So. darkness is considered Heavily obscured. If you are in it, anyone outside of it suffers the blinded condition trying to look in at you. You have advantage on attacks going out of the darkness, and they have disadvantage attacking into it. If you are hidden, they also do not know your location. Got it. You can see out of a heavily obscured area, but you can't see in it.
But.
A lot of things use the heavily obscured condition existence to clarify the situation, but may raise questions.
Are you heavily obscured in thick fog like the spell Fog Cloud? The description says yes, meaning you have advantage on attacks on anything outside the cloud if you are inside it. So You can clearly see outside the cloud from within? Same as Darkness?
"Fog Cloud- You create a 20-foot-radius sphere of fog centered on a point within range. The sphere spreads around corners, and its area is heavily obscured. It lasts for the duration or until a wind of moderate or greater speed (at least 10 miles per hour) disperses it."
I this definition it clearly states the area inside is heavily obscured, which means anyone outside of it has disadvantage attacking someone inside of it, and anyone inside of it has advantage attacking someone outside of it, so I can see out of it.
What about a forrest tree line? How far in can you be before it is just unreasonable to see outside of it. RAW says that wouldn't matter, Inside you are heavily obscured. Outside, they are not. So I can see them. But if I'm in like 100 feat? And they our outside like 100 feet away from the tree line? that's 200 feet total, can I hit them with sharpshooter through 100 feat of heavily obscuring foliage at advantage? Is this a DM judgment call or am I missing a rules set here.
What about the darkness spell? I see nothing in the darkness spell description that breaks the heavily obscured rules.
"Darkness-Magical darkness spreads from a point you choose within range to fill a 15-foot-radius sphere for the duration. The darkness spreads around corners. A creature with darkvision can't see through this darkness, and nonmagical light can't illuminate it. If the point you choose is on an object you are holding or one that isn't being worn or carried, the darkness emanates from the object and moves with it. Completely covering the source of the darkness with an opaque object, such as a bowl or a helm, blocks the darkness. If any of this spell's area overlaps with an area of light created by a spell of 2nd level or lower, the spell that created the light is dispelled."
It does not mention heavily Obscured in it's description, unlike fog cloud. That to me is very telling, but I am still not sure. It lets you know dark vision doesn't work on it, and non magical light can't illuminate it. It also lets you know if it is emanating from an object, it can be covered by another object, insinuating that it emanates like light, but in an opposite spectrum (darkness), so really it is more like Black light. is this black light blocking my vision outside of it from within?
"Darknesscreates a heavily obscured area. Characters face darkness outdoors at night (even most moonlit nights), within the confines of an unlit dungeon or a subterranean vault, or in an area of magical darkness."
Dam it, now this messes everything up by stating that magical darkness creates a Heavily Obscured area. meaning inside it you have advantage on attacks to creatures outside it, and outside it you are in the blinded condition to anything inside it. Help me please.....
Well, I will give you my perspective but the rules for this are left fairly open to GM interpretation. I will go through your examples but here is my guiding principle: Is what is causing the Heavily Obscured condition opaque? Is the cause solid? Would it stop an arrow?
Regular darkness: This is simply the lack of illumination. If something isn't lit you have a hard time seeing it, if you can at all. However if something is well lit you can see it, even if you are in total darkness. Something well lit would be able to see something else well lit even if there is darkness on between. But it would not be able to see what is in the darkness.
Fog: If the fog is thick enough that you can't see through it then anything on the other side is Heavily Obscured. If there is enough fog that you can't see things inside of it then they wouldn't be able to see you and you would both be Heavily Obscured. I would rule that you could see some distance through the fog as Lightly Obscured depending on how dense the fog is. This is for a natural fog though, the spell Fog Cloud however explicitly stated that the entire area is Heavily Obscured.
Forrest: It would have to be a really dense Forrest but I would rule similarly as the fog. The only difference being fog won't stop an arrow, a tree will. So the targets would also be benefiting from 3/4 or total cover depending. Also if the target is deep enough in the forest to be obscured then not only would you also be obscured to them but the trees would also grant you cover.
Magical Darkness: this is really cute and dry. Anything in the magical darkness is Heavily Obscured. The magical darkness cannot be seen through (for the most part) and so anything on the other side of magical darkness is also Heavily Obscured. If you are inside the magical darkness then you can't see anything and everything is Heavily Obscured to you. This is also how Fog Cloud works as it states the entire area of the fog is Heavily Obscured. At best you can see inches through it, but not feet.
Heavily obscurement rules are a little confuse. But getting your Fog Cloud example: if no one has any special sense or any feat / ability, the advantage and the disadvantage would overlap and everyone would attack normally because of these weird rules.
