D&D 3E/3.5 Blinded condition in 3.5

[Hypersmurf]

I just noticed something.

In 3.5, Uncanny Dodge no longer allows you to retain your Dex bonus while blind or in darkness.

In 3.5, Blindfight no longer allows you to retain your Dex bonus while blind or in darkness.

Yikes!

-Hyp.

 

[pingpong]

from Blindfight:

An invisible attacker gets no advantages related to hitting you in melee. That is, you don’t lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class, and the attacker doesn’t get the usual +2 bonus for being invisible. The invisible attacker’s bonuses do still apply for ranged attacks, however.

from Uncanny Dodge:

...retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker


wouldnt this cover being blind, since all opponents are effectively invisible to you?

edit: though now that i think about it, maybe im being too liberal with equating everything that gives 50% concealment to invisibility...

 

[Hypersmurf]

wouldnt this cover being blind, since all opponents are effectively invisible to you?

That was true in 3E. Blinded no longer has any connection to invisibility in 3.5.

Where in 3E, opponents received a +2 attack bonus because they were effectively invisible, in 3.5 a blinded character receives a -2 AC penalty and his opponents have total concealment. The invisible condition is no longer referenced.

-Hyp.

 

[pingpong]

i guess i took the A=B=C=D approach, since all attackers of a blind character have 50% concealment, invisibility gives 50%, and the two abilities in question help against the invisible...

but if the blind condition was specifically mentioned in 3.0, and is left out now, it must be intentional.

what a shame, i thought with Blindfight and Uncanny Dodge, one could make a decent blind swordsman. oh well.

 

[FrankTrollman]

I think that while the blind =/= invisible was intentional, the blindfighting doesn't work in the dark was not.

Kind of like how the 3.5 "clarification" that you can only take free actions during your actual turn was intentional but the fact that you can no longer catch a returning weapon was not.

-Frank

 

[Hypersmurf]

Kind of like how the 3.5 "clarification" that you can only take free actions during your actual turn was intentional but the fact that you can no longer catch a returning weapon was not.

Well, that's debatable

It returns just before your turn. Which means that immediately after it returns, it's your turn, and you can catch it.

You obviously can't catch it before it returns, so you can only catch it after it returns... which is when your turn begins.

-Hyp.

 

[pingpong]

wait, let me get this straight, if an opponent is hiding in the dark, or completely hidden in bushes, or attacking from dense fog, Uncanny Dodge wont help? its only good against Invisible opponents, and thats it?

 

[hong]

I just noticed something.

In 3.5, Uncanny Dodge no longer allows you to retain your Dex bonus while blind or in darkness.

In 3.5, Blindfight no longer allows you to retain your Dex bonus while blind or in darkness.

Yikes!

-Hyp.

It sounds to me like they were trying to disentangle each condition from having dependencies on other conditions, but they missed some loose ends.

An interpretation that nerfs Blindfight when you're blind is IMO manifestly silly. It's situations like this where DM's discretion is called for. I don't have any problem with saying that someone who's blind is effectively fighting opponents who are invisible, and hence the same old benefits apply.

 

[Hypersmurf]

It sounds to me like they were trying to disentangle each condition from having dependencies on other conditions...

... and yet they added the line that a creature who is balancing is treated as flat-footed?

-Hyp.

 

[Thanee]

I think it's ok with Uncanny Dodge, since you can't see your surroundings in total darkness and therefore are at a disadvantage. It's a difference to be able to see and fight an invisible attacker compared to fight in total darkness.

But Blind-Fight should allow to keep one's Dex bonus to AC at least in melee (as in 3.0), as you train to fight while being blinded yourself (well, at least that's how I envision it), not specifically fight against invisible opponents.

Bye
Thanee