealed creature loses both. Spells that need a target you can see, like Hold Person, work on it again.
The 2014 condition says an invisible creature is impossible to see without the aid of magic or a special sense, and the lantern is that magic. Its separate attack bullet (Disadvantage against the creature, Advantage for it) doesn't carve out an exception for creatures that can be seen. The 2014 general rule for unseen attackers and targets ties those modifiers to whether a creature can be seen, but the condition's own bullet doesn't repeat that. DM ruling: treat a creature the lantern reveals as an ordinary, visible creature, with no attack modifiers either way, matching the 2024 wording.
Which invisibility it beats
Any source that makes a creature or object invisible: the Invisibility and Greater Invisibility spells, a Potion of Invisibility, a Ring of Invisibility (or, in 2024, a Cloak of Invisibility), and monsters that turn invisible, such as the Imp, Quasit and Sprite. The Invisible Stalker, invisible at all times, is the classic target.
It doesn't reveal what isn't invisible: a creature behind a wall, a disguised creature, or an illusion.
Hidden creatures in 2024
In 2024, a creature that succeeds on the Hide action has the Invisible condition while it stays hidden, and Hide requires being Heavily Obscured or behind Three-Quarters or Total Cover. The item text settles the darkness case: a hider standing in the lantern's bright light is an invisible creature in that light, so it's visible. DM ruling: a hider behind a wall or a thick crate isn't really "in" the light the lantern casts on the far side, so it stays hidden until someone gets an angle on it.
Fuel and the hood
A flask of oil (1 pint) costs 1 SP in both editions and runs the lantern for 6 hours. Lowering the hood dims it to a 5-foot circle of dim light, which hides the bearer's position but switches the revealing effect off, since there's no bright light left.
Lantern of Revealing: 2014 vs 2024
2014 (SRD 5.1)
2024 (SRD 5.2.1)
Rarity / attunement
Uncommon, no attunement
Uncommon, no attunement
Burn time / light
6 hours per pint; 30 ft bright, 30 ft dim
Same
Revealing
Invisible creatures and objects in bright light are visible
Same
Lowering the hood
An action
A Utilize action
Value
No price in the SRD
400 GP (uncommon)
The item didn't change; the rules around it did. The 2024 Invisible condition spells out that being seen cancels its attack benefits, which makes the lantern cleaner to run, and 2024 hiding grants the Invisible condition, which raises the cover question above. One oddity: an ordinary 2024 hooded lantern lowers its hood as a Bonus Action, while the Lantern of Revealing's text calls for a Utilize action.
Is the Lantern of Revealing Worth It?
Yes, for nearly any party, because it costs no attunement slot and no spell slot. Compare the SRD's other answers to invisibility:
The lantern has the shortest range, but it needs no save and no concentration and works for the whole party. Its weakness is that someone has to carry it into the fight, and an enemy who knows about it will stay at 31 feet and use ranged attacks or spells.
It's also a light source with a downside: a 30-foot circle of bright light announces the party in any dark place. Keep it hooded until you need it.
Lantern of Revealing for DMs
Where it turns up. Before an adventure built around invisible enemies, as an answer the players have to recognize. An imp-infested tower, a haunted manor with an invisible stalker, or a thieves' guild that uses Potions of Invisibility.
What it changes. Invisibility stops being a wall. That's the point, so let it work. Make the enemies smart about it: an imp that sees the lantern turns invisible and flies out of range, and a thief guild targets the lantern-bearer first.
Pricing. 400 GP under the 2024 SRD, the value of an uncommon item. The 2014 SRD has no prices. The magic item rarity calculator covers the rest of a shop's stock.
Hooks.
•A lighthouse keeper uses a Lantern of Revealing as the lighthouse lamp. Ships that pass in the night have started seeing figures standing on the water.
•A noble's bodyguard carries one at every party. Someone wants it stolen before the next ball.
•The party's own invisible scout is spotted because an enemy patrol carries one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Lantern of Revealing require attunement?
No. It's an uncommon wondrous item with no attunement in either edition, so anyone can carry and light it.
How far does the Lantern of Revealing reveal invisible creatures?
Only within its bright light, a 30-foot radius. The dim light beyond that (another 30 feet) doesn't reveal anything, and neither does the 5-foot dim light when the hood is lowered.
Do attacks against a revealed invisible creature have disadvantage?
In 2024, no: the Invisible condition's attack benefits don't apply against a creature that can see it, and everyone can see a creature in the lantern's bright light. The 2014 condition doesn't spell this out; as a DM ruling, treat the revealed creature as visible, with no attack modifiers.
Can the Lantern of Revealing see through illusions?
No. It only makes invisible creatures and objects visible. Illusions, disguises and creatures behind cover aren't invisible, so the lantern does nothing to them.
How much is a Lantern of Revealing worth?
400 GP under the 2024 SRD, the standard value of an uncommon magic item. The 2014 SRD doesn't price 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.