How dark is dark?

[Stormrunner]

I houserule them both.
IMC, Darkness decreases the light level to shadowy (none of this stupid rules-lawyer "Darkness makes it lighter" crap) and Deeper Darkness produces total black. Third-level spells include things like Fly and Fireball, which can majorly impact how combat is conducted, so total darkness isn't as unbalancing at that level as it would be for a lower-level spell.

 

[FEADIN]

Darkness spells where weakened because some creatures can see in magical darkness and would have been too powerful to fight, the devils first.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

I houserule them both.
IMC, Darkness decreases the light level to shadowy (none of this stupid rules-lawyer "Darkness makes it lighter" crap) and Deeper Darkness produces total black. Third-level spells include things like Fly and Fireball, which can majorly impact how combat is conducted, so total darkness isn't as unbalancing at that level as it would be for a lower-level spell.

Do you also reduce the duration on deeper darkness? At 1 day/level, completely changing the way combat is conducted is probably a bit much for a 3rd level spell. Invisibility, greater invisibility, and mislead, by contrast are all one-shot or single target spells with a very restricted or positively miniscule duration.

 

[Stormrunner]

Do you also reduce the duration on deeper darkness? At 1 day/level, completely changing the way combat is conducted is probably a bit much for a 3rd level spell. Invisibility, greater invisibility, and mislead, by contrast are all one-shot or single target spells with a very restricted or positively miniscule duration.

Yeah, we make it the same as Daylight (10 min/level). Why the writers pegged it at 1 day/level, longer than practically any other spell, I don't know.