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Ragitsu
2010-12-29, 02:16 AM
What is the simplest, least "exotic" way to make a melee/ranged combatant blind (with nuances like being unable to discern color and such), but fully functional in a fight?

unosarta
2010-12-29, 02:22 AM
What is the simplest, least "exotic" way to make a melee/ranged combatant blind (with nuances like being unable to discern color and such), but fully functional in a fight?

There really isn't a non-fluff way that doesn't impact ability too much. The actual condition of being blind is incredibly detrimental, so you can either say that the character is blind, but giving them no combat bonuses or penalties (fluff), or you can use homebrewed (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167991) material, which you seem to not want to do (which is completely understandable).

Psyren
2010-12-29, 02:42 AM
Blindsight (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#blindsightAndBlindsense) means you can be blind, yet not. A Blindfold of True Darkness (A&EG) is the standard means of acquiring this ability.

It also carries with it the "black-and-white" vision quirk you wanted

Bang!
2010-12-29, 04:52 AM
The Devil's Sight feat in the Fiendish Codex 2 gives Blindsight for very brief periods, which sounds pretty close to what you're looking for.

Halae
2010-12-29, 05:01 AM
As long as you don't mind dipping into the class (or perhaps adjusting the class itself to your desires) then the blindness Oracle's curse for pathfinder is perfect for what you're going for

Psyren
2010-12-29, 09:24 AM
A unique (but probably exotic) effect is the Synesthete (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/synesthete.htm) power - which is the only way I know of to see in color while blind.

Ducklord
2010-12-29, 09:29 AM
The Hearing the Air stance gives you blindsight, but it's pretty high level. Maybe you could make it lower level for this character?

Forged Fury
2010-12-29, 10:40 AM
Simplest way is to hand-wave the combat effects.

Per the SRD:

Blinded
The character cannot see. He takes a -2 penalty to Armor Class, loses his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any), moves at half speed, and takes a -4 penalty on Search checks and on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Spot checks) automatically fail. All opponents are considered to have total concealment (50% miss chance) to the blinded character. Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them.
Emphasis added. I don't think it would be unreasonable to say that many of the combat penalties had been mitigated if the character had been blind for long, particularly if they invested in the Blind-Fight feat and a bunch of ranks of the Listen skill (which I would probably give them as a universal class skill and maybe a bonus). I do have to add that the Blind-Fight feat as presented in the SRD is a little confusing if reading from the perspective of a blind character. I think a blind person would only receive the 1st and 3rd benefits.

playswithfire
2010-12-29, 10:44 AM
A unique (but probably exotic) effect is the Synesthete (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/synesthete.htm) power - which is the only way I know of to see in color while blind.

In a similar vein, you could use the Chain of Eyes spell to give yourself the DnD version of a seeing-eye dog.

Foryn Gilnith
2010-12-29, 10:49 AM
One fighter-fellow I played once acquired the ability to bind Shedu Crown to his Crown chakra, giving him Telepathy; he then took Mindsight.

Darrin
2010-12-29, 11:12 AM
If you have no way to sense your enemies in combat, you can still make a Listen check to pinpoint what square they are in. The default DC to pinpoint an invisibile opponent in combat is 20, +1 for each 10' distance away from you, and possibly +5 to +15 if there are obstacles in the way. If your opponent is using Move Silently, then the DC to pinpoint is his Move Selently check + 20. If your DM is being reasonably accomodating, he'll let you make this check as a free action whenever you want to attack something. If you fail the check and want to check again, it requires a move action. Even if you pinpoint the square, the target still has total concealment (50% miss chance). The Blind-Fight feat can give you one reroll on the miss chance.

There are a couple ways to get something like blindsense or tremorsense at ECL 1, but while these allow you to pinpoint creatures without spending an action, your enemies still get total concealment (50% miss chance) and get to treat you as flat-footed.

Gaining blindsense:
Willing Deformity + Deformity: Tongue (Heroes of Horror). Blindsense out to 30'. Requirement: must be evil. (I'd probably allow a non-evil Hellbred to swap his Devil's Favor feat for Willing Deformity and let his Evil Exception to apply to Vile feats).

