Blind PC in combat

[fba827]

Long story short: I have a blind PC.

I just want to make sure I understand the basics for targeting ...

On my PC's turn I would

1) minor action to estimate where the target is via perception (the DC is based on the target's stealth; and yes i have a -10 penalty to perception due to the blindness condition).
If success, I proceed to step 2. if fail, I could try again or do something else with the remaining actions.

2) Target the square, taking a -5 penalty (from total concealment; unless it's a burst/blast power which don't take the concealment penalty).


Misc info: I can't provide flank, and I always grant CA.

Am I missing (or misunderstanding) something else in there?

 

[Ardulac]

I've always ruled that the PC knows which square to target unless he is alone, since he should technically be able to choose a square to target even if he fails the perception check. Sure he shouldn't know what is in each square, but that is hard to enforce when the player can see the map. Rolling randomly might seem like a good solution, but it undermines the player's ability to deduce where the enemy would go (or stay) based on the tactical situation. I just assume that the other characters are yelling instructions to him in some vague manner to allow him to target the right square. The -5 penalty to melee and ranged attacks is powerful enough without adding a huge targeting penalty anyway.

If the PC is alone then it's easy enough to just avoid using the combat map while he is blinded. If a character is blinded and deafened for some reason, then I'm willing to ask him to look away and determine his targeting some other way, but it is normally just too much of a hassle.

 

[fba827]

so the perception check to find the square to target is really just for if the target is trying to be quiet / stealth? (as opposed to someone who might be making normal combat noises on the battlefield) ?

 

[kalfalnal]

Just have the player sit somewhere he can't see the map, the others can give him direction all they like. Then apply normal penalties as appropriate. Hilarity ensues!

 

[Saeviomagy]

1. You know the square of every combatant all of the time unless they attempt to be stealthy.

2. If they attempt to be stealthy, they must first beat your passive perception score before you lose them.

3. After that you can spend a minor action to get a perception check to find them again.

Even if you succeed at your perception check (or they don't stealth, or they don't successfully stealth) you have a -5 to hit them, you will grant combat advantage to them and you cannot flank (so you neither provide NOR receive flanking bonuses).

And that -10 perception for being blind, is going to mean you have a really hard time against anything that tries to be sneaky.

 

[OnlineDM]

Hmm. Now you've got me thinking about the concept of a blind PC as an intentional choice - a character blind since birth, or since an injury later in life, for instance. Obviously you would probably want to house-rule that this character has something like blindsight, or at least a highly developed sense of hearing and of smell in order to still be able to fight effectively.

I'm envisioning a blind Monk, perhaps, fighting by sound and feel - and, naturally, magical senses of some sort. Mechanically it wouldn't change too much (the character couldn't be blinded, but they also couldn't detect anything that's silent and distant), but the flavor seems to have tons of potential!

Has anyone here ever created a blind character? What about deaf? Just thinking about how a character would fight to overcome these difficulties and to live the adventuring life... it seems very rich for role-playing.

 

[Mad Hamish]

Generally I'd say don't in damned near any D&D campaign.
You could do it in a 'real roleplayer' game but it really needs combat to be a very minor part of the campaign
The character should get completely ginsued by level appropriate threats

 

[OnlineDM]

Generally I'd say don't in damned near any D&D campaign.
You could do it in a 'real roleplayer' game but it really needs combat to be a very minor part of the campaign
The character should get completely ginsued by level appropriate threats

Sorry, I think I wasn't very clear in my original post. If I had a blind character in my campaign, I would effectively give them blindsight or something close to it. I wouldn't want it to make the character ineffective in combat - it would be intended more as a roleplaying opportunity rather than a mechanical handicap. There would be some instances where the blindness would indeed be a handicap (there's no way the character could be a lookout on a ship or anything like that) but probably some situations in which it would help (no penalty for being blinded, immunity from gaze attacks). Deafness would then cripple the character almost completely, of course, and certain nasty enemies could try to take advantage of that, but I'm imagining a character who can't see but who uses other senses (and some magic) to make up for it.

Remember that you can HEAR (and maybe smell or feel) where your enemy is, and super-hearing could be ruled for flavor purposes to be about the same as normal sight.

 

[fba827]

Hmm. Now you've got me thinking about the concept of a blind PC as an intentional choice - a character blind since birth, or since an injury later in life, for instance. Obviously you would probably want to house-rule that this character has something like blindsight, or at least a highly developed sense of hearing and of smell in order to still be able to fight effectively.

I'm envisioning a blind Monk, perhaps, fighting by sound and feel - and, naturally, magical senses of some sort. Mechanically it wouldn't change too much (the character couldn't be blinded, but they also couldn't detect anything that's silent and distant), but the flavor seems to have tons of potential!

Has anyone here ever created a blind character? What about deaf? Just thinking about how a character would fight to overcome these difficulties and to live the adventuring life... it seems very rich for role-playing.

I have DMed for a character that did that intentionally in a previous edition/campaign. I didn't give them any special to compensate for it from the get-go. That way, they learned in character to rely on the other party members and help form that bond. After a couple levels of doing it that way to build the party dynamic and also to get the 'blindess point' driven home, they were able to find a master monk that trained with the blind pc for a couple months to teach him what was effectively blindsight. Of course, the master monk needed something done in exchange...

 

[fba827]

Just have the player sit somewhere he can't see the map, the others can give him direction all they like. Then apply normal penalties as appropriate. Hilarity ensues!

LOL. That would be sort of funny. As would wearing a blindfold at the table... though I wouldn't trust my group enough to actually have a blindfold on around them -- they all scare me.

1. You know the square of every combatant all of the time unless they attempt to be stealthy.

2. If they attempt to be stealthy, they must first beat your passive perception score before you lose them.

3. After that you can spend a minor action to get a perception check to find them again.

Even if you succeed at your perception check (or they don't stealth, or they don't successfully stealth) you have a -5 to hit them, you will grant combat advantage to them and you cannot flank (so you neither provide NOR receive flanking bonuses).

And that -10 perception for being blind, is going to mean you have a really hard time against anything that tries to be sneaky.

Thanks. The more I thought about it and reread it, that's the conclusion I was coming to. (which in a round-about way is what Ardulac was saying too).