How to see without eyes?

[Greywander]

Let's say someone didn't have any eyes. What are some methods they could use to see? Find Familiar immediately comes to mind, but I'm curious what other options there are.

Addendum question: Can blindsight be used to read?

[Safety Sword]

I always think of blindsight as echo location. It would have to be sensitive to the point of being overwhelming to read text on a page.

The obvious answer is magic though, right?

Other ways:
Heat/radiation emission
Force field (imagine you could project a 'grid' forward and interpret interruptions as objects etc.)
Magnetic fields (beware anything not containing ferro-magnetics)
Optical/UV interferometry
Telepathy (creatures only)

I'll go back to my other point though. Just call all of the above "magic" and move on with your life.

[Bundin]

Blindsight is 'perceiving with other senses', so reading would not be an option if I were DM. Hearing, echolocation, tremorsense, whatever can be used to pinpoint the location of things. If letters can be clearly felt in sufficient detail (thick ink/paint on surface, chiseled out) then sure, otherwise I'd rule it's too reliant on vision alone. And I'd not expect a recently blinded person to be able to 'read by touch' just like that.

[Aidamis]

I'm writing a novel where every magic user has a "signature", a sort of unique flame/light inside of them that defines them as a student of the arcane.

A character is blind since the age of three, and trained themselves in every way imaginable to better perceive this signature, even when one tries to hide it. Since it is "located" near the heart, the character became able to stand up to other mages even in a duel by having a much better idea of where to shoot at.

You can try to work with your GM to create something similar to this. A Paladin's Divine Sense does not require sight. Maybe it is possible to create an "Arcane Sense" that could supplement the aforementioned blindsight, echolocation etc.

And/or create something cool like "every time my Shadow Monk uses Darkness, they know the location and movements of every creature trapped inside". This plays well into a "power through training" Daredevil theme.

[nickl_2000]

Let's say someone didn't have any eyes. What are some methods they could use to see? Find Familiar immediately comes to mind, but I'm curious what other options there are.

Addendum question: Can blindsight be used to read?

I might allow blindsight to be used to read a carving on a stone wall, since it would have depth to it. However, I am not sure how/when they would have learned to read if this was the case.

For normal writing on paper, no way would it work.

[Theaitetos]

The warlock's invocation Gaze of Two Minds can be used on any willing humanoid, giving you their senses for one turn (requires channeling action to keep connection active).

Similar is the Beast Sense spell (ritual), or Clairvoyance, Telepathy. Maybe Foresight and Scrying would work a little.

The wizard spell Arcane Eye mentally transmits visual information (including darkvision) within 30ft. Can be moved as far away as desired (30ft movement per action), but requires concentration.

Detect Thoughts allows you to detect thinking creatures (INT>3, one language) within 30ft.

Polymorph spells can give you the creature's senses.

Magic Jar would allow you to possess a body of someone else.

[Greywander]

Before getting into replies, the context is a druidic ritual that turns someone into a petrified skeleton (mix of necromancy and elemental magic). (It's my latest homebrew project that no one asked for.) In contrast to other depictions of skeletons, I decided that the loss of their eyes actually does result in blindness, but this is balanced out by (as of now) blindsight out to 10 feet and tremorsense out to 120 feet. They have very good hearing, so I might frame the blindsight as echolocation.

Some of the replies have some good advice, but don't end up being relevant due to the specific context. So sorry about that, I should have been more specific in the OP.


The obvious answer is magic though, right?

Other ways:
This isn't quite what I'm looking for, but these would be good options in other contexts. I was looking for something within the rules. So yeah, probably magic.


Blindsight is 'perceiving with other senses', so reading would not be an option if I were DM. Hearing, echolocation, tremorsense, whatever can be used to pinpoint the location of things. If letters can be clearly felt in sufficient detail (thick ink/paint on surface, chiseled out) then sure, otherwise I'd rule it's too reliant on vision alone. And I'd not expect a recently blinded person to be able to 'read by touch' just like that.
Yeah, it seems like reading, and possibly writing as well, will require finding a way to gain regular vision. Something like Braille would work, but most books wouldn't be written in Braille. Find Familiar would probably be almost mandatory for wizards who need to be able to read in order to copy spells.


