How to build a blind man?

[silverwolfer]

I am wondering if any viable way to build a blind man besides just doing blind sight/blind fight?

[LTwerewolf]

Find a way to give them blindsense/blindsight, or tremorsense. Or give them a bow with seeking on it.

[Gavinfoxx]

Here are some of the earliest ways to get various obscure senses:

http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=3090.0

Also, there are some items that give you non-eye based sight methods (mentioned in that link).

[Psyren]

Blindsight is the best way, but most ways of getting it give you very short range and it's based on one of your other senses (e.g. hearing) that can be shut down or confused.

Psionics has several alternative options. Synesthete for instance is available at first level and lets you see with your skin. This method has the same range as normal vision would. There's also Touchsight, which is nearly as effective as Blindsight but has a very large base range, and you can make it even larger. Finally, there are multiple ways to get telepathy onto a psionic character, opening you up for Mindsight.

[Skrag Fellhand]

most blind people seem to have somewhat better than average senses to compensate for their in ability to see, they hear better than most of us since the rely on it to help determine some of their surroundings, max out your listen skill, maybe have your dm give you a few extra points in it for being blind, if your really trying to play on the flaw see if your dm would let you roll a listen check with your initiative to determine where your enemies are, maybe at a penalty when combat first starts, and with a bonus from second round on..just a thought..

[ericgrau]

A high listen modifier is usually just as good as blindsense/tremorsense (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbi...m#invisibility), but not as good as blind sight. Without blind sight you do still need blind fight. I don't know a way around that unless you rely on area spells or other non-precisely-targeted effects.

You can tip the odds in your favor by carrying fog effects such as smoke sticks or an eversmoking bottle (continuous cloud so there's no activation time, DMG). Then your enemy is blind too but you built around it and he didn't.

[Gavinfoxx]

The feat method is this chain:

Blind-Fight
Blindsight 5-foot Radius
Hear The Unseen
Wild Talent
Focused Perception

Yes, if you were arbitrarily given all of those feats... you would still suck at seeing stuff without sight, for the most part... blah...

[Psyren]

Without blind sight you do still need blind fight. I don't know a way around that unless you rely on area spells or other non-precisely-targeted effects.

Both of the psionic options I presented remove your miss chance completely, and therefore you wouldn't need blind fight.

[Toliudar]

If you actually want to leave them blind, though, without any alternate sense to make up for the lack of sight ,there are a few functional builds out there. The most obvious would be to go with a summoner who uses proxies to do the fighting for them.

[silverwolfer]

So either way am going to end up with a huge handicap.....What if we did a bard/blind sense and every time he sings, he gets echolocation

[laeZ1]

A devining wizard/sorceror would be able to contribute. I had an NPC that I thought was really cool because she couldn't see. She relied on scrying her own location, as well as using Prying eyes, and a bunch of other tricks.

Then the PCs bought some spells from a temple, and ruined my fun.

[Psyren]

So either way am going to end up with a huge handicap.....

...Am I even posting?

Be a Psion. Outside of combat, your psicrystal can tell everything that's going on, even if you're Helen Keller. (The link is true speech, not mere empathy/feelings as familiars convey.) When a fight starts or is about to start, manifest Synesthete; now you can see just fine.

Later, get Touchsight... or enter Crystal Master for a permanent, undispellable version.