A blind Druid NPC

[BASHMAN]

Khaasta are in the Fiend Folio.

He actually will be in an enclosed area doing area of effect spells
He won't have an animal companion though. I'm not very familiar with running Druids. Does a Druid get an alternate ability if he chooses not to have an animal companion? I figure there must be something like that from a sourcebook.

Yeah, they are called Spirit Shamans, and they can be found in the Complete Divine. They spontaneously cast (instead of preparing) and don't have animal companions (but get some sort of spirit guide).

 

[Oryan77]

Yeah, they are called Spirit Shamans, and they can be found in the Complete Divine. They spontaneously cast (instead of preparing) and don't have animal companions (but get some sort of spirit guide).

Oh cool, that fits even better for this NPC than the Druid, thanks!

 

[blargney the second]

How long has he been blind? People who have been blind for a while find some way to compensate for the lost sense.

 

[Nazhkandrias]

How long has he been blind? People who have been blind for a while find some way to compensate for the lost sense.

Indeed, so here's my suggestions for making the blindness as easy to deal with (for the Druid) as possible -

1. Add in a special quality that forbids him from taking ranks in Spot and allows him to substitute Listen checks for all Spot checks (unless the target makes no sound - an average character can't Spot something that is invisible, this Druid CAN see something that is invisible, but a noiseless creature is pretty much invisible to them). You might want to also consider giving the Druid Scent.

2. Give the Druid some form of Blindsense or Blindsight. Blindsight would make more sense, considering the sensitivity of people who are blind from birth. You could be talking to them, whip a baseball at them unexpectedly, and they're likely to dodge or catch it (but please, be nice and don't do this). Blindsight 30' is really nice, but it still has disadvantages. The Druid will be unable to clearly see anything out of that 30' range, so long-range spells are still a problem. I would recommend allowing the Druid to expend a Move action to fully concentrate and expand their Blindsight range to 60' for certain situations.

3. Make the Animal Companion (yes, you should DEFINITELY use one) a dog or a wolf, depending on the type of Druid this is. If this is more of a friendly woodlands hermit, use a dog; if they're a savage protector of the forest, use a wolf. In addition, give the Animal Companion the Familiar abilities Empathetic Link at 1st level and Speak With Master at whatever seems appropriate. The Animal Companion will function as sort of a guide dog, in order to inform the Druid of dangers outside of the 30' or 60' Blindsight range.

I think that in this case, blindness isn't so much a disability for the character as it is a different way to play. It might incur an LA, though, so feel free to tweak it as much as you want. Or, you can simply accept this and play the Druid as something between an ECL 5 and ECL 6 character.

 

[Oryan77]

He's just going to be a quick encounter that I expect the PC's to meet & kill right off the bat. So I'm not putting too much thought behind him other than to make it an interesting encounter (a fight with a blind guy).

I'd say he's been blind since childhood. I went the Spirit Shaman route because it fits perfectly. He doesn't go outside of his hut so he doesn't need an animal companion. The Shaman class allows me to use his spells more effectively than the Druid class would.

Since he's used to being blind, I'm not giving him the 1/2 speed move penalty & I'm giving him the blindsense ability.