Can You Flank With a Ranged Weapon?

[Hypersmurf]

The other oddity that Skip's "blind man can't be flanked" rule leads to - assuming one considers a blind character with Uncanny Dodge to retain his Dex bonus - is the 'blinking barbarian' phenomenon, where even a pair of rogues four levels higher than a barbarian can't sneak attack him while his eyes are shut...

-Hyp.

 

[Knightfall]

The other oddity that Skip's "blind man can't be flanked" rule leads to - assuming one considers a blind character with Uncanny Dodge to retain his Dex bonus - is the 'blinking barbarian' phenomenon, where even a pair of rogues four levels higher than a barbarian can't sneak attack him while his eyes are shut...

-Hyp.

And if said barbarain has Blind-Fight then...

 

[Hypersmurf]

And if said barbarain has Blind-Fight then...

He doesn't really need it that much.

Y'see, on his turn, he opens his eyes, makes a full attack at no penalty, then closes his eyes again.

The rogues are reduced to either making full attacks with no sneak attack damage, or Readying a single attack for when he opens his eyes, so they can sneak attack with a flanking bonus.

And there's still the problem that the barbarian might take a 5' step before opening his eyes, which will foil one of the two rogues from getting a flanking sneak attack with a readied action...

-Hyp.

 

[Legildur]

And there's still the problem that the barbarian might take a 5' step before opening his eyes,...

From the SRD:

5-foot step: You can only take a 5-foot step if your movement isn’t hampered by difficult terrain or darkness.

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.

Vision and Light: In areas of darkness, creatures without darkvision are effectively blinded.

Does closing your eyes render you 'blind'? If so, is 'blinded' equivalent to being in 'darkness'? If so, then would being 'blinded' mean that you cannot take a 5-foot step?

 

[Hypersmurf]

If so, then would being 'blinded' mean that you cannot take a 5-foot step?

Ah - good catch. So he can restrict them to a single sneak attack each, but not to one between the two of them.

The Blindfight feat doesn't help there, either - while it will mean that you're limited to 3/4 speed instead of half, your movement is still hampered (though to a lesser degree) by poor visibility, and so the 5 foot step is still prohibited.

-Hyp.

 

[Legildur]

Well, with a very strict interpretation, darkness=blindness, but blindness<>darkness. So maybe you still can

 

[Hypersmurf]

Well, with a very strict interpretation, darkness=blindness, but blindness<>darkness. So maybe you still can

But if you're being that strict, then Uncanny Dodge won't prevent you losing your Dex bonus while blind. (It did in 3E, but in 3.5 there's a crucial statement missing.)

-Hyp.

 

[Legildur]

Hey, I don't write the rules If a statement is missing, then a statement is missing.....