D&D 5E Staff of Swarming Insects
- Thread starter Balfore
- Start date
Plaguescarred
Hero
No when you're in a heavily obscured area you can still be targeted, it's just that enemies effectively suffers from the blinded condition when trying to see you, which means that enemies can’t see you (automatically fails any ability check that requires sight) and your attack rolls against enemies have advantage, and enemies’s attack rolls against you have disadvantage.
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Plaguescarred
Hero
It's more like the bugs makes a 30 ft radius around you heavily obscured for everyone but you. So enemies going into the area can't be seen by any other than you practically.
Gardens & Goblins
First Post
I CAST MY FIREBALL SPELL!
Balfore
Explorer
Fireball works on a point you can see.
And only extends 20 feet into the Swarm from the edge... therefore, not hitting you.
You need 10 more feet
Technically, "A point you choose" within range. A case could be made that you don't need to see the point, just guess. (So you can fireball the center of an area of magical darkness, or a Hunger of Hadar. Or an Insect Swarm.)
The real question is - would the fireball clear out the insects in its area, or would they magically repopulate that area?
Balfore
Explorer
It wouldn't affect the swarm imo.
The 'guess' would require a perception check at disadvantage to see thru the swarm, again, imo
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nswanson27
First Post
I would say that even blindsight could be hindered. Blindsight via sound? Lots of buzzing going on. Blindisight via smell? Sure smells like a lot of bugs.
Agreed. Tremorsense would see through it only because the bugs are flying. Blindsight probably shouldn't see through it, because the bugs are actually there, and blindsight doesn't let you see through physical things, i.e its not x-ray vision (it just means you don't need light or eyes to see). I expect a lot of DMs would let blindsight see through it. But they shouldn't.
Well, technically with blindsight you'd sense both the swarm and the non-bugs within the swarm. The staff only states it applies Heavy Obscurement, which is visual only.
A DM could choose rule otherwise based on the senses a particular form of blindsight uses, but by default the the answer is "it only blocks vision".
But for a custom NPC/monster that is surrounded by a magical swarm of insects the DM could define it as blocking any number of senses, not just sight. Which could block most forms of blindsight.
The DM "should" do whatever they feel makes the most sense for the situation in their game.
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