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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ruleslawyer" data-source="post: 507724" data-attributes="member: 1757">I'm rather awed at the level of overestimation of this tactic. I agree that blindsight is too powerful for a 3rd-level spell, but is balanced just about correctly for a 4th-level spell. By this level, a druid can gain 120' blindsight with a splatbook feat.Even if blindsight is seen to be a powerful spell, darkness + blindsight is a poor tactic at best. How many dungeons are you aware of that have rooms larger than 120' in diameter? That means that in almost any dungeon setting, the entire non-blindsighted portion of the party is blinded. Given the number of monsters with scent, blindsight, etc., and PC dependence on targeted spells and coordinated attacks, darkness is more likely to grant the PCs' foes an advantage than the PCs themselves.  Even in settings in which the other PCs can stay more than 60' from the rogue, those PCs still won't be able to attack anything near the rogue and thence inside the darkened area, as HeavyG pointed out. Not good for the PCs.Fine, you say. Just have the cleric use up all his 3rd-level spells for the day and cast blindsight on all the party members. Some things to keep in mind:1) It requires a simple 3rd-level cleric spell or a preexisting 2nd-level wizard spell (daylight) to counter deeper darkness. Anyone with a decent intelligence will have one of these on hand in a world where the blindsight/deeper darkness combo exists. Even more simply, the universally-prepared dispel magic will take care of this problem as well.2) More monsters have scent, tremorsense, or blindsight than do PCs. Using this tactic against a dragon is a sure-fire way of dying.3) As I said earlier, either the area involved is going to be so small that the entire party will be blinded, or it's going to be an open space, possibly outdoors. If the latter is correct, the rogue's target need merely run. If the rogue follows, he's likely to get separated from the rest of the party (who can't see what he's doing) and possibly fall into a trap.4) You're assuming non-spellcasters (i.e. those folk who can't counter or dispel the darkness effect), are you? Against most non-spellcasting creatures, a simple levitation spell cast upon an archer guarantees eventual death, AND handicaps not a single other party member.</blockquote>

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