A blind PC

[Dimwhit]

I wish my Rogue had that problem. Would've saved him from the Bodak. Instead, my awesome elven Rogue was reincarnated into a human. Could've been worse, I suppose.

It would be interesting playing a character born blind. It would make for some intriguing roleplaying.

 

[ForceUser]

Playing Devil's Advocate...

Blind Fury was a fantastic movie! Aren't you guys overlooking the obvious however? The idea of a blind character is super cool, but assuming your standard D&D world, unless the character's eyes were MISSING, he could pay a cleric (or get the party cleric) to simply cast remove blindness/deafness on him.

Remove blindness/deafness cures blindness or deafness (caster's choice), whether the effect is normal or magical. The spell does not restore eyes or ears that have been lost, but it repairs them if they have been damaged.

And even if his eyes were removed, he could eventually afford/convince/plead with a cleric (or the party cleric) to cast regenerate on him, again curing him of his blindness in the event he had no eyes!

So while the concept of the blind-fighter is really cool, I see it hard to maintain in D&D. A peasant on the roadside, sure, I could see a lifetime of blindness. A D&D player character in your standard world would need a bit more work to remain blind throughout his career:

• Perhaps his religion forbids him to regain his sight.
• Perhaps he's under a powerful curse that only a wish or miracle can undo.
• Perhaps he actually prefers to be blind rather than sighted because he "sees things as they truly are" or "sees far more with his other senses" etc (add your psuedo-mystical BS reason here).
• Following that train of thought, perhaps he gave up his sight voluntarily in exchange for other gifts (yep, sounds like a prestige class to me).

Any other suggestions to keep the blind man down?

 

[Chun-tzu]

Re: Playing Devil's Advocate...

Any other suggestions to keep the blind man down?

Brain damage. Seriously. Many blind persons have eyes that work fine; the damage has been to the part of the brain that processes visual data. I'd rule that Remove Blindness wouldn't heal this, nor would Heal, but Wish, Miracle, Limited Wish, or some high level psionic power would (what happened to Psychic Surgery?).

Of course, if the character were born blind and had Blindsight, then he'd probably lose the Blindsight if his vision was restored.

 

[EverSoar]

Why lose blindsight when he has vision. Dragons all have blindsight.

This seems like a lot of work. I'd completely have to change the way the blind character uses some skills. Like i think it would be harder for him to have a great knowledge. Not being able to read, and i doubt they had brail.

Not to mention, your going to need new skills like scent.

Then there is the problem, of combat. The character is gonna find it hard to decern which is his allies, and who the enemy is.
Does anyone have any suggestions on that?

Blindsight is full 360' right? So its not limited to where your facing?

Though it would be a very cool character to play. Whats your thoughts on a blind rogue? He might find balance a bit harder, althougth how far down wouldn't bother him.

 

[ogre]

"In the world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king!"

sorry, I know it's not relevant...but it's such and awesome quote, i couldn't resist.
I really don't have anything important to add. I'll go away and get back to lurking now.

 

[Glyfair]

I would think the following skills would have a negative modifier, or would be not useable, by a blind character with blind sight:

A lot of this depends on the campaign. I tend to run a more cinematic campaign. I wouldn't penalize a Blind Character for many of these skills under the assumption that this character has adapted to his blindness and overcome any penalties he may have for not being sighted.

Unless it's something that plainly isn't possible (Read Lips for example), I would tend to give them their normal roll.

Glyfair of Glamis

 

[Mistwell]

I just remembered that the Mythic Races book (Legends & Lairs) has a race called the Illonis, who are all cursed by a God with incurable blindness. They have a replacement echosense, which is the same as blindsight. Apparently with magical aid they can read, but without such aid they cannot. Hence, their favored class is Bard, since most of their history and tradition is passed down orally. There is even a prestige class for them, the Illonis Doomsinger (A.K.A. Hollow Ones), who harness despair and hopelessness (mostly to enhance their bardic abilities).

The race does not mention impact on skills from blindness.

.
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On a related note, I propose the following simplified version of the House Rule on the impact of blindness w/blindsight on Skills:

-4 to all Charisma and Intelligence based skills; -4 to spot checks; Cannot gain ranks in Appraise, Decipher Script, Forgery, Read Lips, or Scry. Illiteracy as Barbarian, but cannot spend skill points to gain literacy.

 

[kreynolds]

Why lose blindsight when he has vision. Dragons all have blindsight.

Huh? The intended meaning of this statement is completely lost on me.

This seems like a lot of work.

Well...yeah.

I'd completely have to change the way the blind character uses some skills.

Definately. But it's interesting enough that I'd be willing to do it. Oh. Wait. I already did.

Like i think it would be harder for him to have a great knowledge. Not being able to read, and i doubt they had brail.

Bah! I don't think I have ever spent a single skill point in a knowledge skill since 3rd edition came out.

Not to mention, your going to need new skills like scent.

Actually, there's a feat for that. Besides, Blindsight covers most of the drawbacks pretty well.

Then there is the problem, of combat. The character is gonna find it hard to decern which is his allies, and who the enemy is.
Does anyone have any suggestions on that?

I would imagine that the character, having been blind sense birth, would be pretty good at sensing who are his opponents and who are his allies. Like someone else mentioned, just look at the movie Blind Fury. Sure, the movie was pretty hokey, but this is D&D, so let's not be the pot calling the kettle black.

Blindsight is full 360' right?

Yes.

So its not limited to where your facing?

There is no facing in 3rd edition. Some special situations exhist, such as the Shield spell and a Beholder's Antimagic Ray, but unless otherwise stated, facing isn't a factor at all. That's why "back stab" doesn't exhist anymore.

Though it would be a very cool character to play.

I couldn't agree more.

Whats your thoughts on a blind rogue?

A rogue would be the hardest hit with blindness in my games, since some of their best skills would become cross class to illustrate the difficult in using them without the benefit of sight.

He might find balance a bit harder, althougth how far down wouldn't bother him.

LOL

 

[peteyfrogboy]

As for the statement about dragons and blindsight, I believe the intent is that a blind person who regains their vision would still retain whatever blindsight they had. Just because they can see doesn't mean they can't still feel vibrations or whatever. Particularly useful when someone casts darkness.

Another case of incurable blindness: my (low-level) elven archer was hit with a blindness spell while we were stuck out in the frozen wilderness. The only available cure for it was from an orcish shaman, but Gruumsh demanded his left eye as payment. It can't be regenerated or healed because a god is using it to play marbles. *sigh*

 

[Chun-tzu]

Just because they can see doesn't mean they can't still feel vibrations or whatever.

It does if I'm DM, and gave them Blindsight for free because they were playing a blind character.