Flanking and Blindness

[Max Caysey]

So something came up at tonight's gaming session, in which we were not sure how to handle. So I wanted to check with the forum denominator if we handled it correctly in the end.

Simply question really: Can two characters flank an enemy, if one of the characters doing the flanking is blind?

We ended up saying no, because we believed a blind character does not "threaten" an enemy, but can only attack a square. However, we could not find any hard rule explicitly stating this. So, I thought I would ask here.

Our reasoning behind that decision came from the concealment rules, which states that "If you have line of effect to a target but not line of sight he is considered to have total concealment from you. You can’t attack an opponent that has total concealment, though you can attack into a square that you think he occupies."

We believe its the same mechanics when one is blinded, ergo no flanking, but we were not 100% sure.

Any help clearing this up would be great!

Cheers!

[Eldonauran]

Threatened Squares

You threaten all squares into which you can make a melee attack, even when it is not your action. ...

Total Concealment

If you have line of effect to a target but not line of sight he is considered to have total concealment from you. You can’t attack an opponent that has total concealment, though you can attack into a square that you think he occupies. A successful attack into a square occupied by an enemy with total concealment has a 50% miss chance (instead of the normal 20% miss chance for an opponent with concealment).

You can’t execute an attack of opportunity against an opponent with total concealment, even if you know what square or squares the opponent occupies.

Since threatening is directly tied to attacks of opportunity, and you can't make attacks of opportunity against a creature with total concealment, logically you can't provide a flanking bonus.

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.

Your decision was correct.

[Psyren]

Above is correct - by default, blind creatures don't threaten squares (since those squares have total concealment relative to them), and therefore cannot flank.

With that said though, depending on how long the character has been blind, you could rule that this is one of the "drawbacks they've overcome."

[Max Caysey]

Thank you both for your answers... I'm glad we got i right!

Cheers!

[Fouredged Sword]

You could also read it as the character being attacked counting as flanked... only when the blind character is taking their turn. You do not threaten any spaces and cannot take attacks of opportunity, but you DO have the ability to attack that space on your turn. This even makes rules sense because even if you cannot see the target they still need to avoid the weapon you are waving at them as well as the not blind person also threatening them.

But as soon as the blind person stops swinging they are not a threat.

[liquidformat]

Does the blind character have blindsight? If they do then they flank and threaten squares as normal.