From these two, I would rule that sunlight is unique property of the sun's light. Doesn't matter how dim it is - either naturally at dusk or dawn or magically through spells like Shadow of Moil. You would still be in "sunlight" and still be affected by Sunlight Sensitivity. Sunlight Sensitivity isn't about the creature's eyes being hurt from the light of the sun, it has more to do with the magical properties of the sun and creatures of darkness.
In that case, how would you rule an overcast day? It's still sunlight, just dimmer. CoS would be much different if an overcast day still counts as sunlight.
"By the will of the Dark Powers, the sun never fully shines in the lands of Barovia. Even during the day, the sky is dimmed by fog or storm clouds, or the light is strangely muted. Barovian daylight is bright light, yet it isn’t considered sunlight for the purpose of effects and vulnerabilities, such as a vampire’s, tied to sunlight. Nevertheless, Strahd and his vampire spawn tend to stay indoors most of the day and venture out at night, and they are subject to sunlight created by magic."
This. ^
Plus, we're assuming in the original that its noon in a planet in the prime material plane, whereas Barovia is a demiplane constructed by the Dark Powers. Different laws govern different planes so it would be a bad comparison anyway.
As far as curse of strahd is concerned: (quote from Curse of Strahd) "By the will of the Dark Powers, the sun never fully shines in the lands of Barovia. Even during the day, the sky is dimmed by fog or storm clouds, or the light is strangely muted. Barovian daylight is bright light, yet it isn’t considered sunlight for the purpose of effects and vulnerabilities, such as a vampire’s, tied to sunlight. Nevertheless, Strahd and his vampire spawn tend to stay indoors most of the day and venture out at night, and they are subject to sunlight created by magic."
The only reason Curse of Strahd plays this way is a specific magical exception, not because "overcast days aren't sunlight". And even overcast days are "bright" (from Vision and Light in the PHB) "Bright light lets most creatures see normally. Even gloomy days provide bright light, as do torches, lanterns, fires, and other sources of illumination within a specific radius."
I think the Curse of Strahd is not a good example here, because it's specifically a horror game with different rules just to make Strahd more foreboding.
Now, I'm not really leaning one way or the other here (despite my loaded question earlier). However, I can't really see anything that requires the sunlight to still be "bright" in order to count.
Rime of the Frost Maiden Spoilers:
In RotFM, "dim light" is responsible for an Underdark race with Sunlight Sensitivity invading the surface
Illumination
So long as the Everlasting Rime lasts, natural light in Icewind Dale is never brighter than dim. In normal (non-blizzard) conditions, twilight extends from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Icewind Dale is otherwise dark until Auril’s aurora or the full moon appears in the night sky.
The long nights and sunless days are a blessing to Xardorok Sunblight, a duergar who longs to carve out a domain for himself on the surface and enslave the people of Ten-Towns in the process.
Throughout the adventure, there is no mention of the Duergar being in any way disadvantaged by the dim light when they're encountered on the surface.
In conclusion, "dim light" during daytime is not "day light" when WotC is writing adventures.
Actually, I would argue that your conclusion is wrong. The quote specifies that the days are sunless. Without the sun, there is no sunlight (except through spells like Dawn or certain items that specify that they create sunlight). The dim light that replaces sun's light comes from another source, ergo it is not sunlight and does not trigger sunlight sensitivity.
It doesn't disprove anything about bright or dim sunlight.
It doesn't disprove anything about bright or dim sunlight.
The real question is under such circumstances is dim sunlight still considered direct sunlight?
Direct sunlight is only relevant to PCs with sunlight sensitivity - the version NPCs have doesn't use the word "direct". OP has made it clear they're a DM looking for guidance on NPCs.
It doesn't disprove anything about bright or dim sunlight.
The real question is under such circumstances is dim sunlight still considered direct sunlight?
Direct or otherwise, I still say the simplest reading is that magically-dimmed sunlight provides relief from sunlight sensitivity in PCs as well as for NPCs.
It doesn't disprove anything about bright or dim sunlight.
The real question is under such circumstances is dim sunlight still considered direct sunlight?
Direct sunlight is only relevant to PCs with sunlight sensitivity - the version NPCs have doesn't use the word "direct". OP has made it clear they're a DM looking for guidance on NPCs.
