Blindness

[JaronK]

I got to thinking about making a Blind Swordsman character, and I don't know of any rules for blindness. Obviously, I could just have a character wearing a Blindfold of True Darkness (you can't use vision, but gain 60' blindsight), but that's just not the same.

So, I came up with this. The concept is based on Vow of Poverty, though in theory this wouldn't be a feat... instead, it's an LA+0 template.

Blind
The creature is permanently blind. If this option is chosen, the creature cannot be cured via remove disease, wish, miracle, or any other ability. If the character is polymorphed or otherwise changed into a form which normally can see, the character is instead polymorphed into a blind version of that creature.

A blind creature automatically fails all spot checks, cannot read, and generally cannot gain any use of sight.

Blind creatures gain the Blind Fight feat as a bonus feat.

Blind creatures gain a +4 bonus to listen checks.

The creature also gains a number of benefits based on effective character level.

The creature gains Blindsense with a range of 5' per effective character level. This ability does not work while under the effects of a Silence spell, or similar effects that disrupt hearing.

The creature gains Tremorsense with a range of 5' at level 4. This ability increases by 5' for every four effective character levels past level 4.

The creature gains Blindsight with a range of 5' at level 4. This ability increases by 5' for every four effective character levels past level 4. This ability does not work while under the effects of a Silence spell, or similar effects that disrupt hearing.

So, thoughts? Does this seem reasonable and not overly complex?

JaronK

[Mr. Moogle]

i can see ways that this could be abused, MAJORLY. But in the hands of an honest player, this could be pretty cool.

[ghost_warlock]

From the SRD: (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/conditionSummary.htm#blinded)

Blinded
The character cannot see. He takes a -2 penalty to Armor Class, loses his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any), moves at half speed, and takes a -4 penalty on Search checks and on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Spot checks) automatically fail. All opponents are considered to have total concealment (50% miss chance) to the blinded character. Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them.

Gaining blindsight and/or tremorsense, even at 4th level, would be a MASSIVE advantage.

I'd remove tremorsense and give blindsight no earlier than 6th, but probably much later.

[JaronK]

Blindsight is of course quite useful, but again, you could always just buy a Blindfold of True Darkness and get 60' blindsight anyway. The penalties a character would suffer if they had this are also very noticeable, as most aren't removed by the template. For example:

Movement speed reduced by 25%
-2 AC
-4 Search Checks
Cannot Read
All enemies get concealment outside the range of the Blindsight

I'm not really sure how this could be abused... I'd love to hear examples. Right now, if I wanted to detect enemies that got close, I wouldn't use this template... I'd use an arcane caster with one level of Mindbender and the Mindsight Feat, automatically detecting anything with an int score that got within 100'. Or the aforementioned Blindfold of True Darkness.

JaronK

[Poppatomus]

played a level 15 blind fighter in a game some years ago. wasn't actually blind, had a quirk in his history where his mind literaly gave up on trying to see through his eyes, because of what they saw. (he was a mid game replacment character. It was funny when the cleric, trying to show off to the new guy, tried to heal him and had no effect at all, so he kept trying.) little did I realize the DM had actually turned his eyes into a minor artifact that allowed a demon to scry without error on any demonic plane, making for some interesting enctounters. But it meant no sight. He'd been blind for long enough though that I was able to build him around it. He had blind fighting, we decided he could move at a party appropriate speed when he wasn't in combat, but that moving at that speed had in character risks.

To tell you the truth the disadvantages weren't that bad. i mean, it wasn't exactly an evil DM type campaign, but it was worth it for the RP effect and the unique experience in terms of playing what's normally a pretty straight up class. (plus I had max listen, some items, and damn good wisdom for a fighter, allowing me to make some pretty neat checks.)

[ghost_warlock]

Technically, creatures outside the range of the character's blindsight would have TOTAL concealment, but...eh. :smallwink:

Blindsight is a huge advantage and having as an innate ability is much better than gaining it from a piece of equipment that could be lost or sundered or whatnot. Blindsight effectively removes all the negative qualities of blindness except the ability to read/distinguish color because the creatue is treated as if it can see, except for a few particulars. Blindsight negates the AC penalty and movement reduction of blindness (see blindsense, below).
From the SRD: (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#blindsightAndBlindsense)

Blindsight And Blindsense
Some creatures have blindsight, the extraordinary ability to use a nonvisual sense (or a combination of such senses) to operate effectively without vision. Such sense may include sensitivity to vibrations, acute scent, keen hearing, or echolocation. This ability makes invisibility and concealment (even magical darkness) irrelevant to the creature (though it still can’t see ethereal creatures and must have line of effect to a creature or object to discern that creature or object). This ability operates out to a range specified in the creature description.

The creature usually does not need to make Spot or Listen checks to notice creatures within range of its blindsight ability. Unless noted otherwise, blindsight is continuous, and the creature need do nothing to use it. Some forms of blindsight, however, must be triggered as a free action. If so, this is noted in the creature’s description. If a creature must trigger its blindsight ability, the creature gains the benefits of blindsight only during its turn.


Blindsight never allows a creature to distinguish color or visual contrast. A creature cannot read with blindsight.
Blindsight does not subject a creature to gaze attacks (even though darkvision does).
Blinding attacks do not penalize creatures using blindsight.
Deafening attacks thwart blindsight if it relies on hearing.
Blindsight works underwater but not in a vacuum.
Blindsight negates displacement and blur effects.

