According to the rules of being blind/closing your eyes if you take 50% miss chance hit. This is being used in our campaign by someone as a way to face someone with max mirror images (8 total meaning roughly a 12% chance of success).
If this is going to be the case having extra image basically does nothing for you. My argument is closing your eyes means having a stacked miss chance (50% chance of hitting an image vs the image).
The argument is heated in our group on both sides. I'm asking an FAQ answer as mirror image is a source of many rules topics.
personally without going in to too much detail I would say its going to be virtually impossible to hit if you close you're eyes.
Logically if you close you're eyes you have no idea where you are hitting so try to hit 8 images in the hope you will find the right one whilst blind is I would say impossible in my opinion.
Personally I would say the miss chance would stack giving you a -32% (88% miss chance form mirror image? 50% form blind) chance to hit the right image. You can't take one rule and disregard another as it gives you a better chance to hit something, that's just utterly ridiculous in my opinion anyway.
Figment: A figment spell creates a false sensation. Those who perceive the figment perceive the same thing, not their own slightly different versions of the figment. It is not a personalized mental impression. Figments cannot make something seem to be something else. A figment that includes audible effects cannot duplicate intelligible speech unless the spell description specifically says it can. If intelligible speech is possible, it must be in a language you can speak. If you try to duplicate a language you cannot speak, the figment produces gibberish. Likewise, you cannot make a visual copy of something unless you know what it looks like (or copy another sense exactly unless you have experienced it).
Because figments and glamers are unreal, they cannot produce real effects the way that other types of illusions can. Figments and glamers cannot cause damage to objects or creatures, support weight, provide nutrition, or provide protection from the elements. Consequently, these spells are useful for confounding foes, but useless for attacking them directly.
A figment's AC is equal to 10 + its size modifier.
I find it funny that they list Mirror Image as a figment type illusion that creates a false sensation of being real and yet just closing your eyes can let you bypass it.
Personally I would say the miss chance would stack giving you a -32% chance to hit the right image. You can't take one rule and disregard another as it gives you a better chance to hit something, that's just utterly ridiculous in my opinion anyway.
Except for the fact that Mirror Image explicitly states that you need to see the images to be fooled by them I would totally agree with you. According to the RAW if you close your eyes you get a 50% miss chance and if you hit you hit the real target. It is kind of cheesy though to try and close your eyes to gain the benefits of blindness for one attack and then open them before your turn is over as SKR said in that thread Cheapy linked.
Without having read Cheapy's post before pondering how I would handle this and only reading the Mirror Image and Blind-condition descriptions, if I were the GM I would handle it like this:
Based on RAW, it seems fine to negate Mirror Image by closing your eyes and taking on the blind condition, especially since this isn't a real high-level spell. I would rule that any turn, at the beginning of your turn, you can choose to take on the Blind Condition. BUT, you are then taking on the Blind condition until the start of your next turn, at which point you can choose to continue being Blind or just open your eyes to remove the condition and take your turn normally.
Now that I've read Cheapy's post, I think this is pretty in line with with what Sean K. mentioned as an option for GMs.
i think it's OK as it's the sort of classic "the kung fu master (or maybe van damme) is fighting the master of illusions and has to close his eyes and flashback to his 'i just got blind-fight' training montage" / "your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them" type thing.
Yes but while the awesome music and cutscenes of your montage are playing you take on the Blind condition and get whacked in the face while taking a -2 AC and being denied your Dex bonus.
Agree with Lamontius - if you want to take on the blind condition to negate the Mirror Image spell that's fine, but you will be blind until the start of your next turn, with all the penalties that includes.
Yes but while the awesome music and cutscenes of your montage are playing you take on the Blind condition and get whacked in the face while taking a -2 AC and being denied your Dex bonus.
I dont think he really answered it there, think we need a FAQ call on this. Heres why, look at Gaze. You got two options, one where you are literally blind due to something that blocks your vision and one where you are trying not to look. Notice the first option only half works, versus being truly blinded. Gaze effects the person just as mirror image does in that in both cases believing it to not be real doesn't help. I think unless you do something to stop your vision the effect still effects you.
If not thats fine but it basically means theres no point in more image than two on mirror image beyond time it takes to destroy enough to stop it. It also means that other miss effects like displacement do not help you when stacked with mirror image. The fact that someone regardless of class, race, etc can reduce or cancel (with a blind feat) a spell at will is a pretty big deal. Particularly something this ridiculous. It basically equal to someone saying you can double your bonus to hold person by plugging their ears.
Averting Eyes: The opponent avoids looking at the creature’s face, instead looking at its body, watching its shadow, tracking it in a reflective surface, etc. Each round, the opponent has a 50% chance to avoid having to make a saving throw against the gaze attack. The creature with the gaze attack, however, gains concealment against that opponent.
Wearing a Blindfold: The foe cannot see the creature at all (also possible to achieve by turning one’s back on the creature or shutting one’s eyes) and does not have to make saving throws against the gaze. However, the creature with the gaze attack gains total concealment against the opponent.
look at Gaze. You got two options, one where you are literally blind due to something that blocks your vision and one where you are trying not to look. Notice the first option only half works, versus being truly blinded.
I might be misunderstanding you, but are you saying that closing your eyes does not fully stop a gaze attack?
Averting your eyes means you have a 50% chance of not meeting the gaze, but 20% miss chance against the creature.
Shutting your eyes means you have no chance of meeting the gaze, but 50% miss chance against the creature (and any other drawbacks of total concealment).
Wearing a Blindfold: The foe cannot see the creature at all (also possible to achieve by turning one’s back on the creature or shutting one’s eyes) and does not have to make saving throws against the gaze. However, the creature with the gaze attack gains total concealment against the opponent.
So shutting one's eyes is enough to cause the immunity to the effect, however to avoid cheese Sean recommends to require a move action and lasting consequences.
May I just am not quite getting your objection though...
