So the shadow sorcerer can see through its own casting of the Darkness Spell if it casts it with sorcerery points. But would this also allow them to see through the Darkness spell as cast by other creatures?
For example, if a fiend surrounds itself with the darkness spell, and the sorcerer casts darkness in return, would the sorcerer be able to see through both instances of magical darkness? And would this have any effect on seeing through other sources of magical darkness?
No. The Eyes of the Dark feature only applies to the spell that the sorcerer casts.
If you want to see through Magical Darkness in general, you will need something that explicitly states that, such as the Warlock's Invocation Devil's Sight.
If you want to see through Magical Darkness in general, you will need something that explicitly states that, such as the Warlock's Invocation Devil's Sight.
This is just an academic observation since what you say is accurate in the context of the question OP asked, but I would say that you just said it backwards. Darkvision makes no distinction between mundane darkness and magical darkness. In fact, darkvision can see just fine through magical darkness unless the spell or effect that created it explicitly negates darkvision as well.
That seems to be accurate. Magical Darkness is not inherently special, it just happens to be that all instance of magical darkness (that I'm able to find) are the result of the Darkness spell.
It's entirely possible that someone will create a form of magical darkness that does allow darkvision to work, but working out the mechanics of that could be problematic, so I doubt it will happen.
So the sorcerers’ darkness would almost act as an extension of their dark vision where it overlaps the other, equal darkness?
That is such a quirky mechanic! I would love to have a one-shot where the party has to deal with a dungeon with like “darkness torches” spread around, and see if they find odd loopholes like this for getting through them.
Yeah, I'm perfectly happy with a Shadow Sorcerer using their own bubble of Darkness to cut into a previously cast Darkness effect. It's a clever use of overlapping spell effect mechanics.
Just be careful, if the fiend figures out your trick, they might do the same thing in reverse.
I'd be more worried about blowing a 2nd level spell slot just to find out they have blind sight or true sight. Although it would be a hilarious moment when the fiend walks up and shows me how wrong I was.
If you want to see through Magical Darkness in general, you will need something that explicitly states that, such as the Warlock's Invocation Devil's Sight.
This is just an academic observation since what you say is accurate in the context of the question OP asked, but I would say that you just said it backwards. Darkvision makes no distinction between mundane darkness and magical darkness. In fact, darkvision can see just fine through magical darkness unless the spell or effect that created it explicitly negates darkvision as well.
One major distinction is the actual Darkness spell (2nd level), which specifically states that Darkvision cannot see through it. In 25+ years of playing D&D, I can't say I've actually seen magical darkness that isn't the Darkness spell, or at least don't remember ever seeing it, but I could be wrong.
If you want to see through Magical Darkness in general, you will need something that explicitly states that, such as the Warlock's Invocation Devil's Sight.
This is just an academic observation since what you say is accurate in the context of the question OP asked, but I would say that you just said it backwards. Darkvision makes no distinction between mundane darkness and magical darkness. In fact, darkvision can see just fine through magical darkness unless the spell or effect that created it explicitly negates darkvision as well.
One major distinction is the actual Darkness spell (2nd level), which specifically states that Darkvision cannot see through it. In 25+ years of playing D&D, I can't say I've actually seen magical darkness that isn't the Darkness spell, or at least don't remember ever seeing it, but I could be wrong.
My post was from back in September and prior to this addition to the Sage Advice Compendium, which made my observation explicit:
Does all magical darkness block darkvision?
Magical darkness blocks darkvision only if the rules text for a particular instance of darkness says it does. For example, the darkness spell specifies that it produces a magical darkness that obstructs darkvision. That obstruction is a feature of the spell, not of magical darkness in general.
If you want to see through Magical Darkness in general, you will need something that explicitly states that, such as the Warlock's Invocation Devil's Sight.
This is just an academic observation since what you say is accurate in the context of the question OP asked, but I would say that you just said it backwards. Darkvision makes no distinction between mundane darkness and magical darkness. In fact, darkvision can see just fine through magical darkness unless the spell or effect that created it explicitly negates darkvision as well.
One major distinction is the actual Darkness spell (2nd level), which specifically states that Darkvision cannot see through it. In 25+ years of playing D&D, I can't say I've actually seen magical darkness that isn't the Darkness spell, or at least don't remember ever seeing it, but I could be wrong.
Have a look at Shadow of Moil, a 4th level Warlock spell. It converts Dim Light into Darkness within a certain radius. That is "normal" darkness, though it is a magical spell.
If you want to see through Magical Darkness in general, you will need something that explicitly states that, such as the Warlock's Invocation Devil's Sight.
This is just an academic observation since what you say is accurate in the context of the question OP asked, but I would say that you just said it backwards. Darkvision makes no distinction between mundane darkness and magical darkness. In fact, darkvision can see just fine through magical darkness unless the spell or effect that created it explicitly negates darkvision as well.
One major distinction is the actual Darkness spell (2nd level), which specifically states that Darkvision cannot see through it. In 25+ years of playing D&D, I can't say I've actually seen magical darkness that isn't the Darkness spell, or at least don't remember ever seeing it, but I could be wrong.
Have a look at Shadow of Moil, a 4th level Warlock spell. It converts Dim Light into Darkness within a certain radius. That is "normal" darkness, though it is a magical spell.
I would phrase it differently, saying that it is magical darkness (it's magical because it's created by a spell), but it's not the darkness spell, which is specifically mentioned as blocking darkvision ("A creature with darkvision can't see through this darkness").
