Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Aise 01-18-08, 11:24 PM	Ok I am running a new campign and decided to reintroduce my Player's Ex-characters into the game as NPCs. One was an elf who had bad luck with his eyes. He lost one in a bet with a demon and the other was cut out by his uncle in a duel. And beacuse he's an elf and its only been a couple decades since the end of the oringal campaign, he's still alive. Now that i'm reintroducing him I've decided that having him continue to be a bow user would be stupid, instead I'm going to have him be a mostly tactician but i'm letting the Player who used to run him use him one last time in a small scale battle. However I can't figure out what his negitive modifiers should be, He is a 19th level character (never gave him that last 2000 exp for 20) so he is still a decent fighter. However he is blind but has had about 19 years since his second eye was cut out to train a little with his eyeless state and he had one eye for 21 years so he had emmense time to train to fight partly blind. I'm wondering now why I had t be such a jerk and cut both his eyes out, it just created more work for me
StevenO 01-18-08, 11:29 PM	One option is to have had someone cast regeneration or some other spell that would restore that character's eys and eyesight. If you choose to keep the character blind the rules for Blindness are in one of the core books (DMG or PHB) although I don't remember were. I'm sure there are other ways of giving the character sight with magic but given the length of time he has been blind a free "Blindfighting" feat would definitely be in order.
Aise 01-18-08, 11:31 PM	I don't want to give him magical eyes, I think, based on how the player played the character, that he would rather try to struggle through his difficulties. Thanks for the info about it being in the PHB or DMG though.
runestar 01-18-08, 11:35 PM	ToB has a stance which grants 30-ft blindsense, if you are willing to rebuild him as a warblade...:)
KyoMamoru 01-18-08, 11:43 PM	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. Seems like a pretty heavy penalty.
sblaxman 01-19-08, 12:13 AM	Seems like a pretty heavy penalty. Well, he has no eyes, so it's not THAT heavy all things considered.. I mean, if he's in a fight and can't see... then he's going to have some major penalties
Aise 01-19-08, 12:34 AM	well with blind fight then its not as bad. Plus over time it says it can get better.
kelvinaw273 01-19-08, 09:47 AM	Blind fight and a feat that allows him some blindsense to thirty feet, maybe even blindsight to five feet would compensate adequately. His main problem is then not actually fighting, it's judging where objects are.
NightHawkFalconis 01-19-08, 04:28 PM	I don't really see why a level-19 wouldn't shell out a paltry 910 gold to get his eyes grown back (or at least one, if the deal with the demon magically prevents its regrowth), but it's your game, your call. A slightly more expensive option is the Blindfold of True Darkness, in the MIC for 9000 gp. Alternatively, there are a couple of feats that lessen the penalties for being blind, in addition to Blind-Fight. Hear the Unseen from the Complete Adventurer might actually let him keep some of his potency as an archer, at least within 30 feet. And if you allow the required move action to be reduced to a free action with Quick Reconnoiter, then he'll almost be up to snuff (except for a 25% miss chance). I'd still shell out the 910 gold, personally XD
Aise 01-20-08, 01:10 AM	Well its like this, he was very...moral, and all for "over comming difficulties."
CryoSilver 01-20-08, 02:57 AM	With Regeneration, he has "overcome" being blind, hasn't he? Elves don't live to be 700 years old by being dumb and not availing themselves of what's there to help them. Do you think a cancer patient who is all about "overcoming difficulty" wouldn't still take a Remove Disease spell? Same thing, basically.
kelvinaw273 01-20-08, 03:42 AM	Well its like this, he was very...moral, and all for "over comming difficulties." Does he refuse all forms of magical healing, then? If not, why just this one? When I helped create a blind character, she wasn't conventionally blind, her vision had been permanently shifted to the ethereal plane so normal spells would not assist her.
sblaxman 01-20-08, 11:19 AM	If he doesn't want to be healed magically, then just deal with it how he wants to deal with it, don't try to force anything on him. The penalties are workable, and with a few feats are negligable. You could build in a large quest chain for him to gain a magic item that will give him some benefit (blindsense or something), or if he wants, a quest to please his god to have one or both eyes restored, if he feels he should earn it
Aise 01-20-08, 01:24 PM	Remember this isn't my NPC its a PC's character and its his personality that runs the character. I'm not going to force his character to have magical eyes. Although he does have a cool Corsair's Eye Patch that should allow him to see from one eye. I forgot about that.
sblaxman 01-20-08, 02:59 PM	Glad to hear that, I'd just play it out and see if he has any ideas on how he'd like it to end up... if he WANTS to play a blind character, of if he wants to be healed at some point, figure out how to do it a way his character would like
Orenmir 01-21-08, 12:55 AM	I like the idea of a blind adventurer. Kinda reminds me of the movie Blind Fury with Rutger Hauer. If a character has been blind for that long, he should have some bonuses that balance out all the penalties from being blind, such as: +6 Listen +2 Wisdom Scent Earth Sense ...Just some ideas to play around with. You get the idea.