So. darkness is considered Heavily obscured. If you are in it, anyone outside of it suffers the blinded condition trying to look in at you. You have advantage on attacks going out of the darkness, and they have disadvantage attacking into it. If you are hidden, they also do not know your location. Got it. You can see out of a heavily obscured area, but you can't see in it.
But.
A lot of things use the heavily obscured condition existence to clarify the situation, but may raise questions.
Are you heavily obscured in thick fog like the spell Fog Cloud? The description says yes, meaning you have advantage on attacks on anything outside the cloud if you are inside it. So You can clearly see outside the cloud from within? Same as Darkness?
"Fog Cloud- You create a 20-foot-radius sphere of fog centered on a point within range. The sphere spreads around corners, and its area is heavily obscured. It lasts for the duration or until a wind of moderate or greater speed (at least 10 miles per hour) disperses it."
I this definition it clearly states the area inside is heavily obscured, which means anyone outside of it has disadvantage attacking someone inside of it, and anyone inside of it has advantage attacking someone outside of it, so I can see out of it.
What about a forrest tree line? How far in can you be before it is just unreasonable to see outside of it. RAW says that wouldn't matter, Inside you are heavily obscured. Outside, they are not. So I can see them. But if I'm in like 100 feat? And they our outside like 100 feet away from the tree line? that's 200 feet total, can I hit them with sharpshooter through 100 feat of heavily obscuring foliage at advantage? Is this a DM judgment call or am I missing a rules set here.
What about the darkness spell? I see nothing in the darkness spell description that breaks the heavily obscured rules.
"Darkness-Magical darkness spreads from a point you choose within range to fill a 15-foot-radius sphere for the duration. The darkness spreads around corners. A creature with darkvision can't see through this darkness, and nonmagical light can't illuminate it. If the point you choose is on an object you are holding or one that isn't being worn or carried, the darkness emanates from the object and moves with it. Completely covering the source of the darkness with an opaque object, such as a bowl or a helm, blocks the darkness. If any of this spell's area overlaps with an area of light created by a spell of 2nd level or lower, the spell that created the light is dispelled."
It does not mention heavily Obscured in it's description, unlike fog cloud. That to me is very telling, but I am still not sure. It lets you know dark vision doesn't work on it, and non magical light can't illuminate it. It also lets you know if it is emanating from an object, it can be covered by another object, insinuating that it emanates like light, but in an opposite spectrum (darkness), so really it is more like Black light. is this black light blocking my vision outside of it from within?
"Darknesscreates a heavily obscured area. Characters face darkness outdoors at night (even most moonlit nights), within the confines of an unlit dungeon or a subterranean vault, or in an area of magical darkness."
Dam it, now this messes everything up by stating that magical darkness creates a Heavily Obscured area. meaning inside it you have advantage on attacks to creatures outside it, and outside it you are in the blinded condition to anything inside it. Help me please.....
It says that "A creature with darkvision can't see through this darkness..." and I'd say that a creature with regular vision would suffer the same problem. It could have said "A creature ... can't see [objects in the area affected by the] darkness" but instead says that it is unable to see through.
I think the idea of magical darkness is that it is a phenomena that completely negates light.
Are you heavily obscured in thick fog like the spell Fog Cloud? The description says yes, meaning you have advantage on attacks on anything outside the cloud if you are inside it. So You can clearly see outside the cloud from within? Same as Darkness?
No you can't see since heavy fog, being heavily obscured, block vision entirely.
I must say heavily obscured from effects and normal darkness don't match perfectly as written.
An heavily obscured area blocks vision entirely. A creature effectively suffers from the blinded condition when trying to see something in that area. So if you're anywhere in it, you can't see past it, including heavy fog, darkness etc.
It works well for effect impeding vision such as heavy sow or fog, but not for normal darkness as it should not block vision entirely, only making you blinded when trying to see something in it. Like this, you can see outside darkness, but not heavy fog, snow etc.
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So. darkness is considered Heavily obscured. If you are in it, anyone outside of it suffers the blinded condition trying to look in at you. You have advantage on attacks going out of the darkness, and they have disadvantage attacking into it. If you are hidden, they also do not know your location. Got it. You can see out of a heavily obscured area, but you can't see in it.
But.
A lot of things use the heavily obscured condition existence to clarify the situation, but may raise questions.
Are you heavily obscured in thick fog like the spell Fog Cloud? The description says yes, meaning you have advantage on attacks on anything outside the cloud if you are inside it. So You can clearly see outside the cloud from within? Same as Darkness?
"Fog Cloud- You create a 20-foot-radius sphere of fog centered on a point within range. The sphere spreads around corners, and its area is heavily obscured. It lasts for the duration or until a wind of moderate or greater speed (at least 10 miles per hour) disperses it."
