As the sun slips below the horizon, a chill fills the air. The shadow of moil stretches across the land, consuming all in its path. This is not a living place. Fear grips your heart as you realize there is no escape from this dark place. It is doomed to wander here forever, lost in the shadows of moil.
The shadow of moil stretches long on the horizon. The land is barren, and the air is heavy. This is the land of moil, a place of darkness and despair. The people who live here know only pain and suffering. There is no hope in this land, no light to guide the way. But there is a chance for change. A chance to break free from the shadow of moil and find a new life. Will you take that chance? Or will you let the shadow of moil consume you?
Overview of the Shadow of Moil
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Components: V, S, M (an undead eyeball encased in a gem worth at least 150 GP)
As my first turn in combat, I cast Shadow of Moil to draw attention from a group of baddies, hoping that they would attack me at an obstacle. My bonus action ignited my Flame Tongue Greatsword so that the encircling enemies wouldn’t be in lightlessness on my next turn.
As stated by the DM, either the weapon is creating light or the weapon is obscured, but both must be true simultaneously. We settled on just the obscurement effect as I was more concerned with that than the language of the spell.
Continuing, he says that even creatures with dark vision cannot see enemies within the secondary effect area of the spell, suggesting nobody can attack them. That is not an obstacle. I’m further irritated by this since I might have ended my movement differently if I had anticipated it.
When the enemies had their turn, they weren’t even disadvantaged to hit me either, but I realized later that was due to their tremor sense (no harm, no foul). It may depend on the kind of obscurement, but when you try to see into or out of an obscured area, both characters are considered blind.
Casters of this spell are heavily obscured to others (so they look blind when attacking the character), but the character isn’t heavily obscured themselves, so they don’t suffer the opposite effect.
The type of obscurement can also affect reciprocity in the case where one character is in the light and the other in the dark; the one in the dark can see the one in the light.
Is the shadow of moil a good spell?
Shadow of Moil is fantastic for warlocks of the Hexblade, Raven Queen, and Great Old One classes, but it’s not one of the best spells in the game, especially for warlocks whose main purpose is upcasting low-level utility spells. The best part of this spell is becoming heavily obscured.
What can see through the shadow of moil?
Through Shadow of Moil, all three senses detect truth, blindsight, and tremors. Moil’s shadow creates darkness, but Truesight sees through it. A dense sandstorm or blanket, for example, would not conceal true sight.
Does the shadow of moil create magical darkness?
The spell isn’t creating darkness but only dimming light, so “normal” night vision should penetrate the dimmed area. Puncturing through the obscurement doesn’t help.
Does the shadow of moil give you an advantage?
That’s right, it does. As a result of casting Shadow of Moil on yourself, you are in a heavily obscured area, so any enemies trying to see you or attack you will be effectively blinded.
Conclusion
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