I'm a blind Wizard! (Help)

[Aaedimus]

So I wanted to make a blind wizard who uses his familiar to see.

Sounds decent, sound fun, it's a bit of a debuff because familiars are so easy to kill, and take so long to resurrect.

My big question is: Blindness is actually pretty strong vs wizards. Once the familiar is gone, what are some things other than magical items he would do to work around being blind? How can I keep from being useless when I'm blind?

[LudicSavant]

There's an even bigger problem, which is that it eats your Action to see through your familiar's eyes for a turn.

[BloodOgre]

The Darkvision spell?

[Vogie]

Take a Single Level of Raven Queen Warlock, and plant the Sentinel Raven Faux-miliar on your shoulder, allowing it to be phased away from all damage.

But Honestly, you'll need DM allowance to keep looking through your familiar's eyes. Otherwise you'll have disadvantage on everything ever.



That could be your schtick, though. Since disadvantage doesn't stack, you could frequently use things like Darkness, Fog Cloud, and the like, you could just have spell list of "impose disadvantage on EVERYONE".

[RulesJD]

So I wanted to make a blind wizard who uses his familiar to see.

Sounds decent, sound fun, it's a bit of a debuff because familiars are so easy to kill, and take so long to resurrect.

My big question is: Blindness is actually pretty strong vs wizards. Once the familiar is gone, what are some things other than magical items he would do to work around being blind? How can I keep from being useless when I'm blind?

A Blinded Wizard is, unfortunately, almost entirely useless. So many spells require you to 'see' your target/area, which you won't be able to do.

There could be some workarounds, but would still need a very favorable DM. Something like Clairvoyance could kinda work, and there's a few other spells. But in terms of crippling a Wizard, short of Silence, Blinding them is pretty much the most punishing thing to do.

[MilkmanDanimal]

Being a blind, adventuring Wizard would be suicidal, as would being deaf, mute, or having no hands, or whatever other crippling condition counts as "an interesting disability" for character creation. Blind character perfectly capable of functioning as an NPC in Waterdeep? Sure, good flavor. Active adventurer who's blind? Not so much.

My guess is you're either going to have to ask the DM to very, very generously bend things so your familiar stays alive and you can see, or you'll die quick. Many spells are "a target you can see", and, if you're one easy attack from losing your 1 HP Wizard, you're basically ready to die at any moment.

[Tawmis]

So I wanted to make a blind wizard who uses his familiar to see.
Sounds decent, sound fun, it's a bit of a debuff because familiars are so easy to kill, and take so long to resurrect.
My big question is: Blindness is actually pretty strong vs wizards. Once the familiar is gone, what are some things other than magical items he would do to work around being blind? How can I keep from being useless when I'm blind?

This is going to depend on the generosity of your DM (and I think, if you were sincere, the DM would allow it because it makes for an interesting concept and idea... Think Raistlin, from Dragonlance, and his health issues...)

So someone else posted about having their legs cut off and riding a mastiff - and I had ideas how it could work... (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24042662&postcount=21) which would also apply to you:

As others noted, to stop you would simply be kill your familiar... then you're blind.
Now here's where the kindness of your DM has to kick in...
If you could pitch it that you and your familiar are so bound to each other, that your familiar shares your AC (which may help)...
And not only that, that your souls are connected by magical means - so you and your familiar share an "HP" pool.
So if you have 20 HP, your familiar does. However, it's shared. So if your Familiar is hit for 6 damage, you take the 6 damage too - so effectively, both of your HPs would drop to 14.
All damage being shared.

This way it allows you to play the blind character and not be anything too crazy in terms of power.

As others have said - the familiar would need to be able to see your designated target since you're using the familiar's vision for those specific spells that require the target being seen.

[Segev]

The easiest thing to do would be to just make your blindness fluff. Mechanically, you can see just fine; narratively, it's "thanks to seeing through your familiar's eyes." When your familiar is out of range, you ahve to concentrate to see through its eyes (per the rules). "Out of range" being "anywhere you couldn't see without your familiar's help even if you weren't blind."

In-setting, you've gotten so good at seeing through your familiar's eyes that you can do so without spending an action while it's close enough by.

The only hole this leaves is your blindness when your familiar isn't around and you aren't looking through its eyes. For this, you're going to just have to accept a voluntary debuff of mechanically "keeping your eyes closed."

[greenstone]

So I wanted to make a blind wizard who uses his familiar to see.

So you wanted to make a blind wizard but you didn't actually want him to be blind?

