D&D 3E/3.5 Does Glitterdust (3.5) shed light? Does it require ambient light to work?

[anon]

Does Glitterdust (3.5) shed light? Does it require ambient light to work?

These are basically the same question. To be clear, by "shed light" I mean only enough light to see the illuminated target, not enough to see by, or any other use of the light.

 

[Cyclone_Joker]

No. It covers stuff with sparkly dust which blinds them. Nothing there has anything to do with light.

 

[anon]

I think my first question is just confusing the issue.

Does Glitterdust require a source of light in order to "glitter"? Does it work in complete darkness?

 

[Cyclone_Joker]

I think my first question is just confusing the issue.

Does Glitterdust require a source of light in order to "glitter"? Does it work in complete darkness?

No. Even in complete darkness, its effects still do precisely what they say they do: Blind, outline, and give a massive-assed penalty to Hide. Those effects are completely independent of any illumination.

 

[Ragnar_Lodbrok]

If the spell's rules don't include a specific requirement for light, it isn't needed.

 

[Jackinthegreen]

The spell does not provide any illumination, unless you count outlining the target as "illuminating" it.

 

[TwoSix]

I'd visualize it glowing with a bright but very self contained light. So if you cast it in complete darkness, you pretty much see a bunch of gold dots on a black shadow. You wouldn't see anything else in the area, or be able to recognize the figure, other than a basic shape and size.

 

[Deset Gled]

Targets in the affected area are definitely blinded, regardless of the light level. The dust is a conjuration effect, and particles can still blind you with no light. So the spell still has a use against enemies with Darkvision.

As for the effect on invisible targets, the spells says that it covers the area, "visibly outlining invisible things". With no other relevant text, I would make a default assumption that this "visibly" refers to something that is normally visible to the caster. It would not make the target visible if the caster were blinded. It would not make the target visible if he was behind cover. And it will not make the target visible in complete darkness.

It's like drawing a line around the target. You can draw a black line on a black piece of paper, and the line is still there even if a normal person can't see it. The outlining would still be useful for a caster (or friend) with Darkvision, though.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

I've always thought it works fine in darkness. Although I grant you there's nothing in the description that says outright the motes of dust glow with their own light.

 

[SkidAce]

Can't sparkle and glitter without some light.

I agree it does not provide illumination, but whatever is covered in it is going to glitter and sparkle. And everyone one else in range can see it and point and laugh at it.