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View Full Version : Player Question: Assumed-Blindness



Lavin
2007-10-17, 10:30 PM
"The night surrounded him, and he felt the sweat drip off his forehead and absorb into his blinder. He was sure he had heard it. The sound of an aproaching hobgoblin. He stood up and alerted his party of the impending danger. They hadn't heard the sound, but they took his word as though it was scripture, and gave him flanking protection. Removing his blindfold, his eyes adjusted to the night, and he was able to see a figure that nobody else could see. He nocked an arrow in his bow and fired a single, masterful shot, killing the hobgoblin in one fell swoop."

One of my players has posed an interesting idea for his character. He wants his character to have full vision, but wear a blindfold over his eyes as a personal statement to the outside world.

This sounds interesting, and poses some intersting theoretical, possible homebrew ideas.

For example, while wearing his blind, his hearing, smell, touch and taste would be improved, providing that the blind was worn for a certain period of time. Obviously, spot checks are out while he's wearing it, but that leads me to pose the next part of the idea.

His sight would actually improve, even during night, provided he takes the blind off, due to an increase in chemicals in the eye that allow a person to see clearer even in near-darkness. Total darkness eliminates all sight.

So the fluff has been handled, what about the crunch? It sounds good theoretically, but what would be the advantages and disadvantages (bonuses and penalties) of wearing a blindfold? Speculate away!

TheLogman
2007-10-17, 11:45 PM
+3 to Survival, Listen, and maybe Track by Scent? I dunno how to handle the night thing though.

Icewalker
2007-10-18, 12:27 AM
Sounds like an awesome idea. For the rest, I'd say low-light vision and a bonus to spot checks when the blind is off.

Spectre3541
2007-10-18, 12:32 AM
I ran a blind monk once. The fluff was about the same except that he was born blind. However, the crunch went like this:

- he had a +10 on listen checks
- Automatically fail all spot checks
- could not sense anything past 30' therefore had a 50% miss chance with any thrown or projectile weapons.
- he took 2x damage from sonic effects and if he was deafened he was considered flat-footed.
- He ignored partial cover within 30' but could not sense something that had total cover.
- He ignored invisibility within 30' (basically blindsight out to 30')

All of this came with the fact that he was ALWAYS blind. He was an elf so he had been training for over a hundred years. but thats how we ran it. hope that helped.

davwalp
2007-10-18, 10:44 AM
Blind Fighting feat and Blind Sense ability while blindfolded.

If give a boost to Listen checks then extra susceptible to sonic attack as a balance.

Low Light Vision if blindfold is removed in darkness. Some sort of extreme penalty to Spot if blindfold removed in daylight or bright light.

Also, I would think that unexpected exposure to bright light (i.e. an opponent rips off his blindfold) would probably Daze him for a round or two.

Tracking by scent is a neat idea although I would't also give bonus survival ranks.

StickMan
2007-10-18, 10:53 AM
Blind Fighting feat and Blind Sense ability while blindfolded.

If give a boost to Listen checks then extra susceptible to sonic attack as a balance.

Low Light Vision if blindfold is removed in darkness. Some sort of extreme penalty to Spot if blindfold removed in daylight or bright light.

Also, I would think that unexpected exposure to bright light (i.e. an opponent rips off his blindfold) would probably Daze him for a round or two.

Tracking by scent is a neat idea although I would't also give bonus survival ranks.

I think that would be very good for what you want. You may want to add light sensitivity like a orc, if he is gaining low light vision at night.

Alex12
2007-10-18, 04:28 PM
when he takes the blindfold off, give him low-light vision for, say, 3 rounds. During that time, if exposed to full light (like a daylight spell or similar) he is dazzled.