You can try to work with your GM to create something similar to this.
This would be good stuff for someone playing a blind character in a campaign, but doesn't really apply in this context (which I should have been more specific in the OP). Since this is just homebrew I'm writing up and not trying to use in a game, GM approval isn't a factor, and I've already given them blindsight and tremorsense. I was thinking that it would probably still be useful to have regular vision sometimes (especially for reading), and was wondering what methods could be used for this, e.g. what spells or class features would do this.


I might allow blindsight to be used to read a carving on a stone wall, since it would have depth to it. However, I am not sure how/when they would have learned to read if this was the case.

For normal writing on paper, no way would it work.
In this context, they learn to read before undertaking the ritual, but this would be relevant to a character who was born blind (or went through the ritual before learning to read). But yeah, carvings might be readable, but ink on a page most likely not. RIP stony bony wizard bois.


The warlock's invocation Gaze of Two Minds can be used on any willing humanoid, giving you their senses for one turn (requires channeling action to keep connection active).

Similar is the Beast Sense spell (ritual), or Clairvoyance, Telepathy. Maybe Foresight and Scrying would work a little.

The wizard spell Arcane Eye mentally transmits visual information (including darkvision) within 30ft. Can be moved as far away as desired (30ft movement per action), but requires concentration.

Detect Thoughts allows you to detect thinking creatures (INT>3, one language) within 30ft.

Polymorph spells can give you the creature's senses.

Magic Jar would allow you to possess a body of someone else.
This is more what I was looking for. Though everyone else still gave excellent options based on the (lack of) context in the OP!

Find Familiar still seems like the easiest and most accessible method. However, I'm wondering if the necessity of using an action every round to maintain it precludes doing any other tasks (since anything that requires an ability check typically uses an action). Like, could you write something down while seeing through your familiar's eyes? This would also apply to Gaze of Two Minds, since that also requires an action every round. I see warlocks being a popular option, especially chainlocks (particular since these folks also have difficulty with speech, which Voice of the Chain Master addresses).

Since this is a druidic ritual, it makes sense that at least some of the folks undergoing this ritual would be druids. In which case, Wild Shape should also work.

I'm still not sure if this thing will be intended more for NPCs or PCs, but I think it would be interesting for a PC. Tremorsense is pretty strong, but being blind beyond 120 feet is quite debilitating, so it balances out. Trying to find ways to work around it or work with it should be fun.

[Safety Sword]

With the extra context of it being a druidic/necromancy ritual I would offer the following:

Within the skeleton/necromancy boundary... I think you have given it a good set of abilities.

Tremorsense seems apt due to the petrification business. Stones and the ground and all that. Flying enemies are going to be an issue there.

Since you have the elemental part of your ritual you could cover the blindsense and being a static electric field. Basically an aura that you can track/detect movement in it due to the electric field being interrupted. Bonus points for it being a pale blue glow that lights the area (that you of course can't see as the skeleton).

You could of course base this on any other element too. It could be a cold aura that you detect heat in, hot aura you detect cooler things in, etc. Or make it switchable even! Not sure how acid or poison would help you detect things, but maybe they could get these auras for the cost of being blind?

[Temperjoke]

One thing to consider is how the ritual itself works. You mentioned it was a druidic-based ritual, well there are a lot of plants that have demonstrated a blindsight-esque awareness of their environment, maybe there's a sort of symbiotic arrangement going on inside the bones and skull of the skeleton?

[Bobthewizard]

There's a blind fighting style in the new UA class variants that would mechanically work in combat if that's all you want. Reading is harder though.

[dragoeniex]

For reading, I would ask the DM about Comprehend Languages. The 1st lv ritual lets you understand any language you hear or read the literal meaning of texts you see so long as you're touching the surface.

A small tweak removing the sight requirement for a character who has pursued this spell as a means of study seems harmless. Keeping the touch element and treating it like magical Braille- requiring the user to run their fingers over the glyphs as they read- is a great mental image. It also takes time (or a slot) and contact, so it's still an effort for the character.

[col_impact]

According to the rules a creature with blindsight can read, as they are able to perceive their surroundings without relying on sight to a specified radius. There is no mention of any further limitatons on that perception so reading is completely allowed by the rules.