[Phhase]

There is a spell called Arcane Eye. That, or you could play as a Grimlock and technically be blind while able to see.

[Segev]

So you wanted to make a blind wizard but you didn't actually want him to be blind?

This is a needlessly insulting way to reduce the concept. He stated clearly what he wants. It is hardly difficult to grasp, nor see how it works in the narrative or the game. Given how it does differ from normal seeing, you could make the same snide statement about Toph not actually being blind, despite that being a pretty defining part of her character.

[Dalebert]

There's an even bigger problem, which is that it eats your Action to see through your familiar's eyes for a turn.

I feel like this was glazed over but it's kind of a huge speed bump without special exception from your DM.

The fluff idea seems good. You can probably work something out.

[jjordan]

That could be your schtick, though. Since disadvantage doesn't stack, you could frequently use things like Darkness, Fog Cloud, and the like, you could just have spell list of "impose disadvantage on EVERYONE".Nice. That's good roleplay material.

[Nagog]

You'd have to work with your DM on it, but i believe it's possible. I'd recommend a Hummingbird, as they're small and very portable.

For reference, Shacosta from Critical Role was essentially a cleric that did this. I'm sure he had DM permission as I don't think Clerics typically get familiars, but it doesn't unbalance the game at all. It's an even tradeoff.

[xroads]

The easiest thing to do would be to just make your blindness fluff. Mechanically, you can see just fine; narratively, it's "thanks to seeing through your familiar's eyes." When your familiar is out of range, you ahve to concentrate to see through its eyes (per the rules). "Out of range" being "anywhere you couldn't see without your familiar's help even if you weren't blind."

In-setting, you've gotten so good at seeing through your familiar's eyes that you can do so without spending an action while it's close enough by.

The only hole this leaves is your blindness when your familiar isn't around and you aren't looking through its eyes. For this, you're going to just have to accept a voluntary debuff of mechanically "keeping your eyes closed."

I'll second this idea. Fluffing it would make things a lot easier.

And as far as those times your familiar isn't available, you could say your character can briefly weave the strands of magic together to see during combat. But can't maintain the spell in the long term. If you want a self imposed debuff, you can say that your wizard can't cast concentration spells while focusing on maintaining the impromptu sight magic.

Interesting note, my wizard was blinded in Ravenloft. He died and was resurrected by the mists. The mists "gifted" him by removing his normal vision and giving him blindsight. Unfortunately blindsight has a limited range. However my DM let me use the familiar triangulation trick you want to use (though I had to cast attack spells at a disadvantage).

[Sigreid]

Research a spell that grants sight for a time?

[bobofwestgate]

You'd have to work with your DM on it, but i believe it's possible. I'd recommend a Hummingbird, as they're small and very portable.

For reference, Shacosta from Critical Role was essentially a cleric that did this. I'm sure he had DM permission as I don't think Clerics typically get familiars, but it doesn't unbalance the game at all. It's an even tradeoff.

He took Magic Initiate to acquire Find Familiar

[JakOfAllTirades]

Okay, so you want to play a blind spellcaster. How attached are you to the Wizard class? I'd suggest looking at the spell lists for all classes, just to see which one has the most/best spells for a blind caster. In other words, which caster class relies the least on seeing the targets of its spells? It might not be the Wizard.

I'm not sure; I haven't look yet.

Edited to add: I'd put my money on the Divine Soul, due to the variety of spells they have to pick from.

[ProsecutorGodot]

There are a lot of hoops to jump through, lets compile a list of them, most of them are already posted, this is simply for ease of access:
-You need to use an action to see through the familiar.
-Your familiar can be killed easily.
-If your familiar is killed, you're out of luck for at least an hour.
-You need line of sight to cast most spells, luckily for us Find Familiar isn't one of them.

Short Answer: Ersatz Eye is an attuned common magic item that will allow you to see as normal. This means you aren't really blind but in an area of anti magic or in the event that you want to free up that attunement slot you would be. You can pretend to be blind as the eye is clearly artificial.

Long answer: No, there isn't really anything you can do short of begging your DM to allow the build to function in a way that you can both agree on. If your DM insists that the familiar being killed will render you blind until it returns, you're pretty much useless.

You can learn spells like Sword Burst and Thunderwave and recklessly point in the direction of what you think is the enemy but your allies will quickly get sick of the inevitable friendly fire.

