This ability functions much like normal sight, except that instead of seeing light, a creature with lifesense sees life. Life sources glow much like light sources with the average Small or Medium living creature giving out “light” like a torch, which gives bright “illumination” out to 20 feet and shadowy “illumination” out to 40 feet. This life-illumination reveals things around it exactly as a normal light source would, except that it is not blocked or suppressed by darkness or magical darkness.
In the absence of a living creature, a creature cannot use lifesense to detect anything around them, no matter how bright the normal light may be.
| Size | Bright | Shadowy |
|---|---|---|
| Fine | 0 ft. | 0 ft. |
| Diminutive | 0 ft. | 5 ft. |
| Tiny | 10 ft. | 20 ft. |
| Small | 20 ft. | 40 ft. |
| Medium | 20 ft. | 40 ft. |
| Large | 25 ft. | 45 ft. |
| Huge | 30 ft. | 50 ft. |
| Gargantuan | 35 ft. | 55 ft. |
| Colossal | 40 ft. | 60 ft. |
The amount of life-illumination given off by creatures is directly related to the creature’s size, as shown on the following chart. Creatures with an illumination distance of 0 feet give off no life-illumination in their surroundings but can still be seen as individual specks of light.
Some forms of lifesense have a limited range, beyond which the creature simply cannot see at all. A creature with limited distance lifesense can see the “light” emitted even if the source is beyond their range. For example, a creature with Lifesense 30 ft. could see the shadowy life-illumination of a Medium humanoid 50 feet away. Although it would not be able to see the humanoid itself, the creature would still know that there is some life source in that direction.
A living creature with lifesense cannot see their own life-illumination. It is completely invisible to them.