D&D 5E Underwater Ink

[TerraDave]

Lets say someone is fighting underwater and tries to blind an opponent with a vial of ink.

Can this work? How would it work? Is there any precedent for this?

 

[Irlo]

I've never broken a vial of ink underwater to test this, but the ink wouldn't quickly disperse in water to form a large enough cloud to blind anything. You'd have a blob of ink roughly the volume of a vial slowly sinking. Squid ink disperses into a cloud because of the mechanism by which it is sprayed.

On the other hand, as a DM I like to encourage improvised actions with meaningful results, so depending on the tone of the game I might allow it.

 

[Mannahnin]

I've never broken a vial of ink underwater to test this, but the ink wouldn't quickly disperse in water to form a large enough cloud to blind anything. You'd have a blob of ink roughly the volume of a vial slowly sinking. Squid ink disperses into a cloud because of the mechanism by which it is sprayed.

On the other hand, as a DM I like to encourage improvised actions with meaningful results, so depending on the tone of the game I might allow it.

Pretty much this.

If I wanted to have someone use this as a regular tactic in-game, I think they'd need some pre-loaded bellows or squeeze device to propel a substantial cloud of ink.

That being said, in the heat of the action if it was a cool improvised move, I might err on the side of a generous ruling.

 

[Rabulias]

With a significant quantity of ink (I would say much more than a single vial - more like a waterskin full), one could use something similar to the Giant Octopus's ability.

Ink Cloud (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). A 20-foot-radius cloud of ink extends all around the octopus if it is underwater. The area is heavily obscured for 1 minute, although a significant current can disperse the ink. After releasing the ink, the octopus can use the Dash action as a bonus action.

 

[Oofta]

A vial wouldn't be near enough to blind, I might have granted partial obscurement for the first attack.

 

[MNblockhead]

Lets say someone is fighting underwater and tries to blind an opponent with a vial of ink.

Okay, cool!

Can this work?

Sure.

How would it work?

Open the bottle and let the ink cloud up the water. IRL, you would likely want ink made for rapidly clouding a large area of water and a mechanism for quickly squirting it out. But if a players said that their character was pulling out a vial of ink to cloud the water, I would just go with rule of cool. Mechanically? Treat it like a darkness spell, but even magical light or sight wont see through it because you are actually obscuring with a chemical, adding light is not going to help.

Is there any precedent for this?