TallerSpine
2020-04-05, 07:33 AM
Questions about magical darkness:
A PC with a light source is at the edge of a darkness spell. When they step inside the spell, they are within an area of shadowy illumination. What does the PC behind them see? Does the light source dim to shadowy illumination? Or since the second PC is outside the darkness spell, do they see normal light (as they are within range of the light source to see normally)?
Two PCs are standing twenty feet apart (within normal illumination from a torch). At least one of the squares between them counts as within the effect of a darkness spell, but neither PC is within the spell effect. One of the PCs has a light source. Can both PCs see each other? Or does the intervening darkness prevent the light from reaching the PC without the light source? Suppose the light source reaches at least 20 feet ordinarily.
The darkness spell reads that the spell creates an area of shadowy illumination, but it does not say what happens in complete darkness. Without additional information, this seems to have the wonky effect of producing light when ambient lighting conditions are less than shadowy illumination. I, however, rule (or perhaps house rule if you prefer) that a darkness spell cannot increase the light level. Suppose there is no light source, and we have the situation in (2) above. Would the PCs be able to see each other if they both had darkvision? Or does the intervening darkness basically look like a wall of the spell between them that completely blocks darkvision?
Without any light, would it make sense to apply the blinded condition to all characters within a darkness spell? Or should characters with darkvision still only have a 20% miss chance (rather than 50% from the blinded condition)?
A PC with a light source is at the edge of a darkness spell. When they step inside the spell, they are within an area of shadowy illumination. What does the PC behind them see? Does the light source dim to shadowy illumination? Or since the second PC is outside the darkness spell, do they see normal light (as they are within range of the light source to see normally)?
Two PCs are standing twenty feet apart (within normal illumination from a torch). At least one of the squares between them counts as within the effect of a darkness spell, but neither PC is within the spell effect. One of the PCs has a light source. Can both PCs see each other? Or does the intervening darkness prevent the light from reaching the PC without the light source? Suppose the light source reaches at least 20 feet ordinarily.
The darkness spell reads that the spell creates an area of shadowy illumination, but it does not say what happens in complete darkness. Without additional information, this seems to have the wonky effect of producing light when ambient lighting conditions are less than shadowy illumination. I, however, rule (or perhaps house rule if you prefer) that a darkness spell cannot increase the light level. Suppose there is no light source, and we have the situation in (2) above. Would the PCs be able to see each other if they both had darkvision? Or does the intervening darkness basically look like a wall of the spell between them that completely blocks darkvision?
Without any light, would it make sense to apply the blinded condition to all characters within a darkness spell? Or should characters with darkvision still only have a 20% miss chance (rather than 50% from the blinded condition)?