Touch attacks...

[Patlin]

His character might go for an eye gouge in combat if the opportunity allowed. One of the benefits of the abstract combat system is you don't have to worry about whether the opponents guard is high or low, or the exact style or even existence of the opponent's helm. Disabling a victim with an eye gouge might be the description of what happened when you knock someone to negative hit points with a critical strike from an unarmed attack.

A feat ought to be required if you want to blind an otherwise ambulatory opponent...

 

[Cabral]

How about this?
Blinding Strike [General]
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Wis 15, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist, Base Attack Bonus +8
Benefit:You may expend one use of your stunning fist to attempt to blind your opponent in place of an unarmed attack. If you hit, you do no damage but your target must make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + ½ your character level + your Wis modifier). If he fails, he is blinded for 1d4 rounds.
Special:A fighter may select blinding strike as one of his bonus feats

 

[Garnfellow]

How about this?
Blinding Strike [General]

I think something along those lines would work ok, though I probably would not want to make Unarmed Strike or Stunning Strike prerequisites in order to keep the nature of the feat as general as possible to allow for other methods of blinding than just eye gouges -- like throwing sand, spitting venom, or smashing with a sword pommel.

I've got a game tonight, but maybe tomorrow evening I'll pull out IM and look at 1. a proposed new combat action, and maybe 2. a feat that builds or improves that action.

 

[IanB]

There's already a feat for this in OA - I think it is called Falling Star Strike.

 

[lukelightning]

I see touch attacks as being only for effects that don't rely on precise targetting on certain body parts; a chill touch or inflict spell doesn't care if you touch someone on the hand, head, body, clothes, etc. (this includes shield!); it takes effect regardless.

Something like a snake bite or unarmed strike (eye gouge) needs to hit a specific, unprotected point, so the touch attack mechanic isn't appropriate for it.

 

[Garnfellow]

Looking at the Book of Iron Might, one could create a special blinding maneuver like so:

The base effect is Blinding Attack: On a successful hit, the opponent is blinded for 1d4 minutes, 2d4 on a critical hit. Base cost: -30 to hit.

Now we can offset this with some drawbacks:

Draws AoO: +10
Effect only (attack does no damage): +5
Full Rround action: +5
Target gets saving throw: +5

So we could stop here: a blinding attack is a full round action that draws an attack of opportunity. Once the character declares a blinding attack, she takes a -5 pentalty to her attack roll. If she hits her target she does no damage, but the taregt must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw (DC = 10 + 1/2 character's level + Wis modifier) or be blinded for 1d4 minutes, or 2d4 minutes on a critical hit.

I think there has been some debate on whether or no one could construct a maneuver with no penalties to hit. I can't remember how that played out, but I don't think it would be unreasonable to balance a +5 bonus by reducing the effect's duration to rounds instead of minutes and dropping the critical effect, so it reads thus:

A blinding attack is a full round action that draws an attack of opportunity. Once the character declares a blinding attack, if she hits her target she does no damage, but the taregt must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw (DC = 10 + 1/2 character's level + Wis modifier) or be blinded for 1d3 rounds.

One could then conceive of a companion feat built along the lines of Improved Sunder or Improved Bull Rush:

Improved Blinding Attack[General]
Prerequisites: Whatever
Benefit: You do not draw an attack of opportunity when attempting the blinding attack special action.
Normal: The blinding attack action draws an AoO.

And so on, and so forth.

 

[Arnwyn]

I'm not entirely sure how to rule on this. Could it be considered to be a touch attack, thus being able to ignore ac and only use the touch attack ac? Or is it a normal attack and thus subject to regular ac conditions?

For dramatic effects I've allowed it as a touch attack. I think I may have erred.

Well, as per the direct rules you've erred, but this is entirely new ground so it doesn't really matter.

I'd rule it as a normal attack, as it's a specific body part that can be protected being physically attacked. Certainly, a shield should apply, and if the victim was wearing a helmet, the full armor bonus should apply, too.

Is there a monk feat (kind of like Stunning Fist) that can cause a "blindness" effect? That's the closest thing I'd use if it existed.