Altering the Darkness spell

[Oryan77]

I'm sure this topic gets discussed all of the time, but I've never read anything about it myself.

Is there a popular change to the Darkness spell to make it more like how it's represented in novels about Drow?

I'm thinking of something like giving it a range of close and making it total concealment or something.

 

[frankthedm]

I'm sure this topic gets discussed all of the time, but I've never read anything about it myself.

Is there a popular change to the Darkness spell to make it more like how it's represented in novels about Drow?

I'm thinking of something like giving it a range of close and making it total concealment or something.

3.5 changed the darkness spells for playability. I'll agree the pure black, no light at all, is difficult to deal with in a grid based tactical game as 3.5 is. Here is a happy medium between the way darkness was before 3.5 and how it was remade for 3.5.

Obscuring Darkness
Evocation [Darkness]
Level: Brd 2, Clr 2, Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, M/DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Object touched
Duration: 10 min./level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This spell causes an object to radiate pitch darkness out to a 20-foot radius. This darkness obscures all sight, including darkvision. All creatures in the area gain total concealment (50% miss chance).

Those who possess normal lights brighter than a candle (torches, lanterns, light spells of lower level and so forth) have to their own square illuminated, and the adjacent squares have shadowy illumination. Thus a creature 5 feet away from a light source has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance). Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker cannot use sight to locate the target). A light as bright as a candle only provides shadowy illumination in the possessor’s square.

If a creature with a light source has more than one square as its face [large or bigger], it chooses one square to be the fully illuminated square {a candle would just provide the single shadowy square]. If the creature is a light source, however, then all of its squares are illuminated, with all adjacent squares receiving shadowy illumination.

Even creatures that can normally see in such conditions (such as with darkvision or low-light vision) have the miss chance in this area shrouded in magical darkness.

Higher level light spells are not affected by darkness.

If darkness is cast on a small object that is then placed inside or under a lightproof covering, the spell’s effect is blocked until the covering is removed.

Darkness counters or dispels any light spell of equal or lower spell level.

Arcane Material Component
A bit of bat fur and either a drop of pitch or a piece of coal.

A desperate minor demon uses its Obscuring Darkness spell like ability to confound the fire elemental and the Annis hag sorcerer who summoned it.

 

[Felnar]

frank, with your spell, can creatures see the illuminated squares through squares that have no illumination?

eg, could your minor demon see the fire elemental clearly (no penalty on a ranged attack)?
and what if the demon was in the square one up and one right of its current square, could it still see the elemental? or would the dark square in between them give the elemental total concealment?

 

[frankthedm]

frank, with your spell, can creatures see the illuminated squares through squares that have no illumination?

eg, could your minor demon see the fire elemental clearly (no penalty on a ranged attack)?
and what if the demon was in the square one up and one right of its current square, could it still see the elemental? or would the dark square in between them give the elemental total concealment?

The demon sees nothing where he is. If he moves forward one square, he would have concealment {and be able to attempt a hide check] and be able to attack the fire elemental who would not have concealment.

 

[Starglim]

That's not bad, though light sources tend to radiate from the corner of a square by the ordinary rules. I think I would either require all light-bearers to pick a corner of their square and illuminate the adjacent 4 squares with shadowy illumination (much as you've already done for Large creatures) or just illuminate the light-bearer's space and allow the light-bearer to locate creatures in adjacent squares by the reflection of their eyes, though adjacent creatures still have 50% concealment.

I don't know how popular it would be or how it fits with game fiction, but I'd rename a higher level darkness Unsight and make it work like silence or anti-magic: no visual ability can see into, see through or function within the area for anyone, regardless of what cheese is written in the creature's description. And the caster gains blindsight for the duration.

 

[Graf]

Darkness is best as-is.
The old globe of darkness thing was up there with invisibility and silence as 2nd level DM headaches.

The new spell is less directly powerful but more subtle and interesting.

 

[Stalker0]

In a lot of ways the new darkness is better for the drow than the old one. Drow have a con penalty, so giving them a 20% miss chance helps their longevity. They often use poisons, so they don't need to hit as often to inflict a ton of damage. And of course they can coordinate assaults under darkness, where in the old one they were just as disoriented as their prey.