[RPG] Are there any spells that can create the effects of a flash grenade, but persistently

dnd-5espellsvision-and-light

Are there any spells that can make a light so bright, you have to look away or else you can't really see anything?

I have read through all the spells in the PHB and not found one that obviously does what I want. I think illusion spells might be able to, but I haven't found one that seems obviously capable of the effect I want — spells like major image explicitly say it can't produce temperatures extreme enough to cause pain, our sound loud enough to deafen, or a smell so pungent so as to sicken. It doesn't say anything about luminescence, but it does seem like it's in that alley.

Are there other spells that can produce an effect that produces a blindingly white light that compels you to close your eyes rather than inflicting the Blinded condition on you? This discounts spells such as blindness/deafness that directly target someone. I'm after spells sort of like, but not exactly, pyrotechnics, if it was a longer duration spell — in other words, those that can make a really, really bright light.

Best Answer

I think you're simply reskinning Darkness. Instead of blocking all light, you're creating so much light in an area that you can't look directly at anything within 15" of the target. Reskinning this way still ticks the conditions of the spell itself:

  • Darkvision doesn't help, because the area isn't really dark.
  • Non-Magical Light doesn't help, because adding light to an area that's already ridiculously bright is superfluous.
  • Completely covering the object it's cast on with an opaque object blocks the effect.
  • Spells of lower level are dispelled. You could easily say it absorbs them into it's own effect, rather than an traditional cancellation. The end result is the same.

Cinematically, you can say people "must" close their eyes when looking at the area, but the game doesn't have any rules for whether a character's eyes are opened or closed. A character can look into the area of the spell all she wants - eyes open or eyes closed, she still can't see whatever's in the area or beyond it. "Turn" far enough away (read "not interacting with something in the area"), and it's not a problem.

It's worth noting that the 5e Player's Handbook has no rules on facing, but there's an optional facing rule on page 252 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. If you're looking for something with non-finite range that can force facing, you should probably make a new spell from whole cloth.

If you're looking for a persistent effect on the target, then Caleb has the right idea.

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