Blindsense
Other creatures have blindsense, a lesser ability that lets the creature notice things it cannot see, but without the precision of blindsight. The creature with blindsense usually does not need to make Spot or Listen checks to notice and locate creatures within range of its blindsense ability, provided that it has line of effect to that creature. Any opponent the creature cannot see has total concealment (50% miss chance) against the creature with blindsense, and the blindsensing creature still has the normal miss chance when attacking foes that have concealment. Visibility still affects the movement of a creature with blindsense. A creature with blindsense is still denied its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class against attacks from creatures it cannot see.
(my emphases)

[JaronK]

Hmm, good point. How about saying that at some level (let's say 4) the creature can ignore the concealment penalty to hit when fighting creatures he can see with Blindsense, and then remove Blindsight?

JaronK

[ghost_warlock]

It might be fair to reduce the miss chances as the character gains levels. Maybe, at 5th level, the character gains the ability to ignore the 20% miss chance associated with concealment and the 50% miss chance provided by total concealment is reduced to 20%. Then, at 10th level, the character can ignore total concealment, too.

If you're already granting Blind-Fight, though, hitting might not be so much of a problem because they'll have two chances to succeed on the %-roll every time you attack.

The real killers of being blinded are the movement penalty and the fact that the character will be permanently flat-footed. If he ever faces enemy rogues, assassins, or the like he could be in for a real world of hurt!

Taking levels in a class that give Uncanny Dodge/Improved Uncanny Dodge is the easiest way to get around this.

Being unable to read isn't that big of a deal since barbarians start out not being able to read and it only costs 2 skill points to learn. Unless you'll be playing in a solo campaign, there should be other characters around to read to you anyway.

Granting the character a free feat (Blind-Fight) and level-scaling blindsense will be coming close to requiring a level adjustment, and definitely so if you grant blindsight. If you start tacking on Uncanny Dodge/Improved as well you're definitely in Level Adjustment land and you're not really playing a blind character anymore because you've compensated for pretty much all the drawbacks so why bother?

Really, it might be more workable to avoid all of this and just RP that the character is blind but can somehow* compensate for this when in combat. Maybe take the Illiterate flaw to mechanically play-up the blindness (I think it was in a Dragon Magazine - essentially it just means the character can't read and can't learn by spending skill points - then use the "free" feat you'd get from the flaw to take Blind-Fight). Granting immunity to blindness-causing effects probably isn't such a big deal because they're not something you're likely to encounter very frequently anyway (or maybe the DM will let you take a homebrew feat to gain the immunity). If you're psyched about playing a blind character, you're probably not super-concerned about playing an optimized character so you probably don't mind "giving up" a feat to gain the immunity.

*Meaning that you don't really worry about it.

[Dryad]

Let's think real, here.
I've done a lot of swordsplay, and had shotokan training. In both sports, we occasionally were blindfolded during kumite. One with a blindfold, one without one, to learn to fight defensively when blinded. And the funny thing is, that when you're used to the fright of blindness, you discover that in a real fight, you really don't rely on sight all that much. You rely on anticipation, feeling and hearing a lot more than sight. So I've learned to use daisho (katana and wakisashi) in sports kumite and live roleplay with a blindfold. (Hihi! The look on the face of that 'Beholder' after I killed it, and my blindfold was removed! (Blind spell dismissed) *Grins satisfied with herself*
Also, once you realise this, you can start to train yourself on walking around with your eyes closed. I do that all the time, as I do have an eye-condition, and find that I really don't bump into things that often. And though I can't really run or jog, I can still walk a steady pace.
(I even shoot my bow with aiming, closing my eyes, raising the bow.. In that order. It's very... Calming.)

So here goes my vote:
Improved Blind-fight.
Prereq: Blindfight feat, wis 13+
Effect: Vision is not important for your combat capabilities. When your vision is taken away or obstructed due to a darkness spell or lacking light conditions, or you are in any other way effectively blinded, you do not suffer armor class penalties and miss chances in combat, and retain your dexterity modifier to your armor class. However, you do have to pinpoint your enemy using a listen check, or, if you've got the scent special ability, a spot check.

[Poppatomus]

Let's think real, here.

So here goes my vote:
Improved Blind-fight.
Prereq: Blindfight feat, wis 13+
Effect: Vision is not important for your combat capabilities. When your vision is taken away or obstructed due to a darkness spell or lacking light conditions, or you are in any other way effectively blinded, you do not suffer armor class penalties and miss chances in combat, and retain your dexterity modifier to your armor class. However, you do have to pinpoint your enemy using a listen check, or, if you've got the scent special ability, a spot check.

Good feat, but I think it's a bit too much, at least for what the OP is asking for. I think, in terms of still preserving the disadvantage of being blind it should not only require the listen/spot check (or really any check that lets you know where something is) but it should also apply to only one five foot square/opponent at any given time. actually, you should get to split it, if you want, between two squares, one for offense and one for defense.

So it would be more like: you do not suffer armor class penalties and miss chances in combat, and retain your dexterity modifier to your armor class in relation to attacks originating or traveling through the selected square or squares.

If you want that to be a little stronger, while still preserving the disadvantage you could have it be from one of the cardinal directions, two of the eight points of the compass.

Also, should this be a feat anyone can take, or should it only be for those that have been blind for some time?

[Dryad]

Weel, if it'd only count for five foot range, then someone'd have to lead the fighter by the hand, then push a weapon into her hands and tell her to start swinging... So she has to be able to pinpoint her target by some means, so she can at least get there.
See the problem?
But I would say the feat would be for everyone who meets the Blind Fight prereq.. See, you gain feats by levelling, and levelling is essentially learning, and training. You train on your mobility and precision while being blind.

Ooo, perhaps it is good to note that this feat was intended for melee only.:smallredface: