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We now have stuff in the Guild Guide for disabled PCs. So, I love how things were done with PCs with disabilities for the most part, but I have concerns with one particular area: blind PCs. I am aware that what follows is a super nitpicky approach that heavily sticks to RAW, but it’s PFS; nitpicking RAW is what we do.
To start, the rules from the Guild Guide:
Characters that are blind from birth or are otherwise permanently sightless cannot detect anything using vision. They automatically critically fail any Perception checks based on vision, are immune to visual effects, and can’t be blinded or dazzled.
Blind characters who either can’t or choose not to remove their blindness hone their other senses. They are not flat-footed to creatures that are hidden from them (unless they’re flat-footed to them for reasons other than the hidden condition), and they need only a successful DC 5 flat check to target a hidden creature. Normally, such characters can’t remove their blindness later; if they somehow do, they lose these benefits.
Now, technically it never says the PC constantly has the blinded condition, but for the sake of argument and common sense, let’s say that a blind PC is “blinded.”
These benefits do offset some of the downsides, but not all of them. Blinded creatures:
•treat all terrain as difficult terrain.
•take a -4 status penalty to Perception if vision is their only precise sense. (Being accustomed to blindness doesn’t automatically grant true echolocation)
•still need to make a flat check against hidden creatures.*
*As far as I can tell, a hidden creature is just one that can’t be detected with any precise senses (unless I’ve VASTLY misunderstood those rules), meaning a blind character would still need to roll a flat check against a raging barbarian standing right in front of them.
The PFS rules for disabled characters address NONE of these hindrances. The only possible way that the rules would make sense as they currently stand is if it’s implied that being blind and having the blinded condition are two different things, in which case a) that needs to be very explicitly stated, and b) that is some absurd levels of nitpicking that implies that a blind PC can become more blind by gaining the blinded condition.
My overall point: Depending on table variation (which is not a good statement to start with in organized play) a PC born blind has significantly more trouble adventuring than any other kind of physical disability, which feels like the exact OPPOSITE of what the organized play team was going for, so I feel those rules need to be amended in the Guild Guide.
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I'll just point out two things in the quoted text that directly answer two of your quandaries:
1. It explicitly states that a blind character cannot be blinded (so no gaining the Blinded condition).
2. The blind character requires a DC 5 flat check to target a Hidden target.
1. I AM SO DUMB! I utterly missed that, so that solves some of my issues. I still think it should be more clearly stated, though.
2. Yes. That’s…still a flat check. Again, unless I’m vastly misunderstanding the awareness rules, hidden means that one can’t perceive the creature with any of their precise senses, which unless something super weird like bat-like echolocation is going on, means that that’s basically every enemy. The average adventurer only has vision as a precise sense, so taking that away means that everything is hidden. So for blind PCs that means that every average enemy has a 20% miss chance (to use 1e terminology), which is still a major hindrance. That was my point from the beginning: instead of a DC 11 flat check for a visioned PC in specific circumstances, it instead makes it a DC 5 flat check for a blind PC in basically ALL circumstances, which I would argue is worse (hence my quandary). The Hiding rogue 30 feet away is hidden, because you can’t see them; and the screaming barbarian right next to you is hidden, because you can’t see them. Yes, it’s 30% more likely to work because of the benefit, but it’s still a 20% chance of failure for a really basic action.
Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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My understanding is:
The character does not have the blinded condition, so the difficult terrain and -4 blanket penalty to perception do not apply.
All creatures are hidden from you, so DC 5 flat check for all targeted attacks. Note that this includes targeted spells that require saves. (Unlike PF1, as far as I can tell PF2 does not distinguish between spells with attack rolls and spells with saves when it comes to targeting hidden enemies.)
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Note that blind characters cannot read without assistance, but can purchase a Reading Ring regardless of whether the player owns the Grand Bizarre. Reading Rings are *not* provided free of charge.
Obligatory side note: There is no requirement in the guide to follow Rules as Written. You cannot flatly contradict the rules, but you may follow reasonable interpretations.
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Usually targeting hidden creatures requires a DC 11 Flat Check. So the DC 5 for being a blind character is substantially better than being 'Blinded' per the condition. A blind character will be better at fighting invisible / stealthy creatures than most PCs.My understanding is:
The character does not have the blinded condition, so the difficult terrain and -4 blanket penalty to perception do not apply.
All creatures are hidden from you, so DC 5 flat check for all targeted attacks. Note that this includes targeted spells that require saves. (Unlike PF1, as far as I can tell PF2 does not distinguish between spells with attack rolls and spells with saves when it comes to targeting hidden enemies.)
Pretty sure that is the intent.
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Pretty sure that is the intent.Usually targeting hidden creatures requires a DC 11 Flat Check. So the DC 5 for being a blind character is substantially better than being 'Blinded' per the condition. A blind character will be better at fighting invisible / stealthy creatures than most PCs.My understanding is:
The character does not have the blinded condition, so the difficult terrain and -4 blanket penalty to perception do not apply.
All creatures are hidden from you, so DC 5 flat check for all targeted attacks. Note that this includes targeted spells that require saves. (Unlike PF1, as far as I can tell PF2 does not distinguish between spells with attack rolls and spells with saves when it comes to targeting hidden enemies.)
That is a pretty big mechanical advantage IMO.
I forget whether someone official or someone unofficial said this, but wasn't the intent to make viable characters without conferring a significant advantage, on the assumption that if there were an advantage, someone would try to exploit it?
Is my recollection wrong, or is my assessment of the scope of this advantage wrong?
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All creatures are hidden from you. Most characters do not have to roll a flat check under normal circumstances to hit anything. The advantage that blind characters get against the invisible partially offsets this big disadvantage.
The exploit would be engineering a way to be generally hidden - darkness / invisibility / stealth.
I trust someone has done the legwork on making sure no such option exists right now - the danger would be that someone in the future writes a darkness-related feat or item and doesn't realize it can be paired with a blind PC to form an exploit.
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Is my recollection wrong, or is my assessment of the scope of this advantage wrong?
Your assessment of the advantage this confers is a bit off base. Halflings already have an ability to roll against lower DCs for hidden foes, and no exploits have arisen since halflings have been in the game. In addition, the flames oracle treats all distant enemies as concealed. This is generally considered one of the more punishing curses.
As for the future, the language around flat checks such as concealed/hidden is very particular. It is very unlikely that anything comes along to mess with those.