D&D General Braille for various species?
Satyrn
First Post
I'd have the regular dwarven runes carved in relief be readable by touch.
Elves would develop a cantrip that let the words on the parchment come to life and speak themselves into the caster's mind.
Rock Gnomes would use the dwarven braille, forest gnomes would learn the elven cantrip.
Halflings would probably use what the humans have.
Blind orcs would do the same as sighted orcs: get a human slave to read to them.
Elves would develop a cantrip that let the words on the parchment come to life and speak themselves into the caster's mind.
Rock Gnomes would use the dwarven braille, forest gnomes would learn the elven cantrip.
Halflings would probably use what the humans have.
Blind orcs would do the same as sighted orcs: get a human slave to read to them.
When Lesser Restoration is only a second-level spell, there is no excuse for any blindness in a D&D world. It is so trivially solved.
TheCosmicKid
Hero
That's rather dependent on the prevalence of spellcasting clerics, isn't it?
There is also the matter of grimlocks and other naturally blind creatures.
Is it? Why would third-level clerics be at all rare?
Fair enough -- all Grimlock literature is preserved in a kind of Undercommon Braille.
Satyrn
First Post
In my game, it's because almost every spellcaster is either a villain or an adventurer. On top of that, the only time one of them will have time or interest in solving (or adding to!) the world's day to day problems is when it provides adventure hooks to the players.
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LordEntrails
Hero
Their wouldn't be. I don't envision a world where;
1) blind commoners are that common
2) that their is enough social interest in providing a writing system for them
3) those rich enough to care for a blind family member (etc) with enough support to develop a braille system would just use magic to restore their sight.
I too don't see magic as common as you do. It would change a great deal of how I see my fantasy world if 3rd level spells were available to the poor.
Satyrn
First Post
That mirrors what I first thought, but then it popped into my head that dwarves might have developed a tactile writing right from the start since they live underground in poorly lit conditions. So I answered the question as "if a race wanted to read in the dark, how would they manage?"
I also thought of elves "reading" while trancing (their eyes shut or unfocused) which led me to the idea of magic reading to them.
So, my solutions keep to the likelihood that these societies won't be developing something so structured as language for the blind.
TheCosmicKid
Hero
Why would they be common? It's an assumption you're making. It's not categorically wrong, but it's not always right either.
Greenstone.Walker
Adventurer
It is possible that braille-type writing came first. Dwarves were probably carving their words in stone before they were writing them on parchment. Elves were probably communicating by knots tied in pieces of string.
Some races (Orcs for example) have no use for braille as those who are blinded are summarily killed or exiled from the tribe.
Some races (Orcs for example) have no use for braille as those who are blinded are summarily killed or exiled from the tribe.
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