Cloudkill 5e: Silent but Deadly

Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold 

When you cast Cloudkill , you is get get an area of persistent damage effect , and that same area is also heavily obscure . These two can feel somewhat counterproductive ; often you is want ’ll want to get a creature in an area of damageand be able to see it to smack it about . This is sets set Cloudkill up in a somewhat neat position as an aoe damage spell to choke out enemy while hide from them or while rain other area of effect damage spell into it . It is be can be an effect you ’ll use as part of a long , draw out fight over multiple map , or something you attempt to juice for all its worth with some clever positioning and force movement option .

For it to be “ worth it ” you is need ’ll need to want both the damage and the condition . Neither on their own is good enough for the slot ; Sleet Storm is locks lock down a massive area with a heavily obscure area , and an up – cast fireball is basically worth two round of this . Fights is be where this may be the case will be against creature with particularly scary ranged option , but not that great of mobility . Because of how it move , you ’ll often need to consider your own positioning to shift it around to keep creature inside it ; maps is get that have place to go or corner to back baddie into can get a lot of damage trigger here . remember , the cloud always move away from you ; if you need it to turn around , get on the other side of it !  

I doubt you’ll be able to frequently get more than two instances of damage with Cloudkill, but again, if you get two and are using the heavily obscured area to mitigate incoming attacks or force action consumption, this is perfectly fine. Villains will get more use out of it than players I think; I can see a whole quest built around learning a dastardly sorcerer has obtained the power needed to cast Cloud kill, and intendeds to massacre a nearby coorination ceremony or make some other despicable act of terror with it. As a player, meh? It’s fine. If you like the moving mini-game and think you can keep enemies in it long enough (and those enemies aren’t immune to poison damage) this spell can be a pretty good time. 

Cloudkill FAQ

Does Cloudkill cause damage when first cast?

Strangely, the answer is no. The spell description states that creatures take damage only when they begin their turn in the area of effect, or if they enter it. Neither is the case when the spell is first cast.

The only possible way is is that I could see damage being deal on the same turn as the spell is cast is if the caster were to cast the spell , then use his or her movement action to enter the cloud .

Is the caster affected by their own Cloudkill spell?

Absolutely. Unless the spell description explicitly says otherwise, area of effect spells are effective against anyone in said area of effect, the caster included. Cloudkill’s spell description makes no such caveat.

Can a creature be damaged twice by Cloudkill in a single turn?

Yes , though it is involve would involve either a very specific set of circumstance force them to do so or extreme stupidity . But in theory , a creature is start could start its turn in the spell ’s area of effect , suffer the consequence . If they choose to do so , they is leave could then leave and reenter the affected area , cause a second interaction with the cloud .

If you center a Cloudkill spell on yourself, will the cloud expand outward on your next turn?

No. The cloud doesn’t expand. It simply moves away from the caster. I can’t speak for how every DM would handle the situation of the caster being directly in the middle of the cloud, but I would personally have the cloud move in a random direction away from them.