I this definition it clearly states the area inside is heavily obscured, which means anyone outside of it has disadvantage attacking someone inside of it, and anyone inside of it has advantage attacking someone outside of it, so I can see out of it.
What about a forrest tree line? How far in can you be before it is just unreasonable to see outside of it. RAW says that wouldn't matter, Inside you are heavily obscured. Outside, they are not. So I can see them. But if I'm in like 100 feat? And they our outside like 100 feet away from the tree line? that's 200 feet total, can I hit them with sharpshooter through 100 feat of heavily obscuring foliage at advantage? Is this a DM judgment call or am I missing a rules set here.
What about the darkness spell? I see nothing in the darkness spell description that breaks the heavily obscured rules.
"Darkness- Magical darkness spreads from a point you choose within range to fill a 15-foot-radius sphere for the duration. The darkness spreads around corners. A creature with darkvision can't see through this darkness, and nonmagical light can't illuminate it. If the point you choose is on an object you are holding or one that isn't being worn or carried, the darkness emanates from the object and moves with it. Completely covering the source of the darkness with an opaque object, such as a bowl or a helm, blocks the darkness. If any of this spell's area overlaps with an area of light created by a spell of 2nd level or lower, the spell that created the light is dispelled."
It does not mention heavily Obscured in it's description, unlike fog cloud. That to me is very telling, but I am still not sure. It lets you know dark vision doesn't work on it, and non magical light can't illuminate it. It also lets you know if it is emanating from an object, it can be covered by another object, insinuating that it emanates like light, but in an opposite spectrum (darkness), so really it is more like Black light. is this black light blocking my vision outside of it from within?
"Darkness creates a heavily obscured area. Characters face darkness outdoors at night (even most moonlit nights), within the confines of an unlit dungeon or a subterranean vault, or in an area of magical darkness."
Dam it, now this messes everything up by stating that magical darkness creates a Heavily Obscured area. meaning inside it you have advantage on attacks to creatures outside it, and outside it you are in the blinded condition to anything inside it. Help me please.....
Well, I will give you my perspective but the rules for this are left fairly open to GM interpretation. I will go through your examples but here is my guiding principle: Is what is causing the Heavily Obscured condition opaque? Is the cause solid? Would it stop an arrow?
Regular darkness: This is simply the lack of illumination. If something isn't lit you have a hard time seeing it, if you can at all. However if something is well lit you can see it, even if you are in total darkness. Something well lit would be able to see something else well lit even if there is darkness on between. But it would not be able to see what is in the darkness.
Fog: If the fog is thick enough that you can't see through it then anything on the other side is Heavily Obscured. If there is enough fog that you can't see things inside of it then they wouldn't be able to see you and you would both be Heavily Obscured. I would rule that you could see some distance through the fog as Lightly Obscured depending on how dense the fog is. This is for a natural fog though, the spell Fog Cloud however explicitly stated that the entire area is Heavily Obscured.
Forrest: It would have to be a really dense Forrest but I would rule similarly as the fog. The only difference being fog won't stop an arrow, a tree will. So the targets would also be benefiting from 3/4 or total cover depending. Also if the target is deep enough in the forest to be obscured then not only would you also be obscured to them but the trees would also grant you cover.
Magical Darkness: this is really cute and dry. Anything in the magical darkness is Heavily Obscured. The magical darkness cannot be seen through (for the most part) and so anything on the other side of magical darkness is also Heavily Obscured. If you are inside the magical darkness then you can't see anything and everything is Heavily Obscured to you. This is also how Fog Cloud works as it states the entire area of the fog is Heavily Obscured. At best you can see inches through it, but not feet.
Heavily obscurement rules are a little confuse. But getting your Fog Cloud example: if no one has any special sense or any feat / ability, the advantage and the disadvantage would overlap and everyone would attack normally because of these weird rules.
It says that "A creature with darkvision can't see through this darkness..." and I'd say that a creature with regular vision would suffer the same problem. It could have said "A creature ... can't see [objects in the area affected by the] darkness" but instead says that it is unable to see through.
I think the idea of magical darkness is that it is a phenomena that completely negates light.
No you can't see since heavy fog, being heavily obscured, block vision entirely.
I must say heavily obscured from effects and normal darkness don't match perfectly as written.
An heavily obscured area blocks vision entirely. A creature effectively suffers from the blinded condition when trying to see something in that area. So if you're anywhere in it, you can't see past it, including heavy fog, darkness etc.
It works well for effect impeding vision such as heavy sow or fog, but not for normal darkness as it should not block vision entirely, only making you blinded when trying to see something in it. Like this, you can see outside darkness, but not heavy fog, snow etc.