[D&D] Casting spells in Deeper Darkness

[hedgeknight]

Howdy fellers - need a little help on this one. Here's the scenario:

While the PC's are interrogating a Kobold in an underground tunnel, a Drider sneaks out of a side passage and nukes 'em with a spell (one of my personal favorite tactics as an evil bastard DM! :evil: But I digress...).
The PC's recover and one of them casts Light (via a wand) at the Drider narrowly missing its head. The Drider then casts Deeper Darkness (see attached file) effectively creating a 60' globe of impenetrable darkness.
Or does it?
One of the PC's had a bead on the critter and was about to cast Magic Missile when the Deeper Darkness spell took effect.
One of my questions is: can the PC mage go ahead and cast Magic Missile and it be effective against the Drider even though he can no longer see the Drider within the globe of darkness?
My second question is: can the Drider see within the Deeper Darkness and thus cast spells at the group from inside it?
Hope this all makes sense.
Thanks for your help.
-g-

BRR Edit: You know what. I think I'm going to start changing the titles of users who don't read the rules to "I CAN'T READ!". I'll give them a nice avatar too.

[The Hive Custodian]

Yes and yes.

This spell functions like darkness, except that the object radiates shadowy illumination in a 60-foot radius and the darkness lasts longer.
This spell causes an object to radiate shadowy illumination out to a 20-foot radius. All creatures in the area gain concealment (20% miss chance). Even creatures that can normally see in such conditions (such as with darkvision or low-light vision) have the miss chance in an area shrouded in magical darkness. Line of Effect: A line of effect is a straight, unblocked path that indicates what a spell can affect. A line of effect is canceled by a solid barrier. It’s like line of sight for ranged weapons, except that it’s not blocked by fog, darkness, and other factors that limit normal sight. Emphasis added.

Contrary to the name, darkness/deeper darkness does not create true darkness. It creates shadowy illumination. Rays and other attacks requiring a ranged attack roll will suffer the miss chance, but other spells are unaffected.

[hedgeknight]

So does that mean that other PC's can see the Drider too?
Edit: I think by rereading the SRD info above, I've answered my own question.
Thanks a bunch for your help!
-g-

[Mercutio]

Ditto what THC said. Darkness and Deeper Darkness indeed used to create impenetrable darkness, but with 3.5, they now only create shadowy illumination. They deemed a true darkness spell too powerful at the levels of Darkness and Deeper Darkness.

[elmer_jok]

That's good to know, I used to thwart even my epic level PC's with deeper darkness spells, always wondering why a 2nd-3rd (don't remember which) lv spell could cause so much chaos. And the only fix that I saw to the problem was true seeing.

[Doomsmile]

Or a warlock with devil's sight (which gives the warlock 30ft darkvision that can penetrate magical darkness). Or blindsense. Or scent (meaning that an epic druid would have no problem what-so-ever, really).

[nightinverse]

Not with my Disguise Scent spell conversion from 2nd Edition in effect.

[hedgeknight]

Thanks for all the help fellers. I posted THC's comments and linked to this page for my players. Needless to say, it took them all of about an hour to change tactics and proceed to kick the shit out of my Drider spellcaster! :(
Poor widdle fella - all he ever wanted was to...was to...fit in.
-g-

[Doomsmile]

Yeah... Fireball's not the best spell for making friends, is it?