If you're allowed, there is a spell called Flock of Familiar found in the Extra Life module Lost Laboratory of Kwalish. It instead has a casting time of 1 minute, concentration for 1 hour and allows you to summon 3 familiar which you share the senses of within a 1 mile distance of yourself. Otherwise it functions similarly to Find Familiar, it can even be used in addition to Find Familiar as a way to give your primary familiar. When the spell ends your primary familiar will remain assuming that it wasn't killed.

Flock of Familiars
2nd level, 1 minute, touch, VS, Concentration 1 hour, conjuration

You temporarily summon three familiars — spirits that take animal forms of your choice. Each familiar uses the same rules and options for a familiar conjured by the find familiar spell. All the familiars conjured by this spell must be the same type of creature (celestials, fey, or fiends; your choice). If you already have a familiar conjured by the find familiar spell or similar means, then one fewer familiars are conjured by this spell.

Familiars summoned by this spell can telepathically communicate with you and share their visual or auditory senses while they are within 1 mile of you.

When you cast a spell with a range of touch, one of the familiars conjured by this spell can deliver the spell, as normal. However, you can cast a touch spell through only one familiar per turn.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, you conjure an additional familiar for each slot level above 2nd.

I wouldn't recommend this kind of character. You're going to be a detriment to the party unless the DM is generous to the degree that it is Fluff rather than a mechanical hindrance. If you're allowed to make it a Fluff choice, go for that, that's cool. Otherwise I'd strongly recommend tossing the idea.

[JakOfAllTirades]

With a couple of levels in Warlock (any patron) you could pick up the Invocation Gaze of Two Minds and see through the eyes of any willing humanoid. It requires an action each turn to maintain the link, just like a familiar, but most humanoids are tougher (especially PCs) and don't require a ritual to summon.

[ProsecutorGodot]

With a couple of levels in Warlock (any patron) you could pick up the Invocation Gaze of Two Minds and see through the eyes of any willing humanoid. It requires an action each turn to maintain the link, just like a familiar, but most humanoids are tougher (especially PCs) and don't require a ritual to summon.

I suppose the only downside of this is that you'd end up being the one led around by your ally. Unless you've got a Retainer from your Noble background or can afford a hireling, the players at the table might not want you ordering them around so that you can get proper line of sight through their eyes.

This is otherwise a good suggestion for if your DM wants the mechanical aspects to be enforced rather than glossed over.

[JakOfAllTirades]

I suppose the only downside of this is that you'd end up being the one led around by your ally. Unless you've got a Retainer from your Noble background or can afford a hireling, the players at the table might not want you ordering them around so that you can get proper line of sight through their eyes.

This is otherwise a good suggestion for if your DM wants the mechanical aspects to be enforced rather than glossed over.

I hadn't thought of using a Noble's retainer; that's a good idea. But yeah, you'd definitely want to sit down and discuss in advance how to work this out with one or more of the other player characters.

[DerficusRex]

Definitely an interesting constraint for a wizard. With the right party and DM, it could be fun even if your combat effectiveness takes more of a hit than you originally intended.

Anything with a spell attack is an option at any level, but you end up eating disadvantage (maybe an owl familiar to do flyby Help actions to offset it?). Point blank effects like Thunderwave or Burning Hands work too, but require you to be uncomfortably close to things that will probably get advantage trying to hit you.

Some interesting stuff that doesn't require sight:

Level 1

Sleep! (a point you choose, not a point you choose that you can see)
Catapult (surprisingly). You do need to figure out what direction to send the flying object, though.
Grease
Silent Image
Detect Magic, if the DM is lenient enough to let you see only the auras. Could put you in the position of being able to see anyone with magical gear, if it's allowed. Does take an action to see auras, but it doesn't specify how long your view of the auras lasts.


Level 2

Aganazzar's, similar to Catapult at level 1.
Darkness
Cloud of Daggers
Detect Thoughts (but only the part that uses your action)
Flaming Sphere
Locate Object could be unusually useful :)
Mirror Image is always handy, but especially if you're getting attacked with advantage
Rope Trick could be useful for the party if there are many short-rest classes
See Invisibility? (see Detect Magic above)
Shatter
Web


Level 3

Animate Dead (yay, minions)
Counterspell does say you take the reaction when you see a creature within 60ft casting a spell, but I think it would be reasonable to let you use "detect" instead of "see", esp since it'll limit you to countering spells with verbal components.
Dispel Magic
Clairvoyance could be really good in the right situation. It's immobile, and it does take concentration, but once it's deployed you can see through it without burning your action every turn.
Fireball! Bonus: if you have Clairvoyance up, you can see the looks on people's faces as they realise the blind guy is chucking fireballs around (Lightning Bolt works too)
Glyph of Warding (whee, Explosive Runes!)
Hypnotic Pattern
Tiny Servant could be especially handy



Once you hit level 4 spells, you have access to Arcane Eye, which you can move around with you. It's concentration, but it would let you see to cast, say, Polymorph, and then you could drop it to keep the Polymorph up. Could use Clairvoyance the same way, for that matter.
edit: Ooh, and if you're a Diviner you'd get a lower level slot back. Plus, having Portent in your pocket would be even nicer than usual when you're dealing with disadvantage all the time.

