New Spell: Pierce Shadows (D&D 5e)

Divination Cantrip (Cleric, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard)

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Self

Components: V, S, M (an amethyst)

Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes.

You gain Darkvision out to 40' for the duration.

~~*~~

Let's talk for a minute about the unspoken idea that all Wizards should be Evokers. The vast majority of spells that are created for the Wizard are Evocation spells, as are some of the most iconic (lighting bolt, fireball, magic missile). This is so true that, in 4e, where the concept of the wizard was one of controlling the battlefield, the vast majority of that was still accomplished through blast damage. 

I feel strongly that the lower number iconic spells in other traditions has less to do with these being weaker concepts than the fact that new ways of doing XdX damage is easier. Because of this I frequently find myself taking spells from one tradition (mostly Evocation) and trying to find a way to justify it in another tradition. Especially utility spells like, say, Light.

This particular spell took a lot of consideration because there's already a second level darkvision transmutation spell. What justifies a lower level spell that does almost the same thing? (Aside from the existence of the Light cantrip.) 

When faced with a question like this I refer to something I learned many years ago, which the 5e DMG very smartly gives as this advice; when making a new spell, if there is no reason the character would ever not use it, it's too powerful.

So, how do I make this useful enough that a player will take it, but not so powerful that it's a given?

The first idea came from the fact that it's intended to compete with the Light cantrip. By reducing the radius from the 60' darkvision spell to the 40' light radius we start to shift power away from it. Still too useful, but less so. Similarly, by reducing the spell from a "touch" (grantable) power to self we remove significantly more power. Suddenly the spell, even as a cantrip, is not a way to give the entire party the ability to manage darkness, like Light, but is specific to that one character. This also gives significant utility back to the higher level spell, because it no longer can be given away to the classes most likely to be trying to slink ahead into the shadows to scout. 

This still leaves a spell which would, if taken, never not be active, thus it's still too strong. The last major lever I had was the duration. The daily spell lasts for 8 hours, and Light, as an always available (if taken) cantrip, requires renewal once every hour. This means that both are expected to be useful for a full day of adventuring. But, they clearly demand for a trade off for that deep utility. For the Darkvision spell the tradeoff is power that could be used otherwise. For Light, the tradeoff is that it makes the bearer both obvious and a target. It specifically has rules for using the spell to light up enemies' equipment, so this is obviously expected to be a consideration. Any spell that grants Darkvision is going to avoid the obviousness trap, but why wouldn't a wizard use it constantly? My first thought was to use the model of True Strike. This spell limits its power (I sometimes think too much) by making its benefit available only every other round. By making the casting 1 action and duration 1 round, I would have limited the wizard to choosing between seeing in the dark without penalty and doing anything else. This seemed too extreme so I started looking at how to back it off, initially thinking in terms of multiple rounds taking a bonus action rather than the main action. You can see how I finally decided to limit it, which I feel will let players use it freely most of the time, like Light, but have to think very carefully about their resources in those situations when Light would also have been a liability.

As for the move from Transmutation to Divination... really, I did it because I could. Divination is all about perception and has always felt to me like an unloved specialty. The difficulty that "fluffy" Divination brings to a GM is almost incalculable. There are no mysteries unsolvable or puzzle unplumbable. As a result, most fluffy diviners end up being effectively powerless because GMs don't want to just hand over their plot (rightly so). For this reason I like to give concrete chunks of perception and knowledge based power when I can do so in a limited manner. Given that the singular Divination Cantrip in the core book is far more useful for Evokers to set up big shots, I'm also intensely interested in adding some broad utility to the specialty.