The question remains of relevance for when applicable.
But for monster feature Sunlight Sensitivity that lack the word ''direct''; i'd say that whenever you're in bright or dim light illuminated by the sun (or other effect calling it sunlight), you're effectively in sunlight. Only darkness would be absence of light.
But wether monsters or PC, when it comes to Shadow of Moil it doesn't matter since you are heavily obscured when casting it, and thus no light reach yourself to be visible to the eye, even darkvision doesn't see through.
I suppose it's a fair question whether a magically dimmed area of sunlight is still considered sunlight for the purposes of sunlight sensitivity. For my part, I say that sunlight is filtered to become magically-dimmed light and therefore provides protection.
I don't think I am going to find anything explicitly more authoritative than that, though.
It doesn't disprove anything about bright or dim sunlight.
The real question is under such circumstances is dim sunlight still considered direct sunlight?
Direct sunlight is only relevant to PCs with sunlight sensitivity - the version NPCs have doesn't use the word "direct". OP has made it clear they're a DM looking for guidance on NPCs.
The question remains of relevance for when applicable.
But for monster feature Sunlight Sensitivity that lack the word ''direct''; i'd say that whenever you're in bright or dim light illuminated by the sun (or other effect calling it sunlight), you're effectively in sunlight. Only darkness would be absence of light.
But wether monsters or PC, when it comes to Shadow of Moil it doesn't matter since you are heavily obscured when casting it, and thus no light reach yourself to be visible to the eye, even darkvision doesn't see through.
I agree that Shadow of Moil would not count as direct sunlight for the purposes of PCs with sunlight sensitivity, since it is effectively casting shade - same way I would rule using a parasol or standing under thick overgrowth would not count as "direct."
Something I noticed when rereading Shadow of Moil states that you become "heavily obscured to others" implying that the caster does not suffer from the blindness condition the way that they would if they were normally heavily obscured. It seems to me that light is capable of reaching the caster, thus allowing them to see as normal. However, since the caster becomes heavily obscured to others, light can not reflect off of the caster.
Since light is only dimmed for the caster and not blocked, they would still be considered in sunlight and suffer from sunlight sensitivity.
That being said, there's not going to be an authoritative answer here. It's all up to interpretation, but that's the point of asking the question in the first place is to see how others read the rules and if they see things that others might've not considered. :)
Considering that the PC Drow racial trait says that you suffer the drawbacks when either the target or the Drow is in direct sunlight, unless the target is within that 10' radius of dim light, they'd still be in sunlight anyway.
I think a clue to this may lie in the game's definition of dim light.
Dim light, also called shadows, creates a lightly obscured area. An area of dim light is usually a boundary between a source of bright light, such as a torch, and surrounding darkness. The soft light of twilight and dawn also counts as dim light. A particularly brilliant full moon might bathe the land in dim light.
If you are in shadows, I think it's safe to say you are protected from sunlight sensitivity. Since the spell also makes you heavily obscured to others, then it indicates you are in shadows so dark that others can't even see you. That sounds to me more like you're in a thick fog or smoke, or at the very least in the dusky shadows of twilight. On top of everything else, the spell gives you resistance to radiant damage, which is what sunlight-emitting spells like dawn and sunbeam and sunburst inflict.
Explicit RAW, the rules don't say. Implicit RAW, I feel these three points make a convincing argument that shadow of moil was designed to alleviate the sunlight sensitivity trait when cast in an area that is otherwise exposed to sunlight.
I think I'm convinced to allow Shadow Of Moil to work to stave off Sunlight Sensitivity.
While I do find some appeal in to the argument that "it's still sunlight, but dimmer", Shadow of Moil is 4th level, and with the additional resistance to radiant that it grants, it does seem like it ought to be proof against the touch of the sun, regardless of the use of the word "direct" in the trait.
(Creatures with the Sunlight Sensitivity trait as presented in the PC Race descriptions would still suffer disadvantage attacking creatures outside the 10' radius of the spell, but this NPC doesn't have that particular version).
Thanks everyone, for your considered opinions and arguments.
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"Say you're standing outside at noon" You probably meant to say "they" rather than "you're" but that's where the idea came from.
<Insert clever signature here>
This. ^
Plus, we're assuming in the original that its noon in a planet in the prime material plane, whereas Barovia is a demiplane constructed by the Dark Powers. Different laws govern different planes so it would be a bad comparison anyway.