I hope you can make it work. Cheers!

[Aaedimus]

Definitely an interesting constraint for a wizard. With the right party and DM, it could be fun even if your combat effectiveness takes more of a hit than you originally intended.

Anything with a spell attack is an option at any level, but you end up eating disadvantage (maybe an owl familiar to do flyby Help actions to offset it?). Point blank effects like Thunderwave or Burning Hands work too, but require you to be uncomfortably close to things that will probably get advantage trying to hit you.

Some interesting stuff that doesn't require sight:

Level 1

Sleep! (a point you choose, not a point you choose that you can see)
Catapult (surprisingly). You do need to figure out what direction to send the flying object, though.
Grease
Silent Image
Detect Magic, if the DM is lenient enough to let you see only the auras. Could put you in the position of being able to see anyone with magical gear, if it's allowed. Does take an action to see auras, but it doesn't specify how long your view of the auras lasts.


Level 2

Aganazzar's, similar to Catapult at level 1.
Darkness
Cloud of Daggers
Detect Thoughts (but only the part that uses your action)
Flaming Sphere
Locate Object could be unusually useful :)
Mirror Image is always handy, but especially if you're getting attacked with advantage
Rope Trick could be useful for the party if there are many short-rest classes
See Invisibility? (see Detect Magic above)
Shatter
Web


Level 3

Animate Dead (yay, minions)
Counterspell does say you take the reaction when you see a creature within 60ft casting a spell, but I think it would be reasonable to let you use "detect" instead of "see", esp since it'll limit you to countering spells with verbal components.
Dispel Magic
Clairvoyance could be really good in the right situation. It's immobile, and it does take concentration, but once it's deployed you can see through it without burning your action every turn.
Fireball! Bonus: if you have Clairvoyance up, you can see the looks on people's faces as they realise the blind guy is chucking fireballs around (Lightning Bolt works too)
Glyph of Warding (whee, Explosive Runes!)
Hypnotic Pattern
Tiny Servant could be especially handy



Once you hit level 4 spells, you have access to Arcane Eye, which you can move around with you. It's concentration, but it would let you see to cast, say, Polymorph, and then you could drop it to keep the Polymorph up. Could use Clairvoyance the same way, for that matter.
edit: Ooh, and if you're a Diviner you'd get a lower level slot back. Plus, having Portent in your pocket would be even nicer than usual when you're dealing with disadvantage all the time.

I hope you can make it work. Cheers!

This is an amazingly well done post. Very nice job

[Zhorn]

One of my players is doing a similar thing in playing a blind spell caster.

To get around it, we did a little houserule tweaking.
Voice of the Chain Master allows using the familiar senses without using an action every turn to maintain.
Having both Voice of the Chain Master and Gaze of Two Minds allows the sense sharing of the the later to be extended in a similar way


It's still a scary thing for them to be on their own, and if their 'ally' ducks around a corner or lets the caster out of sight they're pretty screwed, but the player is committed to the roleplay of it and is having fun.

[Tanarii]

Start as a blind Druid instead, Vuman with Magic Initiate (with Find Familiar). That'll let you see out of combat by burning your action constantly. You're in trouble if the Familiar dies though, with limit casts.

If you survive 1st level long enough to get to level 2, you can wild-shape so you can see in combat.

[greenstone]

This is a needlessly insulting way to reduce the concept. He stated clearly what he wants. It is hardly difficult to grasp, nor see how it works in the narrative or the game.
Apologies for the insult, it was not intended.

The bluntntess was intended, because what I am reading from the question is, "I want my character to be blind without any of the disadvantages of being blind."

I appreciate that the blind warrior is a common trope in fiction, but the fiction never mentions how staggeringly disabling blindness is, especially in a pre-industrial society. In a world without smooth footpaths and voice-operated GPS units, getting across town is an epic challenge and getting from one town to the next is almost impossible. Blind characters fail my personal threshold of disbelief. But that's my game; this is about your game. Sorry for venting.

