If a creature is standing inside of an Obscuring Mist spell at the very edge, can they see out of it clearly by peeking out? The spell states that, "The vapor obscures all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet." The outside of the mist is less than 5 feet away is a creature is standing a the edge.
For example. let's say Creature A is standing at the edge of a cloud of Obscuring Mist. They want to look out and target Creature B with a ranged attack. Creature B is standing 30 feet away, outside of the cloud. Does Creature A still incur a 20% miss chance? Can Creature A locate Creature B at all because of the second part of the spell description; "Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker cannot use sight to locate the target)."?
I think the ruling should be that they still incur a 20% miss chance because there is mist around them, but I have had players argue that they can peek outside the edge of the cloud. Is there a specific ruling on this anywhere? Opinions from other GMs?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
There's a rule on concealment which goes like this
To determine whether your target has concealment from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target’s square passes through a square or border that provides concealment, the target has concealment.
So yeah, peeking out while being in a square on the edge of the cloud and still gaining the benefit of 20% concealment is doable. Or 50% concealment if you're deeper inside the cloud than a square on the edge, though this would give you a 20% miss chance to attack unless you move.
There's a rule on concealment which goes like this
To determine whether your target has concealment from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target’s square passes through a square or border that provides concealment, the target has concealment.So yeah, peeking out while being in a square on the edge of the cloud and still gaining the benefit of 20% concealment is doable. Or 50% concealment if you're deeper inside the cloud than a square on the edge, though this would give you a 20% miss chance to attack unless you move.
It still seems unclear to me. So in my same scenario, it seems like you're saying that Creature A can attack out of the cloud with no penalty? Also, if they're in the cloud don't they have total concealment (50%) against anything making a ranged attack into them even if they're in a square on the edge?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Just as avr said. You get to pick any of your occupied squares corners, but you must draw a line to *each* of the target's occupied square's corners.
So when you're standing at the edge the the mist, you can pick one of your frontmost corners, so the line never goes through the mist at all, but your opponent's line goes through the 5ft from the edge to the back two corners of your square, granting you concealment.
That's not the part to worry about, though. The most potent use of fog effects is to stand 5ft from the edge, granting you total concealment while your enemies only get partial.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Thanks! That all helps clear it up nicely.