Hello, me and my friends are in a discution on how this spell works, specificly in the case that a character with devil sight wants to se what is going on inside the darkness of the spell, does it wirks like the darkness spell dark or is an other type of darkness?
The Devil Sight description specifically says, "magical darkness doesn't impede the creature's darkvision." Hunger of Hadar is a magical spell that causes darkness, ergo it's magical darkness. I'd rule that Devil Sight allows a creature to see within the sphere caused by Hunger of Hadar. (But maybe it's for the best if they don't see what's going on in there...)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"We're the perfect combination of expendable and unkillable!"
The thing is, the HoH spell explain that is a sphere of blacknes, diferent fron darkness. Aldo i wonder, since u are actualy in the dark between stars (space i asume), doesnt that mean that a character traped there starts to choke? Finally, the spell is an actual warp portal to an other dimension, if the spell ends shouldnt the people in teleports there and get trapped forever in the cthulhu dimension?
I would agree that Devil's Sight should allow one to see through the area of Hunger of Hadar.
With regards to your other questions (such as suffocation, or potential planar displacement upon the end of the spell) would likely be based on how one interprets the note of "portal" within the spell description. As a means of quick reference, we can look at hunger of hadar here.
From my interpretation of the spell, this does not pull a portion of the Far Realm and overlay it onto the material plane, but rather weaken the fabric between the two regions enough for some of the essence of the Far Realm to spill over into the Material Plane. That is why the terrain inside the field is still consistent, albeit made difficult terrain, instead of reduced to a field of empty void. It is the smallest taste of power from the Far Realm that sinks into the world, to corrupt what it touches. Then, once the spell ends the connection between the two realms can no longer be maintained, resulting in the corrupting energies of the Far Realm dissipating, or else being pulled back through as the tear closes, leaving those creatures within the area of the spell still where they were in the Material Plane when the spell was cast.
Now, if a character were to physically pass through a portal into the Far Realm then I would agree with you that they would begin to suffer Suffocation Rules, and the Cold Damage that they would suffer would be much greater than 2d6 per round. This spell simply offers the smallest hint of the power and isolation that exist within the most alien of realms.
I would rule that no, Devil Sight does not enable one to see within the void of blackness created by Hunger of Hadar, as it is not magical or non-magical darkness; it is something else entirely.
What is the cause of the blindness inside the zone? That might be the answer. The blackness seems to afect your eyes inside the sphere, could it be a kind of dark fog or something? Like smoke
There is a part that many people seem to overlook when it comes to this particular spell.
The spell also states that all creatures inside the sphere are blinded while within it. This specific text rules out any possibility of Devil’s Sight being able to actually pierce through the void. If you are inside the sphere, you are blind.
The blindness condition also gives us another piece of information, and that is that creatures outside the sphere who have darkvision are able to see inside it, since it mentions nothing about the darkness inside it being magical in any way. So if you are outside, you can see what is going on inside whether you have normal darkvision or devil’s sight.
Devil's Sight does not work with Hunger of Hadar, as mentioned - the spell creates blackness, not darkness. Nothing can see through it, however senses like blindsight, or tremorsense would work.
Hunger of Hadar is weird. Discussion of blackness vs. darkness is a little beside the point, as regardless of that choice of words it remains true that creatures within (whether they have normal vision, darkvision, special darkvision, blindsight, tremor sense, etc. etc. etc.) are all blinded. Nothing about those senses in any way contradicts the penalties of being blinded, blinded simply is what it is when it's applied to you.
If you're outside of the area and just trying to look thru it to the inside or other side... yeah, Crawford made clear that its essentially a black opaque ball that can't be seen thru, not an area of darkness. Whether non-darkvision special sights can perceive what's inside... yeah, probably, but again not if you're one of the unfortunates that is standing within and thus blinded.
Do I understand correctly, you can't cast Huger of Hadar at a higher level, for more damage (you can cast at a higher level, if you are out of 3rd level spell slots, but not for more damage, right? . . and if "no" that "no" would apply to both the cold and the acid damage, right?)
Also, assuming for attacks made from outside the sphere, on creatures inside the sphere, (assuming that the Dm rules that a PC outside the sphere cannot see into the dark void with their given perceptive abilities, (whatever those might be)), would that disadvantage be canceled out by the advantage that they would get because creatures inside would effectively have the blinded condition, and then the player could just role a d20 to make a ranged attack (nether advantage nor disadvantage)?
Do I understand correctly, you can't cast Huger of Hadar at a higher level, for more damage (you can cast at a higher level, if you are out of 3rd level spell slots, but not for more damage, right? . . and if "no" that "no" would apply to both the cold and the acid damage, right?)
