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Hello all,
I am getting ready to run an AoW campaign and have been working with my players on their characters. I have a player that wishes to play a BLIND Fighter. Looking through my copy of Unearthed Arcana I don't see blind in the character Flaws that could be taken. What I need is either everyones opinion on what the effects should be or just a an opinion on whether or not I should let it be used.
this is what I have thought about so far:
* -8 to Search checks, may only Search what character can touch.
* Cannot make Spot Checks
*+6 to Listen
* Unnaffected by sight based attacks (Images, Gazes, Hypnotic Pattern, etc.)
*-6 to save v. sound based effects (but not Sonic damage, as that is an energy based trait.)
Thanks,
Lyle
Well I think you're on target with only one exception, the -8 to search checks, most blind people are very deft with their hands and can pick out things by touch that most "seeing" people miss just by looking at them. For example hidden triggers for secret doors and such might be easier for them to find. But on the downside combat for a "blind" fighter WITH companions could be hard, he wouldn't be able to tell friend from foe, unlike if he was a solo adventurer and all sounds belong to the enemies. Just some thoughts, hope they helped.
Well, the following is/are my interpretation(s)/opinion(s):
Being blind should not be a flaw but rather, a physical condition. In the PHB, they give you the side effects of being blind (miss chance for combat and 20% spell failure for spells with somatic components, in addition to other negative effects). Also, being blind should not grant bonuses to skills, much in the same way that it does not bestow a penalty on Spot checks. You simply cannot make Spot checks while blind.
In addition, using the search skill is not only by sight but by touch as well so being blind should not confer any bonus. If sight was a primary factor in noticing something, then a Spot check should be called for, not a Search check.
That being said, I think that the player can take feats to show how his character overcame the obstacles of his blindness. For example, he/she could take racial feats such as 'Superior Hearing' (as described in a Dragon Magazine I cannot, at the moment, recall the issue #). Or he/she could take Skill Focus (Listen) and Skill Focus (Search) to show how much better that character is at Listening and Searching.
As the character progresses, he/she can focus on developing his/her other senses even more. There are numerous Prestige Classes out there that grant blindsense or even blindsight. Do not want to waste feats/skills? Buy a magic item that grant such abilities. There are a lot of them out there.
Meh, just my thoughts on the matter. In the end, just choose whatever suits you, your players, and your game best. Enjoy! :)
CB Out.
Well, the following is/are my interpretation(s)/opinion(s):
Being blind should not be a flaw but rather, a physical condition. In the PHB, they give you the side effects of being blind (miss chance for combat and 20% spell failure for spells with somatic components, in addition to other negative effects). Also, being blind should not grant bonuses to skills, much in the same way that it does not bestow a penalty on Spot checks. You simply cannot make Spot checks while blind.
In addition, using the search skill is not only by sight but by touch as well so being blind should not confer any bonus. If sight was a primary factor in noticing something, then a Spot check should be called for, not a Search check.
That being said, I think that the player can take feats to show how his character overcame the obstacles of his blindness. For example, he/she could take racial feats such as 'Superior Hearing' (as described in a Dragon Magazine I cannot, at the moment, recall the issue #). Or he/she could take Skill Focus (Listen) and Skill Focus (Search) to show how much better that character is at Listening and Searching.
As the character progresses, he/she can focus on developing his/her other senses even more. There are numerous Prestige Classes out there that grant blindsense or even blindsight. Do not want to waste feats/skills? Buy a magic item that grant such abilities. There are a lot of them out there.
Meh, just my thoughts on the matter. In the end, just choose whatever suits you, your players, and your game best. Enjoy! :)
CB Out.
I agree with all of this. As well, you should have the player take the Blind Fight feat as a requirement to reflect the adaptation to being blind.
Use the DM's best friend rule when you're dealing with this PC in game: +2 or -2 penatly for things you feel he/she might have a disadvantage or advantage in. Other than that, just play things straight.
well, I'm currently playing a blind gnoll archer in Eberron. Of course, blind gnolls are easier, because the DM i'm playing with has decreed that, since the blindness enhaces all other senses, the blind gnoll (and other races of his discretion known for good smell) get the Scent ability, and of course i have taken blindfight, and get a bonus to listen, and a -2 to search, and a -1 to ranged attack, but this is really downplayed from real blindness on account of the Scent and the combination being, as i have worked out with the DM, making it more a cosmetic descision than anything else. I had to use Montolio from Soujourn as an example. It makes an interesting character, but the rest of the PCs keep calling him the filthiest nastiest most digusting character ever, though this seems to be more because of the gnoll part than of the blind part, and because the gnoll hadn't bathed for several years prior to the start of the campain, as he was to busy killing brelish soldiers, which he had become enraged at after the Mourning, which blinded him, almost killed him, put a permanent rasp in his voice, caused him to lose a small bit of his sanity around the edges, killed all his former friends, and ended his career as a mercenary scout for the nation of Cyre.