D&D 5E Can you see when you're Blinded?

[Mistwell]

Welcome to the abstract nature of 5E rules. The same issues come up when a caster is blind and casting spells. I believe they are written that way to allow the widest interpretation possible by the table. But that will place an additional burden on the DM to handle more undefined areas of the game. All I can advise is think of the big picture when making a ruling and how it affects class ability, spells, skills, etc.

It's not that abstract when the rule says you can't see; players are arguing you can see because of a comma; and then you have people in this thread saying in real life legal definitions of blindness include some sight so this should have some applicability to the game.

On those levels it doesn't matter how precise and complete the rules are written - those types of people will argue it anyway.

 

[TDarien]

PHB PG 194: Unseen Attackers and Targets.

Combatants often try to escape their foes’ notice by hiding, casting the invisibility spell, or lurking in darkness.
When you attack a target that you can’t see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. This is true whether you’re guessing the target’s location or you’re targeting a creature you can hear but not see.

This to me, implies that if you can't see a creature (by being blinded, or any other means), you can still target it accurately, as long as you can hear it (meaning, it's not hidden from you). Extrapolating from this, you know the positions of creatures in combat who aren't hidden from you, even if you can't see them.

Also, you need 3 items to be a list. So the argument presented in the OP is ridiculous and both effects apply to being blinded.

I would still think you can sneak attack while blinded, as long as you can get advantage on the attack to counteract the disadvantage from being blinded. Page 173 says if you have both advantage and disadvantage you're considered to have neither.

 

[Mr Fixit]

I would still think you can sneak attack while blinded, as long as you can get advantage on the attack to counteract the disadvantage from being blinded.

This is an interesting interpretation. It does follow from the way sneak attack is described.

 

[Hussar]

On Spellcasting:

If you are blinded, you no longer have line of sight to the target, so, wouldn't that preclude any targeted spells? Area of effect? Well, ok, fair enough and probably not going to make such a huge difference most of the time. But single target spells where I need to target something, like Magic Missile? Can I still use that when I cannot see the target?

 

[TDarien]

On Spellcasting:

If you are blinded, you no longer have line of sight to the target, so, wouldn't that preclude any targeted spells? Area of effect? Well, ok, fair enough and probably not going to make such a huge difference most of the time. But single target spells where I need to target something, like Magic Missile? Can I still use that when I cannot see the target?

PHB. Pg 204: "To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can’t be behind total cover."

You don't need need to see a target in order to target it. Only hear it. If you can't see or hear it, you need to guess where it is.

See "Unseen attackers and targets" page 194, which I quoted earlier.

 

[Hussar]

So, if the target was "hidden" I could not target it? Am I reading that right? (sorry for the somewhat newbie questions, I'm still having a bit of trouble parsing the stealth rules in 5e and I keep mixing them up with 3e and 4e rules)

1. Target is unseen for whatever reason - can still be targeted, although at disadvantage. Save based spells would work normally.

2. Target is unseen and hidden (successful stealth check) - cannot be targeted at all.

Is that correct?

 

[TDarien]

So, if the target was "hidden" I could not target it? Am I reading that right? (sorry for the somewhat newbie questions, I'm still having a bit of trouble parsing the stealth rules in 5e and I keep mixing them up with 3e and 4e rules)

1. Target is unseen for whatever reason - can still be targeted, although at disadvantage. Save based spells would work normally.

2. Target is unseen and hidden (successful stealth check) - cannot be targeted at all.

Is that correct?

You could target it if it's unseen and hidden, but you have to guess its location. If you guess wrong, your attack will miss automatically.

 

[Hussar]

How does that work with save based spells - do they automatically locate the target? Hold Person would be 100% effective whether or not I could see the target?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

If he's blind and can see, it's time to start hunting Medusa. Whoops, you turned to stone you say? Imagine that!

 

[Kaychsea]

PHB. Pg 204: "To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can’t be behind total cover."

You don't need need to see a target in order to target it. Only hear it. If you can't see or hear it, you need to guess where it is.

See "Unseen attackers and targets" page 194, which I quoted earlier.

So you can get a blinded caster PC to fireball itself with a cantrip that makes it think the target is in the direction of a nearby wall? Cool!