Also, assuming for attacks made from outside the sphere, on creatures inside the sphere, (assuming that the Dm rules that a PC outside the sphere cannot see into the dark void with their given perceptive abilities, (whatever those might be)), would that disadvantage be canceled out by the advantage that they would get because creatures inside would effectively have the blinded condition, and then the player could just role a d20 to make a ranged attack (nether advantage nor disadvantage)?
You are correct. There is no upcast option for this spell. If you use a higher level slot it does not add anything.
And yes, you would make a straight d20 roll as the advantage and disadvantage cancel each other out.
The problem with Hunger of Hadar is that it contradicts Spelljammer, since it is the astral sea between stars, not 'blackness 'infested with unknown horrors'
actually the "Blackness between the stars" is the far realm, from my understanding.
But "blackness between the stars" is empty space, we've seen shots from Voyager 1, it's in the "blackness between the stars" and it can see the stars just fine.... same thing with our planet, and nighttime when you can see the stars.. or the day time and the sun's shining... if that "blackness between the stars" was opaque, the sun's light and starlight wouldn't be able to be seen.
But "blackness between the stars" is empty space, we've seen shots from Voyager 1, it's in the "blackness between the stars" and it can see the stars just fine.... same thing with our planet, and nighttime when you can see the stars.. or the day time and the sun's shining... if that "blackness between the stars" was opaque, the sun's light and starlight wouldn't be able to be seen.
Worth remembering that Dungeons & Dragons isn't bound by our laws of physics; in older versions of Spelljammer instead of the astral sea, solar systems were contained in crystal spheres and separated by something called Phlogiston, which as best as I remember it was like an energetic substance through which spelljammers were designed to travel. The laws of physics in the Phlogiston and astral sea differ wildly from everywhere else, and each crystal sphere can have radically different laws of physics, deities etc.
With that in mind, the real question here is "what is a star in D&D?", because while we know there is a sun around which Toril (the world upon which Faerûn exists) orbits, not every star in the night sky is going to be a sun within its own crystal sphere. It could all just be an elaborate illusion to prevent people from accidentally staring into the far realm.
Point being, don't read too much into the flavour texts; hunger of Hadar does what it says it does, the rest is just for fun.
From a strict reading of the spell darkvision will work as long as you are not in the spell area. It says no light illuminates it and those in the area are blinded. But it does not mention anything about people using darkvision to see into the area from outside the area.
I’d say a strict reading is ambiguous, since the effect produced is “an area of blackness”, rather than “darkness” as used elsewhere to describe light levels. Notably, the Darkness spell uses the lighting level language. There’s a fair case that HoH creates something analogous to a Fog Cloud or other intangible effect that heavily obscures the area it covers.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hello, me and my friends are in a discution on how this spell works, specificly in the case that a character with devil sight wants to se what is going on inside the darkness of the spell, does it wirks like the darkness spell dark or is an other type of darkness?
thanks
The Devil Sight description specifically says, "magical darkness doesn't impede the creature's darkvision." Hunger of Hadar is a magical spell that causes darkness, ergo it's magical darkness. I'd rule that Devil Sight allows a creature to see within the sphere caused by Hunger of Hadar. (But maybe it's for the best if they don't see what's going on in there...)
"We're the perfect combination of expendable and unkillable!"
The thing is, the HoH spell explain that is a sphere of blacknes, diferent fron darkness. Aldo i wonder, since u are actualy in the dark between stars (space i asume), doesnt that mean that a character traped there starts to choke? Finally, the spell is an actual warp portal to an other dimension, if the spell ends shouldnt the people in teleports there and get trapped forever in the cthulhu dimension?
I would agree that Devil's Sight should allow one to see through the area of Hunger of Hadar.
With regards to your other questions (such as suffocation, or potential planar displacement upon the end of the spell) would likely be based on how one interprets the note of "portal" within the spell description. As a means of quick reference, we can look at hunger of hadar here.
From my interpretation of the spell, this does not pull a portion of the Far Realm and overlay it onto the material plane, but rather weaken the fabric between the two regions enough for some of the essence of the Far Realm to spill over into the Material Plane. That is why the terrain inside the field is still consistent, albeit made difficult terrain, instead of reduced to a field of empty void. It is the smallest taste of power from the Far Realm that sinks into the world, to corrupt what it touches. Then, once the spell ends the connection between the two realms can no longer be maintained, resulting in the corrupting energies of the Far Realm dissipating, or else being pulled back through as the tear closes, leaving those creatures within the area of the spell still where they were in the Material Plane when the spell was cast.
Now, if a character were to physically pass through a portal into the Far Realm then I would agree with you that they would begin to suffer Suffocation Rules, and the Cold Damage that they would suffer would be much greater than 2d6 per round. This spell simply offers the smallest hint of the power and isolation that exist within the most alien of realms.
I would rule that no, Devil Sight does not enable one to see within the void of blackness created by Hunger of Hadar, as it is not magical or non-magical darkness; it is something else entirely.
