Blind Oracles, Braille Scrolls, and Comprehend Languages


Rules Questions


You can see where this is going. I suppose the most integral question is, Does Braille exist?

So yes, I know that Clouded Vision =/= Blind. The question is, how might you handle a character who wanted to play it as Blind, and then transcribe scrolls by touch? Could comprehend languages be considered synesthetic? Are there precedents for this? Drow Sign, for example, is a language - yet comprehend languages doesn't translate it, for fairly obvious reasons. Still, I'd be tempted to allow Braille...I can't see any major rules issue, other than that nobody else in the world would know it - but then, if comprehend works for the Oracle to read other scrolls, then other casters could use it to read the Braille, yes?

What would you name a Golarion-themed braille?


By the rules, there is no braille. I would not let a player be blind unless the other players agreed to it. It is a heavy burden on the party to pick up his slack.

Scrolls are not language dependent either so comprehend langauge would not work.


Ninja'd entirely by Wraithstrike.

the blind curse is bad enough, but totally blind?
Nope.

-S


Michael Radagast wrote:
What would you name a Golarion-themed braille?

Taldan touchspeak.

I'd have people constantly offer to remove blindness on the poor character. There's a thread from like a few years ago where I ranted about the deaf curse-- there's a reason it's mostly blind, and so for my group we made it mostly deaf as well.


You know, I don't really see the problem. I mean, the trope is certainly valid, and there are plenty of divination-type spells/senses to get around the mechanical issues. Detect spells would be tons of fun to RP. Of course you're right, it isn't comprehend languages, but then couldn't read magic be synesthetic? The only issue is the fact that remove blindness exists, but if, for example, the character has had their eyes put out...well, regenerate's a long ways off. I'm not saying this should be a common occurrence, but I still enjoy the notion.


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It kind of does, and it's still called Braille
https://www.aonprd.com/EquipmentMiscDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Braille%20bracele t


wraithstrike wrote:

Scrolls are not language dependent either so comprehend langauge would not work.

I believe you, but where is the source for this? (I'd like to know for flavor reasons.)


Michael Radagast wrote:
You know, I don't really see the problem. I mean, the trope is certainly valid, and there are plenty of divination-type spells/senses to get around the mechanical issues. Detect spells would be tons of fun to RP. Of course you're right, it isn't comprehend languages, but then couldn't read magic be synesthetic? The only issue is the fact that remove blindness exists, but if, for example, the character has had their eyes put out...well, regenerate's a long ways off. I'm not saying this should be a common occurrence, but I still enjoy the notion.

The vast majority of divination spells don't create a new sense. They enhance an existing sense to detect something. If you use detect magic, you see magic. If you are blind, or it is dark, or you're in fog, you can't see the aura from an item if you can't see the item in the first place!

A few divination spells do create new senses, or give you an impression of direction or some other sudden awareness that isn't tied to a sense. Those spells go out of their way to say such. The ones based on sight don't because it is a base assumption that all PCs have the normal 5 senses at a reasonable functional level. Having an oracle's curse wasn't a consideration for when most of the spells were written.

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