A blind man and his raven....

[The Succubus]

Howdy,

As I mentioned in another thread recently, I'm in a PbP game (that actually seems to be going somewhere this time!) and playing a blind Wizard with specialisation in Divination. He also has a raven familiar called Cord that guides him around. I'm just after a few eyeballs to go over my character sheet and make sure I've got it statted correctly:

http://www.dndsheets.net/view.php?id=29997

Also, a character sheet for Cord, the Raven familiar:

http://www.dndsheets.net/view.php?id=30263

There's a lot missing on Cord's sheet because I'm not sure how stats are calculated for familiars. Themman's is mostly correct I think (ignore the Spell Component Pouch/Eschew Materials bit).

[INoKnowNames]

.... I swear I'm totally not stalking you. I just saw this post, and I wondered what the chances were.

Page 52 of the Player's Handbook. Stat Cord the same way you would any Raven (Page 278 of the 1st Monster Manual, or you can click here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/raven.htm)), but with a few adjustments:


At further levels, you would give him Hit Dice equal to your level, but since you're level 1, he only needs his one.
His Hit Points are equal to Half of Yours (which you did).
He has your Base Attack Bonus with his Dex and Str Bonuses (not that either of you really want to be attacking right now).
He uses either his own base saves or your saves, which ever are better (but since he already has +2, +4, and +2, I don't think his saves change right now).
And he can use your or his skill ranks, which ever is better.
Also, he gives You a +3 to Appraise checks, as well as Alertness whenever he's within your touch range.
His Natural Armor goes up by 1 point every odd level (including level 1).
He rocks Improved Evasion (and the poor Drum Stick needs every advantage he can get)
He has "Share Spells" which makes any buffs that you cast on yourself affect it as well if it stays within 5 feet of you.
And it has Empathatic Link, which lets it communicate to you emotionally so long as it is within 1 mile of you.


Hopefully I got everything. And that it's all correct. Although I'm pretty sure it is.

[TroubleBrewing]

This is purely a flavor suggestion, and would reduce the power of your character. However, it's a bitchin' idea, and is worthy of mention. Grab 1 level of Binder and the Improved Binding feat and you can actually be blind and see through the eyes of your Raven.

EDIT: Didn't realize this was a level 1 game...

[Chronos]

A 1-level Binder dip isn't actually much of a nerf for a wizard, if you follow it up with Anima Mage. It's one of the very few things that just might actually be worth losing a level of spell progression.

And technically, the vestige you're referring to (I can't remember which one it is) gives you a separate bird scout, so RAW, you'd have two ravens sitting on your shoulder. Which is cool, too, but if you want to have your familiar do double duty for that, talk to your DM.

[TroubleBrewing]

Well, he's 1st level, and a Wizard 1/Binder 1 build is pretty okay.

It just delays his progression into 2nd level spells, that's all.

[Psyren]

And technically, the vestige you're referring to (I can't remember which one it is) gives you a separate bird scout, so RAW, you'd have two ravens sitting on your shoulder.

Then you call them Huginn and Muninn, and wear an eyepatch. :smallamused:

[arguskos]

Then you call them Huginn and Muninn, and wear an eyepatch. :smallamused:
Needs more lightning javelins.

Alternate post:

I'm Odin, and this is my favorite post on the Playground. :smallcool:

[Hiro Protagonest]

Needs more lightning javelins.

That's Zeus. Thor has a thunder/lightning hammer, but Odin has no power over storms.

[arguskos]

That's Zeus. Thor has a thunder/lightning hammer, but Odin has no power over storms.
Yes, I am aware of the difference, but thanks. :smalltongue: I still seem to recall reading some information that indicated to me that Odin liked lightning. Wish I had it on hand, actually.

[Zeb]

Unless you have worked out some type of braille you might have a problem with prepping spells, decipher script and scribe scroll. At least until you can share senses with your familiar.

The feat Spell Mastery is something I have used on a blind wizard before but it gets hard to keep up for higher level spells.

I would say the best option is to see if you can get:

Eidetic Spellcaster - You do not need a spellbook, either to prepare spells or record new ones. You gain/learn new spells normally otherwise, including paying the appropriate gold pieces (for special incenses) when acquiring new spells that aren't from gaining a level. from dragon mag

Normally you trade your familiar but see if instead you can give up Scribe scroll.

Cause while cool, the blind concept is real hard at lvl 1.

[DoctorGlock]

The raven vestige can be gotten through nothing but feats, no dips required. Be human, take bind vestige and improved, then see through the awesome raven eyes.

[Ungoded]

The raven vestige can be gotten through nothing but feats, no dips required. Be human, take bind vestige and improved, then see through the awesome raven eyes.

You would also have to take Practiced Binder to get the Bird's Eye Viewing ability.

[Psyren]

To forestall confusion:

Improved Binding = you have Binder levels and want to bind above your level.

Practiced Binder = you have no Binder levels (i.e. your binding comes from the Bind Vestige or Improved Bind Vestige feats) and you want the second column of abilities on the table.

[DoctorGlock]

Yeah my bad, meant practiced rather than improved, it's now 3 feats and needs flaws to pull off at 1st. Oh well.

[INoKnowNames]

I feel like the point of the thread has been lost....

Rather than build advice, I believe he just needed to know what was wrong with or missing from his sheet...

[The Succubus]

The other thing is, I'd prefer to stick with Wizard only and not use the familiar's eyes. The reason being, the character's story is about how he comes to terms with his loss of sight and finds ways around it. Having him see through Cord's (the raven) eyes pretty much makes the whole blindness thing a moot point. Also, I only have the core books so obscure stuff like Binders/Anima Mages - I honestly have no idea what's involved with them.

[Socratov]

Needs more lightning javelins.

Alternate post:

I'm Odin, and this is my favorite post on the Playground. :smallcool:

you mean: needs more truestike spear and 2 wolf animal cohorts :D

[Zeb]

Well without using the familiar's eyes you might have a problem prepping spells.

From the SRD:To prepare any spell, a wizard must have enough peace, quiet, and comfort to allow for proper concentration. The wizard’s surroundings need not be luxurious, but they must be free from overt distractions. Exposure to inclement weather prevents the necessary concentration, as does any injury or failed saving throw the character might experience while studying. Wizards also must have access to their spellbooks to study from and sufficient light to read them by. There is one major exception: A wizard can prepare a read magic spell even without a spellbook.

Emphasis mine. So unless you have worked out something with the DM about using decipher script in conjunction with read magic you wont be preparing new spells.

With the eschew materials feat, you don't need a spell pouch, but I still recommend replacing it with the spell mastery feat.

[Socratov]

maybe he has the language(braille) on his list? he could also jsut read the MAGICAL spells by read MAGIC... :smallamused:

[Zeb]

Because sarcasm is what he is clearly looking for...

Firstly his character sheet is posted and it doesn't have braille as I mentioned in a previous post.

Secondly while read magic can be prepared without the use of his spellbook it only lasts 10min/lvl. So with all 4 of his castings at level 1 he only gets 40 minutes of his needed hour preparation and they all count against his limit of spells cast within 8 hours. Meaning he gets 2/3rd of his 3 or 4 first level spells if the DM is kind and doesn't count the 0-lvl ones against his prep amount. And even then instead of being able to prepare spells every day his need to re-prepare read magic or other cantrips, which means he spends 18 hours a day for spell prep or just prepares spells every other day.

So come level 6 this is a viable solution prep 2 read magic use one next time you prep spells and alternate after that, but currently not so much.

This is all assuming the DM allows the "would otherwise be unintelligible" clause in read magic to apply to I cant see the writing because i'm blind.

[The Succubus]

I would ditch the Eschew Materials feat but the words "Mishap Table" convinced me that it might be a good idea to keep it. I think I'll have a word with the DM and see if I can arrange something.

[Greenish]

"Blind wizard needs some eyeballs and wants you to click this link…" :smalleek:

http://www.ackbar.org/images/ackbar.jpg