Gaining termorsense:
Scorpion's Resolve + Scorpion's Sense (Sandstorm). Tremorsense 10', or 20' if ground is covered with at least 1 inch of sand/ash/dust/loose dirt.

In Magic of Incarnum, there's the Soulsight feat and several soulmelds that grant blindsense or something like it, but they all require a move action to activate. The Killoren Hunter feat (RotW) can pinpoint out to 30', but like the soulmelds requires a move action to use. Focused Perception (Complete Psionic) can give you blindsense out to 60' for 1 round, but you have to expend your psionic focus. There's a Dreamtouched feat in Secrets of Sarlona called Dream of Perception, but I don't know how that works.

Blindsight is much tougher to get ahold of (no miss chance, enemies don't treat you as flat-footed). There's a feat in Sword & Fist that grants blindsight 5', but it requires BAB +4 and Wis 19 (it also appears in the SRD under Divine Feats). Combat Awareness (PHBII) can grant blindsight 5', but requires BAB +12.

Other than Focused Perception, Psionics offers a few other options. Touchsight is very nice, but it's a Psion/Wilder 3 power and not available at ECL 1.

PsyWar 1 can take the Synesthete power to "see" with your skin, but the duration is limited: 10 min/level. It only costs 1 PP to activate, so assuming you had at least 1 PP available every combat, this would probably be the most "functional" way to be blind but still effective in combat.

It may also be possible to pick up the Mindsight feat (Lords of Madness) at ECL 1, but it's not clear by RAW so you'll have to check with your DM. You need some form of telepathy at ECL 1 (by a strict RAW interpretation, you need Telepathy as a Special Quality, but I only know of one person on the planet who insists on such a strict reading). You can get this with the Mindlink power (Psion/Telepath 1 or Hidden Talent feat). The Shedu Crown soulmeld bound to the crown chakra (Incarnate 2 or Shape Soulmeld + Open Least Chakra feats) can also get telepathy. Like blindsense, mindsight can pinpoint enemies but they still get total concealment and treat you as flat-footed.

Psyren
2010-12-29, 03:23 PM
One fighter-fellow I played once acquired the ability to bind Shedu Crown to his Crown chakra, giving him Telepathy; he then took Mindsight.

The trouble with mindsight:

1) only works on enemies with an Int score;
2) does not negate concealment (so you still have a 50% miss chance even when you know what square they're in.)

Saint GoH
2010-12-29, 04:13 PM
Petition to allow for Doomwatcher from DMG II pg 157?


I think that's what I'm going to try and do... Just watched The Book of Eli and I really want to make a holy warrior that "walks by faith and not by sight" and take it very literally. +4 LA DOES have its drawbacks however....

Saintheart
2010-12-31, 08:33 AM
It may also be possible to pick up the Mindsight feat (Lords of Madness) at ECL 1, but it's not clear by RAW so you'll have to check with your DM. You need some form of telepathy at ECL 1 (by a strict RAW interpretation, you need Telepathy as a Special Quality, but I only know of one person on the planet who insists on such a strict reading). You can get this with the Mindlink power (Psion/Telepath 1 or Hidden Talent feat). The Shedu Crown soulmeld bound to the crown chakra (Incarnate 2 or Shape Soulmeld + Open Least Chakra feats) can also get telepathy. Like blindsense, mindsight can pinpoint enemies but they still get total concealment and treat you as flat-footed.

Just for completeness -- above ECL 1 it gets a bit easier, since telepathy kicks in as a class feature for level 1 of Mindbender and is well worth the dip. But that's heading down the arcane route.

Aharon
2010-12-31, 08:41 AM
The fluff-wise "He's so good, he doesn't need sight in battle" (=> no mechanical disadvantages) works best.
Second to that would be Touchsight, but I'm not aware of ways to get it permanently.

Psyren
2010-12-31, 09:17 AM
The fluff-wise "He's so good, he doesn't need sight in battle" (=> no mechanical disadvantages) works best.
Second to that would be Touchsight, but I'm not aware of ways to get it permanently.

Crystal Master (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040625d) can get a permanent touchsight field, but it takes a while to beef up the range and it's not really geared for melee.