I am new to pathfinder and just got the beginner box and I have been looking through the Core Rules as well and I have some questions about darkness.
When players are relying on a torch or lantern to see and they enter a room in which there are monsters, do I wait until the monsters are in view range of the players before telling them about the monsters and place the monster pieces on the map?
In the Core rules, if a player is blind, I don't quite understand how they can pinpoint the monster, do you roll a percentile die with a 50% chance of picking the correct square?
When players are relying on a torch or lantern to see and they enter a room in which there are monsters, do I wait until the monsters are in view range of the players before telling them about the monsters and place the monster pieces on the map?
Yes, unless they manage to hear/smell or otherwise detect the monsters. Then you tell them, but don't show them - yet.
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In the Core rules, if a player is blind, I don't quite understand how they can pinpoint the monster, do you roll a percentile die with a 50% chance of picking the correct square?
The Blinded condition is complicated. It's usually easier to think of it as a boon to the enemy, rather then a condition of the victim.
All enemies of the blinded character (and all allies too, for that matter) have "total concealment". Which means that
You have to "guess" where they are, and
You have a good chance of missing, should you try to attack them.
"b" is the part that gives a 50% chance of missing, and "a" is a Perception check to spot an "invisible" enemy. So in a situation where you are blinded and want to hit the Orc anyway:
You roll a DC 40 Perception check.
If you beat the DC, you know what square the Orc is in. If not, you cannot make any attack.
Assuming you made the roll, you make an attack roll as normal.
If the attack misses, it... eh... misses.
If it hits, flip a coin. Heads, you really hit. Tails, you miss after all due to the "total concealment".
So really: the odds of landing a decent hit are pretty bad. You're usually better off doing something to undo your blindness, or taking the "total defence" action.
