In our games, casters with Darkness have to be very careful of where they place the effect with regard to other players. Our DM has ruled that in addition to the adv/disadv rules, baring special sight, pcs covered by Darkness have to determine if they even attack in the correct direction, usually with a roll vs some very hard DC. If they succeed, then they can attempt the attack role. We have been able to reduce the DC if we can provide a story element/narrative that explains how we "know" where to swing. So, at our table, Darkness can screw allies.
This isn’t RAW, but it’s a lot more realistic. Does he apply the same rules to enemies?
Yes, he does apply the rules to both players and npcs. He tends to house rule several "realism" style modifications to RAW. We generally don't mind as he also allows us to RP ways around the rules as long as it makes for a good "cinematic" story. for an example, we have to declare our total turn (movement, action, bonus action) at the start of our turn. This prevents us from switching targets if the first one dies to our first attack or if we declared an attack to each and the first doesn't land, we can't adjust our second attack. On the other hand, if we fully describe our turn as a cinematic scene, he often awards bonuses or inspiration. Rule of cool applies.
The darkness rule I totally understand. But this one makes no sense to me. The game is simulating live decisions made on the spot. If your first target died, why would you continue attacking it?
Agreed and often questioned. By now we just work with it because we know it is coming and we'd rather (as a group) just keep enjoying the game (and he's a very good GM otherwise).
Expect this to cause all sorts of problems if an enemy has an unknown or unexpected means of seeing in magical darkness. :3
Yeah that's the other rub people forget about. If the creature has blindsight, tremor sense, or some other kind of special sense you actually making it worse for your party rather than better.
Overall I would suggest going with different modalities if possible.
Expect this to cause all sorts of problems if an enemy has an unknown or unexpected means of seeing in magical darkness. :3
Yeah that's the other rub people forget about. If the creature has blindsight, tremor sense, or some other kind of special sense you actually making it worse for your party rather than better.
Overall I would suggest going with different modalities if possible.
Which can now be a benefit for melee fighters with the blind fighting style. It should also be said that barbarians probably aren't fans of being dropped into Darkness due to Reckless Attacks and reiterate that rogues don't like darkness, particularly if a DM rules that the rogue doesn't get sneak attack even if the disadvantage is cancelled out (which is RAW the correct way to rule it since it doesn't matter if you can add advantage from another source, you still will have straight rolls). Anyone using a spell slot that grants advantage (ie Faerie Fire, will not appreciate it if you just wasted their spell slot by carrying Darkness. There are definitely times when it should be considered and certain characters will want to do certain things to take advantage of the situation. A Warlock with Devil's sight should allow the Shadow Sorcerer to cast Darkness with their SP in most cases so that the Sorcerer can also see through it.
Having a Twilight Cleric in the party could make it beneficial to cast darkness on a sole source of light, which could open up lots of options for advantage and shenanigans with Devil's sight Warlocks, Shadow Sorcerers and shadow monks. It doesn't appear that Eyes of the Night defeats the Darkness spell when cast as described in the rest of the thread, though, and thus it's still subject to the same criteria as normal darkness when it's simply blocking a light source.
Expect this to cause all sorts of problems if an enemy has an unknown or unexpected means of seeing in magical darkness. :3
Yeah that's the other rub people forget about. If the creature has blindsight, tremor sense, or some other kind of special sense you actually making it worse for your party rather than better.
Overall I would suggest going with different modalities if possible.
Which can now be a benefit for melee fighters with the blind fighting style. It should also be said that barbarians probably aren't fans of being dropped into Darkness due to Reckless Attacks and reiterate that rogues don't like darkness, particularly if a DM rules that the rogue doesn't get sneak attack even if the disadvantage is cancelled out (which is RAW the correct way to rule it since it doesn't matter if you can add advantage from another source, you still will have straight rolls). Anyone using a spell slot that grants advantage (ie Faerie Fire, will not appreciate it if you just wasted their spell slot by carrying Darkness. There are definitely times when it should be considered and certain characters will want to do certain things to take advantage of the situation. A Warlock with Devil's sight should allow the Shadow Sorcerer to cast Darkness with their SP in most cases so that the Sorcerer can also see through it.
Having a Twilight Cleric in the party could make it beneficial to cast darkness on a sole source of light, which could open up lots of options for advantage and shenanigans with Devil's sight Warlocks, Shadow Sorcerers and shadow monks. It doesn't appear that Eyes of the Night defeats the Darkness spell when cast as described in the rest of the thread, though, and thus it's still subject to the same criteria as normal darkness when it's simply blocking a light source.
Oh yeah you are spot on with the builds that would have heavy synergy. I would love that as a warlock for sure!
Blind Fighting Style fixes a lot for me especially Shadow Monk and using darkness a lot.
For me, it would not be fun to play a melee fighter when "Darkness" is part of the group strategy mostly for narrativ reasons. I would want to play out my supreme combat skills as a battle master or dominate my opponents as a conquest paladin. What I don't want is flailling blindly in the darkness and hope to hit something or hope for an opponent to run into my blade...
Agreed and often questioned. By now we just work with it because we know it is coming and we'd rather (as a group) just keep enjoying the game (and he's a very good GM otherwise).
Expect this to cause all sorts of problems if an enemy has an unknown or unexpected means of seeing in magical darkness. :3
Yeah that's the other rub people forget about. If the creature has blindsight, tremor sense, or some other kind of special sense you actually making it worse for your party rather than better.
Overall I would suggest going with different modalities if possible.
Which can now be a benefit for melee fighters with the blind fighting style. It should also be said that barbarians probably aren't fans of being dropped into Darkness due to Reckless Attacks and reiterate that rogues don't like darkness, particularly if a DM rules that the rogue doesn't get sneak attack even if the disadvantage is cancelled out (which is RAW the correct way to rule it since it doesn't matter if you can add advantage from another source, you still will have straight rolls). Anyone using a spell slot that grants advantage (ie Faerie Fire, will not appreciate it if you just wasted their spell slot by carrying Darkness. There are definitely times when it should be considered and certain characters will want to do certain things to take advantage of the situation. A Warlock with Devil's sight should allow the Shadow Sorcerer to cast Darkness with their SP in most cases so that the Sorcerer can also see through it.
Having a Twilight Cleric in the party could make it beneficial to cast darkness on a sole source of light, which could open up lots of options for advantage and shenanigans with Devil's sight Warlocks, Shadow Sorcerers and shadow monks. It doesn't appear that Eyes of the Night defeats the Darkness spell when cast as described in the rest of the thread, though, and thus it's still subject to the same criteria as normal darkness when it's simply blocking a light source.
Oh yeah you are spot on with the builds that would have heavy synergy. I would love that as a warlock for sure!
Blind Fighting Style fixes a lot for me especially Shadow Monk and using darkness a lot.
For me, it would not be fun to play a melee fighter when "Darkness" is part of the group strategy mostly for narrativ reasons. I would want to play out my supreme combat skills as a battle master or dominate my opponents as a conquest paladin. What I don't want is flailling blindly in the darkness and hope to hit something or hope for an opponent to run into my blade...
This is very helpful.
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