So you can see out of the fog without issue..... interesting

Quote from PoorWanderingOne >>

So you can see out of the fog without issue..... interesting

 

It very much does not say that, and you cannot see through the fog unless you have some other feature that allows that.

I don't suppose Elementalism could counter this.

Quote from hermick >>

I don't suppose Elementalism could counter this.

I would say no. This spell says it can be disrupted by "a strong wind", but the description of Elementalism says it can produce "a breeze strong enough to ripple cloth, stir dust, rustle leaves, and close open doors and shutters". That does not sound like a strong wind to me.

Plus, this spell offers an example of an effect that can disrupt it: the spell Gust of Wind. This is a 2nd level spell, so it seems unlikely that the intent is that a cantrip could also disrupt it.

Also, Elementalism only affects a 5-foot cube anyway, while this spell has a much larger area of effect. As a DM I might allow a character to clear a 5-foot cube of this spell's effect out temporarily if they wanted to.

I understand that this spell creates a Heavily Obscured volume, and I understand what the Blinded condition does. I'm confused on the definition of Heavily Obscured: "You have the Blinded condition while trying to see something in a Heavily Obscured space." Interpreting this definition in a vacuum, does this mean 1) "...something while you are in a Heavily Obscured space," 2) "...something that is in a Heavily Obscured space," or 3) both?

As per the "Exploration" section of Chapter 1, a volume of nighttime darkness is just as Heavily Obscured as the same volume being in daylight and subject to this spell. You can definitely see the light of a city from a lake at night (implying case 2), so you should be able to see out of the fog just as well...? I agree that this doesn't make sense - being able to see what's on the other side of fog whose contents is obscured to you - but that seems to be the case RAW. Please correct me if I'm mistaken!

Quote from PurplBanana >>

I understand that this spell creates a Heavily Obscured volume, and I understand what the Blinded condition does. I'm confused on the definition of Heavily Obscured: "You have the Blinded condition while trying to see something in a Heavily Obscured space." Interpreting this definition in a vacuum, does this mean 1) "...something while you are in a Heavily Obscured space," 2) "...something that is in a Heavily Obscured space," or 3) both?

As per the "Exploration" section of Chapter 1, a volume of nighttime darkness is just as Heavily Obscured as the same volume being in daylight and subject to this spell. You can definitely see the light of a city from a lake at night (implying case 2), so you should be able to see out of the fog just as well...? I agree that this doesn't make sense - being able to see what's on the other side of fog whose contents is obscured to you - but that seems to be the case RAW. Please correct me if I'm mistaken!

The way I interpret this spell is #3) Both.  If you are outside the fog, you can't see anything inside the fog (and it blocks your view of anything on the other side as well).  If you are also inside the fog, you can't see anything - a fog so think you almost literally can't see your hand in front of your face.  You know...like a thick fog.  

As per the Exploration section of Chapter 1:  "A Heavily Obscured area—such as an area with Darkness, heavy fog, or dense foliage—is opaque. You have the Blinded condition (see the rules glossary) when trying to see something there."  I don't see anything in RAW or the spell description that implies that you can see out of the fog if you are inside it. 

Spells that exempt the caster usually state as much - along the lines of "everyone other than you has the blinded condition".  Take for example,  entangle: "Each creature (other than you) in the area when you cast the spell must succeed on a Strength saving throw or have the Restrained condition until the spell ends." - but this spell doesn't say that.  If you could see out it would effectively render you invisible

Nighttime Darkness creates a Heavily Obscured area, RAW. This spell creates a Heavily Obscured area with no additional effects. How is it, then, that a character can see the moon at night, but a character can't see out of a Fog Cloud? Indeed - RAW - either you cannot see the moon at night if nighttime Darkness is as opaque as a Fog Cloud, or you can see outside a Fog Cloud just as well as you can see the moon at night.

Like I said, I agree this doesn't make sense. The issue is with the definition of all Heavily Obscured areas being opaque. Even in 2014, those areas "block vision entirely," so it was and is fundamentally flawed.

Of course, any reasonable DM would say that this Heavily Obscured area is opaque, while nighttime Darkness is not.