(Proposal) Blind from Birth Template

[nimisgod]

Found another psionic power that might need an entry in the template: Sense Link.

Sense Link
Telepathy [Mind-Affecting]
Level: Psion/wilder 1
Display: Visual
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target: One willing creature
Duration: Concentration, up to 1min./level
Power Points: 1

You perceive what the subject creature perceives using its sight, hearing, taste, or smell. Only one sense is linked, and you cannot switch between senses with the same manifestation.

You make any skill checks involving senses, such as Spot or Listen, as the subject, and only within the subject’s field of view. You lose your Dexterity bonus to AC while directly sensing what the subject senses.

Once sense link is manifested, the link persists even if the subject moves out of the range of the original manifestation (but the link does not work across planes). You do not control the subject, nor can you communicate with it by means of this power.

The strength of the subject’s linked sense could be enhanced by other powers or items, allowing you the same enhanced sense. You are subject to any gaze attack affecting the subject creature (if you linked vision). If you are blinded or deafened, or suffer some other sensory deprivation, the linked creature functions as an independent sensory organ, and provides you the benefit of the linked sense from its perspective while this power’s duration lasts.

Augment: You can augment this power in one or both of the following ways.

1. If you spend 2 additional power points, you can have the subject perceive one of your senses instead of the other way around.

2. If you spend 4 additional power points, you can link to a second sense of the same subject.

It's less of a problem though since it's concentration based (though there are ways to get around that).

I've been thinking about the template and it's applications. One of a Blinded from Birth PC's biggest problems will be from archers, especially rogue archers between 20-30 feet. If the character doesn't pick up Uncanny Dodge somehow, then he faces a distinct disadvantage for the entirety of his career.

Even with Uncanny Dodge he faces tremendous problems, especially when not in enclosed environments. Heaven forbid that he ever be ambushed overground. Grimlocks can get away with being blind but with limited range blindsight bec. of their subterranean environment but blinded characters are as weak as kittens against a basic tactic since everything that's beyond his senses is invisible to him.

If you still want to pursue the challenge of such a disadvantaged character, then I commend you.

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean, but I don't think that power needs a new entry in the template. If the blind creature links sight, it would fall under this category:

...any effects that remove blindness or otherwise allow it to see render the creature dazed and disoriented for the duration of the spell...

And if the blind creature links any other sense, I don't see a problem arising, since it has all those senses already.

As for playing such a character, you are quite right, he is at a severe disadvantage most of the time. He might shine in some rare, unique occasions, but otherwise, he's pretty crippled. Which is why I don't think it's totally absurd to give such a character certain benefits. But yes, I do wish to play a blind character, and if he dies by an well-shot arrow, so be it! At least I had fun. But I'd like to try.

 

[Pbartender]

If you want to have a blind character, have a blind character. Blind monster? Make a blind monster.

I don't like the idea of a template for it, or awarding any bonuses for it in general. If you think that such a disadvantage can bring out the character in your character, that's your right. But I don't think it should provide any sort of advantage outside of circumstance bonuses adjudicated by a DM.

I think I'd have to agree with Creamsteak here.

There enough skills, feats, class abilities, spells and psionic powers that a character can use to overcome blindness, that I don't think we need a template for it to give special bonuses.

Well, under normal circumstances, I would do just that. I'd talk to my DM about playing a blind character, we'd decide on what his penalties would be, and we'd decide on what his bonuses would be, we'd discuss whether he could improve or not, and then we'd play him. That's what I'm doing here, with this proposal...

To which I would reply... Look at the rules you've got first, before you make up new ones. Understand the blindness condition first...

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.

I think most of us could agree that a person who has been blind from birth would have "grown accustomed" and learned to overcome that -4 penalty to Search and most Strength- and Dexterity-based skills. It would be safe to say that he could probably even move at his full movement rate. Aside from that, I see no rerason to give any other special abilities such as blindsense or blindsight.

Instead, I would suggest taking the Blind Fight (which itself eleminates or reduces many of the penties due to blindness) and Skill Focus (Listen) feats. You could even make a case for using the alternate rule in the DMG, and taking Scent as a feat, if you happen to be a blind Gnome or Half-orc.

