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| 1 person marked this as FAQ candidate. |
Hi all,
I have a question about this class feature:
"At 4th level, the hunter gains an empathic link with her animal companion. This functions like an empathic link with a familiar, except the hunter can also see through a companion's eyes as a swift action, maintaining this connection as long as she likes (as long as the companion is within 1 mile) and ending it as a free action. The hunter is blinded while maintaining this connection."
Ok, this is pretty clear, but what if i can see myself (and my enemies) in third person through my animal companion eyes?
I will still be considered to have the blinded condition, but does this make sense if we consider some of the effects?
(i copy/paste the blinded condition here:
The creature cannot see. It takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class, loses its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any), and takes a –4 penalty on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks and on opposed Perception skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Perception checks based on sight) automatically fail. All opponents are considered to have total concealment (50% miss chance) against the blinded character. Blind creatures must make a DC 10 Acrobatics skill check to move faster than half speed. Creatures that fail this check fall prone. Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them.)
For example: is it normal to automatically fail all checks and activities that rely on vision EVEN IF i can actually SEE?
And what if the animal grants me vision on me and the enemy i want to target for a spell? Does the foe still have total concealment against me even if i actually have the line of sight?
I understand that it would be very difficult anyway to act through someone else perspective, so i don't suggest to remove all the effects of the condition, of course, but some of them don't seem to make sense to me if i can actually see.
What do you think? I'd like to have a FAQ on this :)
(p.s. sorry for my english)
You don't need a FAQ for this.
You need a GM.
There are literally millions of interactions in this game where some class ability or feat or trait or spell or magic item combines with some other class ability or feat or trait or spell or magic item. Often there is no question, but often there is. We can't expect a FAQ for every weird interaction. This is EXACTLY why we have a GM.
If it were my game, I'd rule that you keep the -2 AC penalty but don't lose DEX bonus to AC (defending yourself in 3rd person should be harder but not impossible). I'd rule no penalty on STR or Perception skill checks but keep the penalty on DEX checks (hand/eye coordination is probably harder when it's not your own eye). No auto-fail on vision checks since you can see. No opponent concealment (unless they are actually concealed from your AC). I'd keep the acrobatics check just because I think moving would be awkward without your own eyes. I'd also apply " Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them" to this and assume that if you do this often enough, practice in your downtime, I'd reduce these remaining penalties to reward the practice.
But that's just me.
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I agree with DM_Blake that this will require GM adjudication, and think his suggested set of intermediate penalties is appropriate (though I'd add a -2 penalty to attacks).
Using complex motor skills when you see yourself in the mirror is hard, so I'd assume that it would similarly be challenging to fight in third person, though not as difficult as being completely blinded.