The sorcerer feature "Eyes of the Dark" will not see thorough Maddening Darkness. The Warlock feature "Devil's Sight" would though. So it all depends on how you build your sorlock.
This is a whole lot of distinctions being made without a purpose. If you're willing to argue this much about a single magic spell, don't be surprised when your players dunk on every encounter and get *****y when you make even a single ruling against them. "It only take half my movement to get up from prone!" / "Bruh, you were sleeping." / "AND prone, so I should be able to take my action." / "So you're telling me you can wake up, leap up and kill 3 people before wiping the sleep from your eyes like some kind of anime villain?" / "My character has 60 ft. movement because aarakocra/monk bullshido powers + flurry of blows!" / "No. Just, no." / "Why not?" / "Because I hate you and will always try to frustrate your wishes." / "Cool."
This is a whole lot of distinctions being made without a purpose. If you're willing to argue this much about a single magic spell, don't be surprised when your players dunk on every encounter and get *****y when you make even a single ruling against them. "It only take half my movement to get up from prone!" / "Bruh, you were sleeping." / "AND prone, so I should be able to take my action." / "So you're telling me you can wake up, leap up and kill 3 people before wiping the sleep from your eyes like some kind of anime villain?" / "My character has 60 ft. movement because aarakocra/monk bullshido powers + flurry of blows!" / "No. Just, no." / "Why not?" / "Because I hate you and will always try to frustrate your wishes." / "Cool."
I'm not sure what you're trying to say, but it's really not difficult: Darkvision can't see through the Darkness spell, as that requires a specific feature. Considering how common Darkvision is, I would think the purpose of that is pretty clear.
You're right. I should just delete this but I'll leave it up as a mea culpa. It's not difficult to me, either, but here we are and folks will argue about it.
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So the shadow sorcerer can see through its own casting of the Darkness Spell if it casts it with sorcerery points. But would this also allow them to see through the Darkness spell as cast by other creatures?
For example, if a fiend surrounds itself with the darkness spell, and the sorcerer casts darkness in return, would the sorcerer be able to see through both instances of magical darkness? And would this have any effect on seeing through other sources of magical darkness?
No. The Eyes of the Dark feature only applies to the spell that the sorcerer casts.
If you want to see through Magical Darkness in general, you will need something that explicitly states that, such as the Warlock's Invocation Devil's Sight.
This is just an academic observation since what you say is accurate in the context of the question OP asked, but I would say that you just said it backwards. Darkvision makes no distinction between mundane darkness and magical darkness. In fact, darkvision can see just fine through magical darkness unless the spell or effect that created it explicitly negates darkvision as well.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
That seems to be accurate. Magical Darkness is not inherently special, it just happens to be that all instance of magical darkness (that I'm able to find) are the result of the Darkness spell.
It's entirely possible that someone will create a form of magical darkness that does allow darkvision to work, but working out the mechanics of that could be problematic, so I doubt it will happen.
So the sorcerers’ darkness would almost act as an extension of their dark vision where it overlaps the other, equal darkness?
That is such a quirky mechanic! I would love to have a one-shot where the party has to deal with a dungeon with like “darkness torches” spread around, and see if they find odd loopholes like this for getting through them.
Yeah, I'm perfectly happy with a Shadow Sorcerer using their own bubble of Darkness to cut into a previously cast Darkness effect. It's a clever use of overlapping spell effect mechanics.
Just be careful, if the fiend figures out your trick, they might do the same thing in reverse.
I'd be more worried about blowing a 2nd level spell slot just to find out they have blind sight or true sight. Although it would be a hilarious moment when the fiend walks up and shows me how wrong I was.
One major distinction is the actual Darkness spell (2nd level), which specifically states that Darkvision cannot see through it. In 25+ years of playing D&D, I can't say I've actually seen magical darkness that isn't the Darkness spell, or at least don't remember ever seeing it, but I could be wrong.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/darkness
My post was from back in September and prior to this addition to the Sage Advice Compendium, which made my observation explicit:
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Have a look at Shadow of Moil, a 4th level Warlock spell. It converts Dim Light into Darkness within a certain radius. That is "normal" darkness, though it is a magical spell.
Fair enough. Your wording is more precise.
So this might be an obvious answer but could a Shadow Sorlock see through its own Maddening Darkness spell?
The sorcerer feature "Eyes of the Dark" will not see thorough Maddening Darkness. The Warlock feature "Devil's Sight" would though. So it all depends on how you build your sorlock.
This is a whole lot of distinctions being made without a purpose. If you're willing to argue this much about a single magic spell, don't be surprised when your players dunk on every encounter and get *****y when you make even a single ruling against them. "It only take half my movement to get up from prone!" / "Bruh, you were sleeping." / "AND prone, so I should be able to take my action." / "So you're telling me you can wake up, leap up and kill 3 people before wiping the sleep from your eyes like some kind of anime villain?" / "My character has 60 ft. movement because aarakocra/monk bullshido powers + flurry of blows!" / "No. Just, no." / "Why not?" / "Because I hate you and will always try to frustrate your wishes." / "Cool."
I'm not sure what you're trying to say, but it's really not difficult: Darkvision can't see through the Darkness spell, as that requires a specific feature. Considering how common Darkvision is, I would think the purpose of that is pretty clear.
You're right. I should just delete this but I'll leave it up as a mea culpa. It's not difficult to me, either, but here we are and folks will argue about it.