If you become a spellcaster, many spells can be creatively used in place of normal sight. Any Divination spell would be especially useful to a blind man... Any of the Detection spells, Clairvoyance, and Arcane Eye would all give you the ability to sense certain aspects of your surroundings for a limited time. Alteration spells, such as the 2nd-level Alter Self, and shapechanging abilities, like Wild Shape, would likewise give you temporary sight, should you choose a form (there are a multitude if them) that has eyes. You could even use a prpoerly trained animal companion or a familiar with its emapthic link as a "seeing eye" pet. I do not know the pisonics rules as well, but I can imagine you find similar psionic abilities.

Finally, there are at least a few prestige classes (one of them is a LEW original!) that grant blind sense and/or blind sense.

I guess what I'm trying to say is... I think that if you want to use blindness as a character-roleplaying "flaw", you'll find it much more rewarding to use the existing rules to find innovative alternatives, than to arbitrarily invent a new rule to minimize the penalties.

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

Your proposal is a good one, and plausible as well. I admit, perhaps I didn't look deep enough into it all. But! As my defense, the definition in the PHB says nothing about "Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them." (Where did you get your definition, anyway?) Not to mention that the rule is not very specific. "Some" implies, of course, not all, but which should/could be overcome?

The point of the template was not to bend the rules to my favor, or even avoid existing rules. I tried to make it balanced, heck, the character needed to take several feats to get the abilities I was talking about. The blindsight and blindsense abilities were simply attempts to define the characters ability to exist in a normal environment without tripping over things and bumping into people all the time.

I think most of us could agree that a person who has been blind from birth would have "grown accustomed" and learned to overcome that -4 penalty to Search and most Strength- and Dexterity-based skills. It would be safe to say that he could probably even move at his full movement rate. Aside from that, I see no rerason to give any other special abilities such as blindsense or blindsight.

The "most of us could agree" part is the problem. I need a way to make this... officially accepted. The point of this template proposal was to make the character universal, not just a deal with one DM. Should I make my character and submit him to the character judges and hash it out with them? Maybe that's the route I should've taken. I had looked into the Blind-Fight feat, and I thought that such abilities could be expanded on, hence the Potential Feats part of the template.

Anyway, what should I do then? For now, I'll do as you proposed. I'll look at feats and such he could take and make a character to submit to Nimisgod and Knight Otu. Thanks for your response, it's better than a "No." Though it might have come before I made all my smeggin' revisions!

EDIT: Oh yeah, and about the prestige classes, the only one in the SRD is the Dragon Disciple. That whole idea doesn't really go with my character's... path. I'm sure I could find more appropriate prestige classes in other material, but they're not accepted since they're not OGL, and... well, I don't know, I suppose I could make one. But I fear the same responses I got from this proposal...

 

[Pbartender]

(Where did you get your definition, anyway?)

The System Reference Document; specifically the Special Abilities and Conditions section.

The "most of us could agree" part is the problem. I need a way to make this... officially accepted. The point of this template proposal was to make the character universal, not just a deal with one DM.

A proposal as to which penalties can be overcome, and to what degree would not be out of the question.

Thanks for your response, it's better than a "No." Though it might have come before I made all my smeggin' revisions!

Sorry about that... When it comes to something as potentially trend-setting as this, I'd rather take the time to formulate a well-thought-out response. As you say, it better than a simple "no".

...well, I don't know, I suppose I could make one. But I fear the same responses I got from this proposal...

Don't. I'd susgest that a Prestige Class that provides similar abilities to what you propose with this template would have a better chance of getting approved. Priamarily because you'd have to work your way into it, and you slowly gain the abilities as you level.

Prequisites like Blind-fight, Skill Focus (listen), ranks in Listen or Sense Motive would all work well. Increasing levels of blind sense, blind sight and scent would make perfect special abilities.

 

[Patlin]

I guess what I'm trying to say is... I think that if you want to use blindness as a character-roleplaying "flaw", you'll find it much more rewarding to use the existing rules to find innovative alternatives, than to arbitrarily invent a new rule to minimize the penalties.