There are some good ideas in this thread, but I wonder, how is the blind caster learning all of these spells in the first place, given that they can't read scrolls or spellbooks?

[LudicSavant]

There are some good ideas in this thread, but I wonder, how is the blind caster learning all of these spells in the first place, given that they can't read scrolls or spellbooks?

Braille. Interpreters. Learning a sense-sharing ability prior to being blinded.

[Laserlight]

That could be your schtick, though. Since disadvantage doesn't stack, you could frequently use things like Darkness, Fog Cloud, and the like, you could just have spell list of "impose disadvantage on EVERYONE".

Hopefully you don't have a rogue in the party, or an archer, or any other casters who need to see their target (including allies who need healing). So, maybe this isn't a good idea.

Also, "see through a familiar's eyes" isn't as helpful as it sounds, because you're using your action to see, and therefore don't have the Action to cast with. I suppose you could Quicken every spell?

I agree that you basically need to work out with your DM the details of "I'm blind except not really". If you're handwaving it as "see through a familiar", are you color blind? Do you have a hard time reading expressions, because your bird is looking down from above? Do you get distracted because your familiar has spotted some mice over in the corner and is focused on them?

[Arkhios]

What you need to ask yourself is: how does a blind wizard read and prepare or cast spells from a book or scroll that isn't written in braille script. You might be able to use braille script on your own book and scrolls, but non-blind wizards etc. might have absolutely no reason to use braille script, and thus their books and scrolls would be utterly useless to you, because you can't see what's in them. And finding those is likely much more common than finding texts written in braille.

Real world logic aside, one possibility for a "cool blindness" is to have some unique ability that lets you "see" by other means, constantly, in a way that it's the natural way for you. For example, think of how Neo (from Matrix) actually sees the world in a very weird way even though his eyes were literally burnt only moments before. Weave, at least in Forgotten Realms, is literally everywhere, and it could be reasoned that a seemingly blind wizard could see the surrounding world by looking at the shapes and colors of the weave rather than the optic world we perceive. To a character like that, it would be natural way of seeing things, while to the rest of us, it would seem bizarre.

Mechanically, it shouldn't make any difference. For example, the DM could rule that everything that applies to those who see normally also apply to the one who sees the world through the Weave of Magic. Basically, the characters' blindness would be merely fluff.

[Zhorn]

Do you get distracted because your familiar has spotted some mice over in the corner and is focused on them?
I've done this in the game I DM.
Not while the player is awake. As long as they are conscious, the bond with the familiar is loyal, obedient and focused. But once the player is asleep/unconscious, the familiar behaves as it it were a regular owl. Table had a good chuckle at that the first time the player set the owl to take the night's watch in their place while they slept.
They've chosen to lean into the roleplay of it that they are unaware of their familiar just flying off and doing what it wants while the master is sleeping (still gets some snickering each time).

[Eldariel]

You can always just cast AOE spells. Web, Black Tentacles, Sleet Storm, etc. don't care about seeing. You just slam them down and your familiar can give you positional information telepathically. That restricts your spell selection a bit but it seems like it'd work just fine.

[Vogie]

Hopefully you don't have a rogue in the party, or an archer, or any other casters who need to see their target (including allies who need healing). So, maybe this isn't a good idea.

It could be, provided you plan for it. If the entire party is tied around "count on disadvantage", you can really go nuts. Attacking while hidden, use of Familiars, Reckless Attack, MM Rogue's Master of Tactics, Eldritch Knights using True Strike with War Magic. Warlocks have Devil's sight, Shadow Sorcs can see through their own darkness, Drunken Master Monks can shrug off advantage with ki, Shepherd Druids can heal things in an area with their Unicorn aura.

And remember, if there's a single target, you can just give the target disadvantage. The Blindness spell, Vicious Mockery, an Arcane Archer's Shadow Shot, keeping them prone or restrained, et cetera.

If someone shows up with a Champion/Assassin with Elvish Accuracy, they'll be sad, sure. But it could be done.

[firelistener]

I've been working on building a blind wizard since this thread popped up. One thing that seems to work rather well is having a familiar and launching touch spells like shocking grasp through it. You use the familiar's reaction to do it on your turn, can keep yourself out of melee range, and optionally stealth in with the familiar at the beginning. You can't use non-touch spells through a familiar, so it's still fairly limiting, but it does open up a few more options to get around disadvantage and sight requirements. I still think going divination wizard is the best bet for higher levels, since you can just always keep your true sight or darkvision up after level 10.