This is corroborated by Jeremy Crawford.
What is the cause of the blindness inside the zone? That might be the answer. The blackness seems to afect your eyes inside the sphere, could it be a kind of dark fog or something? Like smoke
There is a part that many people seem to overlook when it comes to this particular spell.
The spell also states that all creatures inside the sphere are blinded while within it. This specific text rules out any possibility of Devil’s Sight being able to actually pierce through the void. If you are inside the sphere, you are blind.
The blindness condition also gives us another piece of information, and that is that creatures outside the sphere who have darkvision are able to see inside it, since it mentions nothing about the darkness inside it being magical in any way. So if you are outside, you can see what is going on inside whether you have normal darkvision or devil’s sight.
Devil's Sight does not work with Hunger of Hadar, as mentioned - the spell creates blackness, not darkness. Nothing can see through it, however senses like blindsight, or tremorsense would work.
Site Rules & Guidelines || How to Tooltip || Contact Support || Changelog || Pricing FAQ || Homebrew FAQ
If you have questions/concerns, please Private Message me or another moderator.
Wary the wizard who focuses on homebrew, for he can create nightmares that you wouldn't even dream of
Hunger of Hadar is weird. Discussion of blackness vs. darkness is a little beside the point, as regardless of that choice of words it remains true that creatures within (whether they have normal vision, darkvision, special darkvision, blindsight, tremor sense, etc. etc. etc.) are all blinded. Nothing about those senses in any way contradicts the penalties of being blinded, blinded simply is what it is when it's applied to you.
If you're outside of the area and just trying to look thru it to the inside or other side... yeah, Crawford made clear that its essentially a black opaque ball that can't be seen thru, not an area of darkness. Whether non-darkvision special sights can perceive what's inside... yeah, probably, but again not if you're one of the unfortunates that is standing within and thus blinded.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Do I understand correctly, you can't cast Huger of Hadar at a higher level, for more damage (you can cast at a higher level, if you are out of 3rd level spell slots, but not for more damage, right? . . and if "no" that "no" would apply to both the cold and the acid damage, right?)
Also, assuming for attacks made from outside the sphere, on creatures inside the sphere, (assuming that the Dm rules that a PC outside the sphere cannot see into the dark void with their given perceptive abilities, (whatever those might be)), would that disadvantage be canceled out by the advantage that they would get because creatures inside would effectively have the blinded condition, and then the player could just role a d20 to make a ranged attack (nether advantage nor disadvantage)?
You are correct. There is no upcast option for this spell. If you use a higher level slot it does not add anything.
And yes, you would make a straight d20 roll as the advantage and disadvantage cancel each other out.
actually the "Blackness between the stars" is the far realm, from my understanding.
PM me the word tomato
But "blackness between the stars" is empty space, we've seen shots from Voyager 1, it's in the "blackness between the stars" and it can see the stars just fine.... same thing with our planet, and nighttime when you can see the stars.. or the day time and the sun's shining... if that "blackness between the stars" was opaque, the sun's light and starlight wouldn't be able to be seen.
Worth remembering that Dungeons & Dragons isn't bound by our laws of physics; in older versions of Spelljammer instead of the astral sea, solar systems were contained in crystal spheres and separated by something called Phlogiston, which as best as I remember it was like an energetic substance through which spelljammers were designed to travel. The laws of physics in the Phlogiston and astral sea differ wildly from everywhere else, and each crystal sphere can have radically different laws of physics, deities etc.
With that in mind, the real question here is "what is a star in D&D?", because while we know there is a sun around which Toril (the world upon which Faerûn exists) orbits, not every star in the night sky is going to be a sun within its own crystal sphere. It could all just be an elaborate illusion to prevent people from accidentally staring into the far realm.
Point being, don't read too much into the flavour texts; hunger of Hadar does what it says it does, the rest is just for fun.
Characters: Bullette, Chortle, Dracarys Noir, Edward Merryspell, Habard Ashery, Legion, Peregrine
My Homebrew: Feats | Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Races
Guides: Creating Sub-Races Using Trait Options
WIP (feedback needed): Blood Mage, Chromatic Sorcerers, Summoner, Trickster Domain, Unlucky, Way of the Daoist (Drunken Master), Weapon Smith
Please don't reply to my posts unless you've read what they actually say.
From a strict reading of the spell darkvision will work as long as you are not in the spell area. It says no light illuminates it and those in the area are blinded. But it does not mention anything about people using darkvision to see into the area from outside the area.
I’d say a strict reading is ambiguous, since the effect produced is “an area of blackness”, rather than “darkness” as used elsewhere to describe light levels. Notably, the Darkness spell uses the lighting level language. There’s a fair case that HoH creates something analogous to a Fog Cloud or other intangible effect that heavily obscures the area it covers.