This comment put me in mind of the various "flaw" articles I've seen in Dragon Magazine. I don't have Unearthed Arcana, but I understand the gist of the flaw rules to mean that a character with a flaw gains an extra feat. If the flaw is cured, the character is required to develop another flaw. I think this may be open content. I'd be reluctant to adopt a new rule in this area, as the existing rule seems adequate. It would be tough to play a character with this flaw until/unless an apropiate ability was aquired, but as previous posts have pointed out they certainly could be.

 

[Knight Otu]

Flaws are from Unearthed Arcana, and thus the flaws from that book are OGC (the dragon ones though aren't). But quite honestly, I'd vote no on flaws.

As for the template, I feel it is ... too big, in a way. It appears it does too much, when the name suggests that it does little. A few ideas of mine:

CREATING A BLIND-BORN CREATURE
"Blind-Born" is an inherited template that can be added to any living creature that normally uses eyes as its major method of sensory perception (referred to hereafter as the base creature). This template assumes that the creature has never had the ability to use its eyes and that it has spent its entire life honing its other senses to compensate.
A blind-born creature uses all the base creature’s statistics and abilities except as noted here.

Special Attacks: A blind-born creature loses any gaze attacks and other eye-based abilities it might have. Otherwise, it retains all the special attacks of the base creature.

Special Qualities: A blind-born creature loses any low-light vision, darkvision, or similar abilities it might have. Otherwise, it retains all the special qualities of the base creature and also gains the following qualities.

Permanent Blindness: The creature is unable to see, it cannot see any distance in any type of lighting. It cannot distinguish color or visual contrast. It cannot read. It is immune to gaze attacks, visual effects, illusions, and other attack forms that rely on sight. A blind-born creature is accustomed to its state and does not suffer other drawbacks of being blind. Effects with an instantaneous or permanent effect that would remove the blindness, short of wish or miracle, fail to do so, but still have their other effects.

Ignorant of Sight (Ex): Because the creature has never been able to perceive the world using its eyes, any effects that somehow allow it to see effectively render the creature shaken for the duration of the spell, and it loses its Dexterity bonus to AC and the Permanent Blindness and Heightened Senses abilities.
If it is somehow able to stop the effect (such as by closing its eyes), it can take a full-action to regain its composure. As long as it does stop the effect and has regained it composure, it suffers none of the ill effects mentioned above.
If the spell does not actually affect the eyes of the creature (like Synesthete which allows a creature to “feel” light), rather than become shaken, the blind from birth creature becomes distracted, effectively removing the benefits from the above mentioned abilities, but still allowing it to use the spell to “see” normally.

Heightened Senses (Ex): Lacking sight, the creature has honed its other senses of sound, smell, and touch in order to observe its environment. The creature gains blindsense out to 15 feet. It also gains a +2 bonus to listen checks. If the creature is deafened, it temporarily loses this listen bonus, and its blindsense radius is lessened to 5 feet while it is deafened.

Feats: A blind-born creature with a Wisdom score of 13 can choose Scent as a feat. A blind-born creature with a Wisdom of 17 can choose to extend its blindsense ability to 30 feet as a feat.
Challenge Rating: Same as base creature.
Level Adjustment: Same as the base creature.

HEALING THE BLINDNESS
Having never had natural vision, a blind-born creature is almost impossible to "heal" - even if its parents were naturally able to see, this was never a natural healthy state for the creature itself, and thus it requires magic of wish or miracle level to do so. Even if healed with such powerful magic, it requires time to adjust to its new state of being, and is effectively shaken for one week. It effectively loses the blind-born template and the accociated abilities.

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

To be honest, I had given this up as a lost cause. Then I noticed it was stickied! Which I assume means that it's waiting to be voted on? I like Knight Otu's version, it's simpler and does what I wanted it to do to begin with.

So, vote away, I guess.

 

[orsal]

I vote Yes. It's underpowered, as it should be -- I don't see this being used much, but if someone really wants to try it for the flavour, it's a reasonable option.

 

[Knight Otu]

Assuming you are going to adopt my version, I vote Yes as well.