[J-H]

A Warlock with Pact of the Chain and Voice of the Chain Master can perceive through his familiar's senses as long as they are on the same plane of existence. No mention of an action cost is required, so the warlock can act based on what his familiar sees.

It's probably too fiddly to work, but you could make a blind warlock who can fight this way, with his invisible familiar spotting for him. Downside: Familiars are squishy and subject to AOEs.

[col_impact]

A Warlock with Pact of the Chain and Voice of the Chain Master can perceive through his familiar's senses as long as they are on the same plane of existence. No mention of an action cost is required, so the warlock can act based on what his familiar sees.

It's probably too fiddly to work, but you could make a blind warlock who can fight this way, with his invisible familiar spotting for him. Downside: Familiars are squishy and subject to AOEs.

This is not correct. You get the familiar through the Find Familiar and that spell specifies an action cost for using the familiar's senses. The Voice of the Chain Master removes the distance requirement.

[moonfly7]

I've long since considered playing a blind warlock who "sees" via a constant casting of detect magic. It only works on magical things of course, but at higher levels it would help quite a bit.

[Fable Wright]

The thing about Find Familiar and Gaze of Two Minds is that they require your constant, active focus. You must burn an action every round to maintain it.

Beast Sense? Beast Sense is on until it's turned off, and is a Druidic spell. If you have a spider living in your skull, for example, you could borrow its eyes, and it's unlikely to migrate away as long as you take care of it. It gets my vote for what to use to replace normal eyeballs.

[Spiritchaser]

Let's say someone didn't have any eyes. What are some methods they could use to see? Find Familiar immediately comes to mind, but I'm curious what other options there are.

Addendum question: Can blindsight be used to read?

I would personally allow a character to “see” if they made a pact with an otherworldly entity... and they’d get to see through magical darkness as part of the deal. Restored vision would seem to be just exactly the sort of boon that those poor sightless creatures might make almost any deal for.

As for reading with blindsight, as far as I can tell, raw does not in any way forbid it, and since the details of the senses which constitute blindsight are left open to DM imagination, I’d guess the answer would vary from table to table. I think on balance the book more likely allows it than not, but I wouldn’t. I break blindsense into either echolocation or thermal imaging. If it’s a mammal, or kind of mammal-like or has big ears it gets echo location. If it’s a reptile, or reptilian it gets thermal imaging. If it’s neither, I’ll guess which fits best, and no, I probably have not been perfectly consistent with this.

[Blood of Gaea]

Certian magic items, like the Robe of Eyes.

[col_impact]

I would personally allow a character to “see” if they made a pact with an otherworldly entity... and they’d get to see through magical darkness as part of the deal. Restored vision would seem to be just exactly the sort of boon that those poor sightless creatures might make almost any deal for.

As for reading with blindsight, as far as I can tell, raw does not in any way forbid it, and since the details of the senses which constitute blindsight are left open to DM imagination, I’d guess the answer would vary from table to table. I think on balance the book more likely allows it than not, but I wouldn’t. I break blindsense into either echolocation or thermal imaging. If it’s a mammal, or kind of mammal-like or has big ears it gets echo location. If it’s a reptile, or reptilian it gets thermal imaging. If it’s neither, I’ll guess which fits best, and no, I probably have not been perfectly consistent with this.

It's perfectly acceptable for you to homebrew additional rules beyond what is in the book, but based on the rules as they are, a creature with blindsight can read.

[Greywander]

Tremorsense seems apt due to the petrification business. Stones and the ground and all that.
Yup! Tremorsense is pretty strong, since you can "see" through walls and such, and invisibility is moot. It's balanced out by being otherwise blind, and is quite thematic. You'd be strong in some circumstances and weak in others. Speaking of...


Flying enemies are going to be an issue there.
Yup. It's part of the trade-off. Presumably you can still locate them via hearing, but you'd still have disadvantage on attack rolls. There's also this:

There's a blind fighting style in the new UA class variants that would mechanically work in combat if that's all you want.
It's still up for debate how far away a creature has to be before you're unable to pinpoint their position, but as long as the DM is favorable then you could still do quite well against flying enemies. Acid Splash is also an option, since it doesn't require sight and doesn't use an attack roll.


