Been Googling and searching the boards here for some answers. Can a blinded rogue/shadowdancer hide in shadows? Sounds pretty comical as he won't be able to see if he's hidden himself or not. Like Invisible Boy from the movie "Mystery Men" -- "Can you see me now?"
https://theiapolis.com/d4/hIE/i206U/k4/l20UF/wZJ/kel-mitchell-as-the-invisi ble-boy-in-mystery.jpg
I was going to be kind of generous and say he could do this at a penalty (since the group is 16th level the skill levels are pretty crazy). Trying to decide what a reasonable amount would be. Something like the -20 from sniping, or a reverse of the invisibility bonuses: -40 for moving and -20 for being immobile? Maybe use the -40 from Glitterdust? Or should I just be a real DM and flat out deny it since we're in a tomb-of-horrors type dungeon? :)
Thanks in advance.
|
Since they are a shadowdancer and have a mystical connection to the plane of shadow, if they are in dim light id allow it with no penalty. At that level it's not about stealth so much as it's blending with the shadows at an instinctual level. Being blind completely nueters thier combat effectiveness as it is. Let's them avoid some attacks until they get healed. Or just kill them outright and get it over with.
Well, I'd say the character may try... but you can rule the character may autofail. Main point is that unless the character has some means to know enemy positioning, she'll have to hide blindly. You may let her hide "somewhere", but that essentially means asking the player to pick a square she has access to and try to hide there. You'll have to control movement (in case the character reveals herself) and check if the square is actually a "legit" hiding spot. Being a shadowdancer, you may allow any place in dim light become a "legit" spot, even if it's in the open.
Now the catch. If the character was actually detected before she tried to hide and someone tracks her movement, the stealth may autofail. In case the character actually started in a hiding spot and actually kept hidden during the entire maneuver, you can allow legit roll although with a penalty (I'd say from -4 to -20 depending on how good the chosen spot is). Since character can't rely on sight to actually check how well she's hidden, some penalty will always apply.
Finally, if someone attemps a stealth check in that scenario, I highly suggest you make a secret roll instead of allowing the player to roll. Whether the roll is pointless or actually a legit roll, player won't know until it's too late.
|
|
Been Googling and searching the boards here for some answers. Can a blinded rogue/shadowdancer hide in shadows? Sounds pretty comical as he won't be able to see if he's hidden himself or not. Like Invisible Boy from the movie "Mystery Men" -- "Can you see me now?"
https://theiapolis.com/d4/hIE/i206U/k4/l20UF/wZJ/kel-mitchell-as-the-invisi ble-boy-in-mystery.jpgI was going to be kind of generous and say he could do this at a penalty (since the group is 16th level the skill levels are pretty crazy). Trying to decide what a reasonable amount would be. Something like the -20 from sniping, or a reverse of the invisibility bonuses: -40 for moving and -20 for being immobile? Maybe use the -40 from Glitterdust? Or should I just be a real DM and flat out deny it since we're in a tomb-of-horrors type dungeon? :)
Thanks in advance.
A blind character could definitely attempt a stealth check to avoid being heard. Like to avoid creatures that rely on non-visual detection abilities. Or just to avoid being noticed by creatures that don't have LOS at all (invisible blind character, or just when totally concealed).
As for steath to avoid being seen, I mean, they could stand really still, but they have no idea what blocks LOS so I don't think they can. I would consider allowing a blind character to roll Disguise, instead, to pretend to be a statue, bush, or other stationary, but visible, object. Yeah, I think disguise is more approiate, since they are definitely unable to conceal themselves from opponents they can't see, but just because they are seen, doesn't auto-matically mean they will be noticed as what they are.
Cool. Thank you both for the advice.
I was going to give a roll, and kind of figured at his level he's got muscle memory for what it takes to normally hide. We're in the middle of a protracted fight, which is why I had time to post this question. The group's been kind of cakewalking through it so this is the first major battle that's started going south for them.
Will use the idea of me secretly controlling what square he shadow jumps to. Will make it fun for the other PCs trying to cover or heal him as well unless he totally tanks his stealth roll and is totally visible to everyone.
The rogue player's a good sport though and already said he'd be fine with what I decided. He's used to rolling up new characters. :D
I also like the idea of the disguise roll too. Could add a bit more levity to the tense situation. Will offer him the choice. Thanks.
I would impose situational penalties (since he can't see if he is going to step on a twig or knock over a vase), but other than that... he can use what he remembers about the concealable places in the area to try to stealth.
For example, he could round a corner and immediately hide behind a curtain in the hallway. While people might see him initiating stealth, they would likely lose sight of him after the corner and might think he ran down the hallway. Which would be a fairly normal stealth thing.
Now, trying to stealth in an area he has never gone to before.... yeah, good luck with that. I could see massive penalties for that. For example, if he had never been in the hallway before, he might not know that the curtain is on the moon lit side, which would give a very nice silhouette. There can be some auto fail conditions, but generally give him a chance if he knows the place.
Thanks! They're just in a dungeon, so he can try to jump back to the spot he started in, but I'll use a scatter die or something per Yorien's suggestion and not let them know where he shows up till they make perception checks against his modified stealth roll.
I think I'm going to ask him to roll the die by my area and then I'll cover up the die so no one knows what the result was, to heighten the drama. :)
Will have him make the acrobatics roll to move while blind although I know his first step will be to shadow jump out since he's surrounded (we literally had to do a cliffhanger stop in the middle of combat because of people's schedules). He does have hide in plain sight so once he jumps (to a random location), he'll be making the stealth roll that he won't get to see the result of.
Fortunately for him this just happened because of a special attack (Inevitable, Marut's lighting strike), so it's not permanent like the spell. Will post a follow up after tonight. :)
The shadowdancer instead used ghost step and managed to figure out which way to go (back towards the party). I let him roll but not see the die result of his stealth check, and applied the glitterdust penalty to his skill check. He got hit several times from AoOs of course, and managed to survive (barely).
Thanks again for all the suggestions and input.