[Arkhios]

You can always just cast AOE spells. Web, Black Tentacles, Sleet Storm, etc. don't care about seeing. You just slam them down and your familiar can give you positional information telepathically. That restricts your spell selection a bit but it seems like it'd work just fine.

I'd still say that the real problem rises whether you were able to learn those spells in the first place. Being entirely blind (=can't see jack s**t) poses a real obstacle for a wizard. Even though you can just add new spells in your spellbook at each new level without having to learn them from an external source, the key is that you still add them to your spellbook, hinting that you must be able to read the spellbook somehow to prepare the spells. In other words, all spells a wizard has learned through personal research are not imprinted in their mind. They're still put in their books.

[NNescio]

I'd still say that the real problem rises whether you were able to learn those spells in the first place. Being entirely blind (=can't see jack s**t) poses a real obstacle for a wizard. Even though you can just add new spells in your spellbook at each new level without having to learn them from an external source, the key is that you still add them to your spellbook, hinting that you must be able to read the spellbook somehow to prepare the spells. In other words, all spells a wizard has learned through personal research are not imprinted in their mind. They're still put in their books.

Braille.

(Or maybe some Polybius square equivalent like Barbier's Night Writing, the forerunner to Braille.)

As for adding new spells from sighted people notes, well, use remote sensing spells, or share senses with a familiar, or get a sighted person (e.g. retainer) to help.

The main issues are with targeting requirements that require sight (e.g. "A creature you can see...", "when you see..."), which can't be trivially gotten around in combat.

Out of combat though, one can figure out a few number of ways to accommodate a blind spellcaster, using methods similar to or analogous to real-life methods. They might be anachronistic for a pseudo-medieval setting, but wizarding colleges are anachronistic too. In any case, figuring out a tactile way of encoding letters shouldn't be out of reach for a 16 INT character.

[Arkhios]

Braille.

(Or maybe some Polybius square equivalent like Barbier's Night Writing, the forerunner to Braille.)

As for adding new spells from sighted people notes, well, use remote sensing spells, or share senses with a familiar, or get a sighted person (e.g. retainer) to help.

The main issues are with targeting requirements that require sight (e.g. "A creature you can see...", "when you see..."), which can't be trivially gotten around in combat.

Out of combat though, one can figure out a few number of ways to accommodate a blind spellcaster, using methods similar to or analogous to real-life methods. They might be anachronistic for a pseudo-medieval setting, but wizarding colleges are anachronistic too. In any case, figuring out a tactile way of encoding letters shouldn't be out of reach for a 16 INT character.

Yes, Braille or its equivalent/forerunner could work. For your own research. That was kinda implied by when I said "To be able to read somehow" (and I spoke of Braille script myself in my previous post (which, apparently, has been pushed to the previous page already); meaning, I'm aware there are ways. It's just that I think it's fair to point out the issues, no matter how obvious they are).

Speaking of sharing senses with a familiar, I feel that there might be some problems in that you can only share senses with a familiar if you usean action for it. Out of combat, I think it's perfectly reasonable to be ruled to require your full concentration to keep on going. That's bound to cause a lot of distraction to the process of reading and copying a spell through the familiar's senses, and might lead to much more slower progress.
Regarding another sighted person (retainer) doesn't help much, to be honest, as the rules are quite clear about how you go through the copying process:

You must reproduce the basic form of the spell
You must decipher (=you, yourself, must understand) the unique system of notation used by the wizard who wrote it
You must practice the spell until you understand the sounds or gestures required
You then transcribe it into your spellbook using your own notation.

[Eldariel]

Familiar solves those problems rather cleany indeed. Out-of-combat it can see for you while you write (or you can use a touch script instead), in-combat it can deliver touch spells and telepathically (not an action) communicate the location of the enemy for area spells. You only skip ranged targeting spells, at least until Magic Jar, which hurts but is eminently doable. Area spells are where it is at for a Wizard anyways.

[Laserlight]

I've had a couple situations where a caster couldn't see, but wanted to cast a spell. I generally tell them "close your eyes and tell me where you want to cast it." She'll say "thirty north, ten west" or "sixty feet straight ahead of me" or something like that, and I adjudicate from there.

This has occasionally had hilarious results--hilarious for me the DM, anyway. And at least once she "accidentally" dropped a fireball on a PC, who was a romantic rival.