Blind Swordsman?

[HeapThaumaturgist]

So I've been intrigued by the concept of the blind swordsman ...

And I've been wondering how to put together that kind of character in-game.

So far I've found Blind-Fight and Hear the Unseen that would be helpful for a blind character, but are there any more feats out there for a guy like this?

Any build ideas?

--fje

 

[Cabral]

Spatial Location Awareness ... oh wait, wrong game. I thought I saw somewhere a feat that grant blindsense ... Almost. From the WotC site excerpt from Races of Stone, Earth Sense

 

[Sejs]

At a suggestion, start off with monk levels and pick up that one feat from Ebberon that lets you use a longsword as a monk weapon (Whirling Steel Strike?).

Get Blind-Fighting
Get the requisite wis (19, I think) and pick up the Blindsight 5' Radius feat from Sword and Fist.
Get the Improved Blindsight feat from Savage Species. Memory serving that increased your Blindsight by 30'.

 

[Cabral]

Savage Speices does not have Improved Blindsense, but it does have Blindsense as Sor/Wiz 2 spell
Sword and Fist aslo has Ninja of the Crescent Moon which eventual grants Blindsight 60'
The Henshin Mystic (Oriental Adventures) grants Blind-Fight and Blindsight 30'

This sounds like a good opportunity to craft a new Prestige class!

So how about pre-requisites: Blind-Fight, Combat Expertise, Weapon Focus, BAB +5
Good BAB progression, d10 or d8 HD Good Fort (and maybe Ref) saves
Special class abilities should be improved blind-fight and increasing blindsense (5' at 1st level, +5' per level would mean blindsight 50' at level 10)

 

[dvvega]

You could go the psionic route as well. There is a power that let you see/hear using another sense.

This would also explain how extremely loud noise hampers the blind swordsman.

D

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

If it were me, I'd just grant blindsense 30'. The character will still need to buy Blind-fighting, but from the perspective of the DM, I'd say trading normal vision for half-assed vision is an acceptable transaction. It'll make the character playable, with that "I'm blind, but I can keep track of stuff because I'm so good at hearing" shtick. Keep in mind that even with blindsense, you still move at 1/2 speed. I'd allow the character to use Blind-fighting as a prerequisite to getting blindsight 5' radius, and then later expand that radius, achieving true Zaitoichi-like mastery of his environment.

 

[Cabral]

The Psionic Power is Synesthete

There is also the Blindsight [Wild] feat from masters of the wild. It requires the ability to wildshape into a dire bat but gives you blindsight 120' dependant on the ability to hear. Maybe you can work with your DM for alternate prereqs.

 

[Sejs]

Savage Speices does not have Improved Blindsense, but it does have Blindsense as Sor/Wiz 2 spell

Man, then where the heck did I see that feat? I know I've seen it somewhere.

 

[Cabral]

Man, then where the heck did I see that feat? I know I've seen it somewhere.

The wierd thing is me too

 

[Stalker0]

Blindsense coupled with the blindsight 5 foot feat would be cool. You can pinpoint creatures, and actually hit them when you get in close.