Actually, I would argue that your conclusion is wrong. The quote specifies that the days are sunless. Without the sun, there is no sunlight (except through spells like Dawn or certain items that specify that they create sunlight). The dim light that replaces sun's light comes from another source, ergo it is not sunlight and does not trigger sunlight sensitivity.
It doesn't disprove anything about bright or dim sunlight.
The real question is under such circumstances is dim sunlight still considered direct sunlight?
Direct sunlight is only relevant to PCs with sunlight sensitivity - the version NPCs have doesn't use the word "direct". OP has made it clear they're a DM looking for guidance on NPCs.
Direct or otherwise, I still say the simplest reading is that magically-dimmed sunlight provides relief from sunlight sensitivity in PCs as well as for NPCs.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
The question remains of relevance for when applicable.
But for monster feature Sunlight Sensitivity that lack the word ''direct''; i'd say that whenever you're in bright or dim light illuminated by the sun (or other effect calling it sunlight), you're effectively in sunlight. Only darkness would be absence of light.
But wether monsters or PC, when it comes to Shadow of Moil it doesn't matter since you are heavily obscured when casting it, and thus no light reach yourself to be visible to the eye, even darkvision doesn't see through.
I suppose it's a fair question whether a magically dimmed area of sunlight is still considered sunlight for the purposes of sunlight sensitivity. For my part, I say that sunlight is filtered to become magically-dimmed light and therefore provides protection.
I don't think I am going to find anything explicitly more authoritative than that, though.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I'd agree that Shadow of Moil doesn't count as "direct" sunlight for the purposes of PCs with sunlight sensitivity, but
I agree that Shadow of Moil would not count as direct sunlight for the purposes of PCs with sunlight sensitivity, since it is effectively casting shade - same way I would rule using a parasol or standing under thick overgrowth would not count as "direct."
Something I noticed when rereading Shadow of Moil states that you become "heavily obscured to others" implying that the caster does not suffer from the blindness condition the way that they would if they were normally heavily obscured. It seems to me that light is capable of reaching the caster, thus allowing them to see as normal. However, since the caster becomes heavily obscured to others, light can not reflect off of the caster.
Since light is only dimmed for the caster and not blocked, they would still be considered in sunlight and suffer from sunlight sensitivity.
That being said, there's not going to be an authoritative answer here. It's all up to interpretation, but that's the point of asking the question in the first place is to see how others read the rules and if they see things that others might've not considered. :)
Considering that the PC Drow racial trait says that you suffer the drawbacks when either the target or the Drow is in direct sunlight, unless the target is within that 10' radius of dim light, they'd still be in sunlight anyway.
I think a clue to this may lie in the game's definition of dim light.
Dim light, also called shadows, creates a lightly obscured area. An area of dim light is usually a boundary between a source of bright light, such as a torch, and surrounding darkness. The soft light of twilight and dawn also counts as dim light. A particularly brilliant full moon might bathe the land in dim light.
If you are in shadows, I think it's safe to say you are protected from sunlight sensitivity. Since the spell also makes you heavily obscured to others, then it indicates you are in shadows so dark that others can't even see you. That sounds to me more like you're in a thick fog or smoke, or at the very least in the dusky shadows of twilight. On top of everything else, the spell gives you resistance to radiant damage, which is what sunlight-emitting spells like dawn and sunbeam and sunburst inflict.
Explicit RAW, the rules don't say. Implicit RAW, I feel these three points make a convincing argument that shadow of moil was designed to alleviate the sunlight sensitivity trait when cast in an area that is otherwise exposed to sunlight.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I think I'm convinced to allow Shadow Of Moil to work to stave off Sunlight Sensitivity.
While I do find some appeal in to the argument that "it's still sunlight, but dimmer", Shadow of Moil is 4th level, and with the additional resistance to radiant that it grants, it does seem like it ought to be proof against the touch of the sun, regardless of the use of the word "direct" in the trait.
(Creatures with the Sunlight Sensitivity trait as presented in the PC Race descriptions would still suffer disadvantage attacking creatures outside the 10' radius of the spell, but this NPC doesn't have that particular version).
Thanks everyone, for your considered opinions and arguments.