Since you have the elemental part of your ritual you could cover the blindsense and being a static electric field. Basically an aura that you can track/detect movement in it due to the electric field being interrupted. Bonus points for it being a pale blue glow that lights the area (that you of course can't see as the skeleton).
Maybe a magnetic field, rather than an electric field, as I tend to associate electricity with air, and magnetism with earth, and this is earth elemental magic. As for glowing blue, that might be kind of awkward considering one of the uses for the ritual is to create guardians for things/locations. When you stroll into the sacred temple and notice that some of the statues are glowing blue, you're going to know something is up.


You could of course base this on any other element too. It could be a cold aura that you detect heat in, hot aura you detect cooler things in, etc. Or make it switchable even! Not sure how acid or poison would help you detect things, but maybe they could get these auras for the cost of being blind?
I've thought about expanding this to make one for each element, but I'm not sure how I'd handle that. Would they all be undead, or only the earth elemental one? I specifically went with undead for the earth one because earth as an element does have an association with death and the underworld. The water one might be plant-based, for example, or ooze-based.


One thing to consider is how the ritual itself works. You mentioned it was a druidic-based ritual, well there are a lot of plants that have demonstrated a blindsight-esque awareness of their environment, maybe there's a sort of symbiotic arrangement going on inside the bones and skull of the skeleton?
Could be! Though I see freshly created skellies as being clean, while the really ancient ones that have been in a meditative trance for hundreds of years have gathered some moss and might have animals nesting in them.


For reading, I would ask the DM about Comprehend Languages. The 1st lv ritual lets you understand any language you hear or read the literal meaning of texts you see so long as you're touching the surface.

A small tweak removing the sight requirement for a character who has pursued this spell as a means of study seems harmless. Keeping the touch element and treating it like magical Braille- requiring the user to run their fingers over the glyphs as they read- is a great mental image. It also takes time (or a slot) and contact, so it's still an effort for the character.
Interesting, I like this! It's a bit of a buff to regular spellcasters, since they can now use it to, say, read in the dark, but Comprehend Languages was already a pretty situational spell to begin with. How often are you going to be in a situation where you can take the time to cast the ritual, but can't light a torch? And if you're burning a spell slot for it, then being able to read in the dark is probably not too strong.


According to the rules a creature with blindsight can read, as they are able to perceive their surroundings without relying on sight to a specified radius. There is no mention of any further limitatons on that perception so reading is completely allowed by the rules.
Yeah, this is one of the problems I have with blindsight. Lots of creatures have it with absolutely no explanation for what it is or how it works. I think it's dependent on me to decide whether or not they can read using blindsight, but by default it seems like blindsight allows it. If it's sound or magnetic based, then probably you can't read with it.


I've long since considered playing a blind warlock who "sees" via a constant casting of detect magic. It only works on magical things of course, but at higher levels it would help quite a bit.
This seems like a niche use, but creative nontheless. I'll bet Detect Evil and Good and other Detect spells would work similarly.

That's a really flavorful sounding concept, too. A character who is blind to everything, but can see magic. If I were your DM, I'd allow you to not have to concentrate on Detect Magic and just have it always on.


The thing about Find Familiar and Gaze of Two Minds is that they require your constant, active focus. You must burn an action every round to maintain it.

Beast Sense? Beast Sense is on until it's turned off, and is a Druidic spell. If you have a spider living in your skull, for example, you could borrow its eyes, and it's unlikely to migrate away as long as you take care of it. It gets my vote for what to use to replace normal eyeballs.
I like this one, too. Get yourself a pet to live in your skull and look out your eye sockets.


I would personally allow a character to “see” if they made a pact with an otherworldly entity... and they’d get to see through magical darkness as part of the deal. Restored vision would seem to be just exactly the sort of boon that those poor sightless creatures might make almost any deal for.
From a strict reading, Devil's Sight only lets you see in darkness, not dim or bright light. But it does let you see. I'd probably be fine allowing it to let you see in dim and bright light, but it could also be interesting if it only let you see in darkness. Maybe reverse the obscurity levels based on light levels, so darkness is like bright light and bright light is like darkness.


