Blindness and Arcane Sight [Archive] - Wizards Community

Blindness and Arcane Sight [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Simian_Chaos
02-25-04, 07:38 PM Now here is an intrestring hypothetical situation.....

A character has permanant Arcane Sight and is suddenly struck blind. Can said character still "see" the magical auras? The spell reads that "you detect magical auras within your field of vision". (or something to that effect, don't have the book infront of me) Said character no longer has the ability to see, so can he still sense the auras? My instant (and impulsive) reaction is, yes he can still "see" the auras but thats all he can see.

Now to make this even worse.....

Said character wants to target a creature that he could see before he was blinded with Magic Missle. The creature has an aura (who knows why, it just does) so he knows (if he can still see the aura) where the creature is. Can he target it?

Of course all these questions are generated by a character that a friend is attempting to create. She is a blind elven sorcerer/monk. She as a unique magical staff that grants her the Blind-Fight feat and the Blindsense ability with a range of 60ft, it also grants her one minute of Blindsight (range 60ft). After her Blindsight wears off it has to "recharge" for one minute (Blindsight is taxing on the brain because it wasn't designed to function that way...except through Psionics, but we won't go there! :P). I find this concept quite intrestring and have decided to allow it (this may be a stupid thing but... i have a passion for unique characters and eagerly help my players develop such characters). I am thinking of making a thread for anyone wanting to offer advice on this concept and ways of making her work out without an extreame number of problems...

Anywho.... Thats my question (and a lot of yammering! :P) any advice?

PS if you would like more info on the blind elf send me an E-Mail with the subject of "Seska Kardis" otherwise it will be deleted
Seeker95
02-25-04, 07:44 PM Arcane sight can see things that are not in "line of sight", since it explicitly described what you can do if items are within line of sight.

If you are struck blind, the arcane sight would treat everything as if it were not in line of sight. You can detect all magic and its relative power level within range. But you cannot determine the school of magic.
Simian_Chaos
02-25-04, 08:13 PM That makes sense... So your saying that the character can still see the auras but since said character cannot see the items/creatures/effects generating these auras he cannot focus on them to determine thier school. Can he still focus on creatures to determine thier magical power? And can he target creatures/objects for pourposes of spells and attacks? Not taking into account any blind-fight/blindsense/blindsight abitilities that he may have...
Seeker95
02-25-04, 10:22 PM He cannot even determine the school, much less the actual power. He knows the relative strength and location of magic. No more.

Beyond that, all other blindness rules kick in.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Simian_Chaos 02-25-04, 07:38 PM	Now here is an intrestring hypothetical situation..... A character has permanant Arcane Sight and is suddenly struck blind. Can said character still "see" the magical auras? The spell reads that "you detect magical auras within your field of vision". (or something to that effect, don't have the book infront of me) Said character no longer has the ability to see, so can he still sense the auras? My instant (and impulsive) reaction is, yes he can still "see" the auras but thats all he can see. Now to make this even worse..... Said character wants to target a creature that he could see before he was blinded with Magic Missle. The creature has an aura (who knows why, it just does) so he knows (if he can still see the aura) where the creature is. Can he target it? Of course all these questions are generated by a character that a friend is attempting to create. She is a blind elven sorcerer/monk. She as a unique magical staff that grants her the Blind-Fight feat and the Blindsense ability with a range of 60ft, it also grants her one minute of Blindsight (range 60ft). After her Blindsight wears off it has to "recharge" for one minute (Blindsight is taxing on the brain because it wasn't designed to function that way...except through Psionics, but we won't go there! :P). I find this concept quite intrestring and have decided to allow it (this may be a stupid thing but... i have a passion for unique characters and eagerly help my players develop such characters). I am thinking of making a thread for anyone wanting to offer advice on this concept and ways of making her work out without an extreame number of problems... Anywho.... Thats my question (and a lot of yammering! :P) any advice? PS if you would like more info on the blind elf send me an E-Mail with the subject of "Seska Kardis" otherwise it will be deleted
Seeker95 02-25-04, 07:44 PM	Arcane sight can see things that are not in "line of sight", since it explicitly described what you can do if items are within line of sight. If you are struck blind, the arcane sight would treat everything as if it were not in line of sight. You can detect all magic and its relative power level within range. But you cannot determine the school of magic.
Simian_Chaos 02-25-04, 08:13 PM	That makes sense... So your saying that the character can still see the auras but since said character cannot see the items/creatures/effects generating these auras he cannot focus on them to determine thier school. Can he still focus on creatures to determine thier magical power? And can he target creatures/objects for pourposes of spells and attacks? Not taking into account any blind-fight/blindsense/blindsight abitilities that he may have...
Seeker95 02-25-04, 10:22 PM	He cannot even determine the school, much less the actual power. He knows the relative strength and location of magic. No more. Beyond that, all other blindness rules kick in.