Darkness spell vs natural darkness

[shaga]

If you cast the spell darkness in a room with total natural darkness, does it get brighter?

[Namfuak]

Yes, it does.



This spell causes an object to radiate shadowy illumination out to a 20-foot radius


Note that that does not specify how it actually interacts with the ambient light, it simply replaces the light within the area with "shadowy illumination."

[shaga]

Follow up question then. If darkness is cast in a room with bright light, does it create shadowy illumination? or is it like lighting a torch in a room that already has light?

[Starbuck_II]

If you cast the spell darkness in a room with total natural darkness, does it get brighter?

In 3.5, yes.
In Pathfinder, no.

[Namfuak]

Follow up question then. If darkness is cast in a room with bright light, does it create shadowy illumination? or is it like lighting a torch in a room that already has light?

As I said before, the condition of ambient and non-magical light in the room does not matter, around the object affected by darkness there is simply a 20 foot sphere of shadowy illumination which replaces whatever lighting condition was there before. Again, this is all assuming there is no magical light in the room.

[Lactantius]

I found the darkness spell in 3.5 totally screwed up.

There are certain cases which made me rearrange darkness effects:

- I don't like that a darkness spell makes a natural dark area brighter.

- I don't like the rule term of a shadowy illumination. It is hard to describe it in the game world and it creates chaos and uncertainity on how to rule darkness.

Just use the version of 3.0, where darkness is darkness. Period.
You cannot see anything there and are considered blind.

Ok, one thing is even in 3.0 strange: darkvision does not work within magical darkness. I wonder why. If I look at creatures living in the Underdark, I find it strange that they could not apply their natural darkvision in combination with their favorite ambush tactics (drow and their racial SLA of darkness, for example. Or tieflings).

[Wookie-ranger]

I found the darkness spell in 3.5 totally screwed up.

There are certain cases which made me rearrange darkness effects:

- I don't like that a darkness spell makes a natural dark area brighter.

- I don't like the rule term of a shadowy illumination. It is hard to describe it in the game world and it creates chaos and uncertainity on how to rule darkness.

Just use the version of 3.0, where darkness is darkness. Period.
You cannot see anything there and are considered blind.

Ok, one thing is even in 3.0 strange: darkvision does not work within magical darkness. I wonder why. If I look at creatures living in the Underdark, I find it strange that they could not apply their natural darkvision in combination with their favorite ambush tactics (drow and their racial SLA of darkness, for example. Or tieflings).


That's how we usually rule it in my games too. The 3.5 version is odd to say the least. While the 3.0 version is more powerful but still not overpowered.

[killianh]

as above.

The only real use for darkness in an already dark place is to blind things with darkvision. otherwise natural darkness is better