Certian magic items, like the Robe of Eyes.
Yes, that would be quite effective. Worth an attunement slot? Maybe for you it would be.

Thank you everyone for the excellent replies so far.

[col_impact]

Yeah, this is one of the problems I have with blindsight. Lots of creatures have it with absolutely no explanation for what it is or how it works. I think it's dependent on me to decide whether or not they can read using blindsight, but by default it seems like blindsight allows it. If it's sound or magnetic based, then probably you can't read with it.


The problem is you are trying to apply a sense of real world physics to a game that is an abstraction. In DnD the rules do what they say they do. Creatures with blindsight can read because the rules say they can. They can perceive their surroundings without using their eyes.

But again if its just you and your buds and you want to add homebrew, go for it. For myself, I try to go for zero homebrew so there is consistency with other tables which avoid homebrew. For league gaming, homebrew is a bad thing. League game play benefits a lot from a consistent playing field. If you are DMing for league play then I suggest sticking to the rules as written or as FAQed by the league.

[Spiritchaser]

From a strict reading, Devil's Sight only lets you see in darkness, not dim or bright light. But it does let you see. I'd probably be fine allowing it to let you see in dim and bright light, but it could also be interesting if it only let you see in darkness. Maybe reverse the obscurity levels based on light levels

This could actually be a lot of fun. I don’t see it coming up much, as I don’t see any players in my groups who’d be up for it, but very cool nonetheless.

It might get tiresome though. Maybe for a one shot...

[moonfly7]

Ersatz eye. Put out your eye, plug in one of these bad boys, you now have at least one functioning eye hole.

[Anderlith]

A creature could “see” by specialized heat sensors in their tongue

[Greywander]

The problem is you are trying to apply a sense of real world physics to a game that is an abstraction. In DnD the rules do what they say they do. Creatures with blindsight can read because the rules say they can. They can perceive their surroundings without using their eyes.
Well, I think the rules for blindsight are a bit intentionally vague. It's almost entirely NPC-exclusive, though there are a few ways PCs can get access to it (familiar with blindsight, half-dragon template). As such, it's almost entirely a non-issue. How often is it going to matter whether or not the dragon can use their blindsight to read in pitch blackness? Probably never. Encounters are often one-and-done, the dragon basically doesn't exist until the party walks into its lair and fights it, and then ceases to exist afterwards. Even recurring characters mostly don't exist while "off screen". But blindsight on a PC means that issues like this are going to come up a lot more often, and players are often more creative in abusing the rules than the DM is.

All this to say that the rules for blindsight are likely intentionally kept simple because there's little to be gained by making them more complex. Vagueness implies it probably works exactly like normal vision and would allow someone to read, though DM fiat can always overrule that (example: the rules don't prevent bats from reading or seeing color using their blindsight, even though they probably should). I, as the designer of this bit of homebrew, have the ability to say, "blindsight, but with these restrictions". Echolocation is one example of this being used on NPC creatures. Darkvision is a similar example, as it almost always prevents seeing colors in darkness, but wouldn't need to.

I think the main issue with blindsight is that it's trying to cover too many possible senses, each of which functions differently. Since the end result is similar, it's probably not worth splitting it into different senses, but I could see including a parenthetical label describing the source/method used for blindsight, along with a short description of each method and its limitations. Something like the following:

Echolocation. You create sounds and use the return echo to map your surroundings. You can't perceive colors using your blindsight. You can't use your blindsight while deafened.

Electrolocation. You create an electric field and detect the disturbances of things moving through the field. You can't perceive textures using your blindsight. You can't use your blindsight near an electromagnetic disturbance, and your blindsight has only half the range when outside of water (or other electrically conductive substance).
Your electrolocation also allows you to sense direction through the plane's magnetic field, if it has one.

Magical. You are magically aware of your surroundings, as if you could see them with your eyes. You can't use your blindsight while inside an anti-magic field.

Supernatural. You are supernaturally aware of your surroundings, as if you could see them with your eyes. (I.e. "vanilla" blindsight.)

Then any time a creature has blindsight, it would be labeled something like "blindsight (echolocation)" or "blindsight (magical)".