I'm blind!!! Blind PCs, what to do.

[Plane Sailing]

If he is a human monk, I'd encourage him to start with 4 ranks of listen, Blindfight and Skill Focus (listen) feats, and a high wisdom. I guess as a venerable monk he might start with a 20 wisdom?

That would give him a base listen skill of +11 (or +12 if you allow +3 for skill focus).

Furthermore, I would allow him to compensate for his blindness by being able to take 10 on his listen checks at any time.

This gives a 1st level character who could locate by hearing anyone within about 10-20ft (melee range) well enough to attack them... and with a final miss chance of only 25% because of the blindfighting. Not bad for a 1st level blind character.

Cheers

 

[Yeoman]

I referred to the Blindsight 5' radius feat in S&F. It's prerequisite is Blind-fight, and a 19+ wisdom. With 5' blindsight, he can melee with no penalty, and he won't trip and stumble over stairs and such. So at first level, he'd spend two feats to compensate for his natural blindness.

Unless the feat was changed, Blindsight 5' Radius requires a Base Attack Bonus of 4+. So no dice at 1st level.

 

[Jeph]

Some facts about Corlon's game that might be useful . . .

*We're starting at 5th level, not 1st.
*Class bonus to AC, as per Star Wars d20. Rogue and Monk (and bard?) have High, Sorc and Wiz have Low, everyone else Medium.
*Low magic. Price of magic items is at least doubled, and the Wizard's Guild or Battlemage's Guild are definitely not happy with stray casters.

Hmm . . . if he went Monk 4 / Fighter 1 he could get Blindsight 5' Radius as his fighter bonus feat, since he'd meet the BaB prereq . . .

 

[Crimson King]

I am a DM for a game that has a blind monk. It has been a great opportunity for roleplaying, and the mechanical handicap has been almost a non-issue.

The player wanted from the get-go to take the Blind Monk class in the Quintessential Monk book. Take a look at it - great class, well balanced, good flavor.

This is how it worked out for him:

He started at 3rd level, and we decided that his sight has been fading for the past few years. At 5th, he was totally blind. About that time, he met a young girl who wanted to become a student. He taught her how to fight, while she assisted him in walking along, reading, etc. During combat, her movement consisted of yelling out the location of the foes to her master. At 5th, he got the PrC, and received a +10 to listen (among other skills). So with his extraordinary listening and his student - he managed to fight quite well. He did still suffer from the 'blindness' penalties (same as fighting someone invisible) - but reduced slightly by the class benefits. Just recently he hit 7th level - and now has Blindsight 30' - he is still limited, but now can operate much better.

So, in summary - applaud your player for coming up with a great concept, that is difficult but can work. I don't recommend easily giving out Blindsight - it's a powerful ability. And hey - what about giving the monk a young student that assists him like in my game?

 

[Nine Hands]

Check out the Book of Templates by Silverthorne games. They have a Blind Oracle, which is a really neat Template, I think.