LeeAlucard 01-21-08, 01:31 AM	Along the lines of what Orenmir said... His other senses are most likely to be enhanced from the lack of sight, but I'd hate to see the penalty to Spot checks that a blind PC would get. :P
sblaxman 01-21-08, 03:11 PM	Zatoichi... check that samurai series out... awesome stuff (the blind swordsman series)
wrecan 01-21-08, 04:09 PM	Check out The Blind PCs Association thread. For your convenience, I am reposting my contribution to the thread (#39) below. Most of my post are simply consolidating the rules on blindness in a single location. Then I offer some house rule Feats and Skill Tricks. Wrecan's Blind Character Rules Sight-based Skills. You automatically fail all Skill Checks involving Decipher Script, Disguise, Forgery or Spot, as well as Spellcraft or Use Magic Device when used on scrolls, books or other items that rely on writing. Sight-related Skills. You suffer a -4 penalty to all Skill checks except Knowledge, Listen, Move Silently, Perform and any Craft or Profession that doesn't involve sight in any way. Didn't See It Coming. You are always denied Dex bonuses to AC and suffer a -2 penalty to AC above that. Movement. You move at half-speed, unless you are in a place you know intimately. With the Accelerated Movement rule for Balance, you can move at full speed if you roll a Balance check of DC 15, not inc'g the usual -4 penalty on Balance and not including surface or other modifiers. A failure by 4 or less means you can’t move for 1 round. A failure by 5 or more means you fall. You cannot take 10 on this roll. Inoffensive. You have a 50% miss chance whenever you attack a foe, assuming you can discern the square in which they are. All your foes always have total concealment with respect to your actions. Listen-Dependent. To discern the location of a foe, you must always (as in, every time you take an action with respect to that foe, even if that is multiple actions in the same round) roll a Listen check against the DC for hearing the person, at a -20 penalty (per the description of the invisibility ability). Illiterate. You cannot take any levels in a class that depends on writing, such as Wizard. Immunity. You are immune to gaze attacks and effects that rely entirely on light or vision as if you had total concealment, including Explosive Runes, but not Symbol. Guide Animal. An animal can be trained to serve as a guide animal. "Guide" is a trick under the Handle Animal Skill rules. This allows the blind person to use verbal commands to get the animal to guide the person. The DC to teach this trick is 15 (and blind people suffer the -4 penalty during training). The DC for getting the animal to guide is the standard DC 10, and the blind person does not suffer the standard -4 skill check penalty. Guided blind people do not suffer half movement, but they must share the same square as their animal at all times, whether mounted on the animal, or squeezed in the animal's space. The trained animal cannot not be more than one size category larger or smaller than the blind person. Braille. Braille may be taken as a bonus language. However, few people can read Braille, even blind people. It can be deciphered like any other language, and no known scrolls or spells are written in Braille. Commissioning a sighted person (or a blind person using spells like Clairvoyance) to make braille spellbooks, scrolls and books should incur an increased price as if commissioning any writing in a rare language. Magic Assistance for the Sight-Impaired. Some spells can ameliorate the effects of blindness, including clairvoyance. While such spells are active, all check penalties for blindness are halved, the character may use any Skill (even those relying on sight) and the character is no longer flatfooted due to blindness. The character, however, is subject to gaze attacks and attacks relying on light and vision. Most blind characters will try to overcome these penalties with the Blind-Fighting Feat and by loading up on Listen. I would also allow the following customized feats (or, alternately, Skill Tricks (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20070105a&page=5)): Blind Combat: (Prerequisite Blind Fighting as Feat, or Balance and Tumble 5 ranks). If you roll a successful Listen check to discern the location of a foe, you are no longer denied Dexterity bonuses to AC or the additional -2 penalty as to attacks from that foe (until he moves and a subsequent Listen check fails). (Sighted characters gain this benefit against invisible foes, while in darkness and against characters who are concealed.) Blind Skill: (Prerequisite Skill Focus as Feat or Sleight of Hand 5 ranks as Skill Trick). You no longer suffer the -4 penalty when performing this skill blind. If the blindness is cured, you gain no benefits and the Feat slot remains occupied (just in case you ever subsequently blinded). The Feat applies to a single skill in which the character has SKill Focus, and each time it is taken it applied, it must be assigned to a different Skill. Echolocate: (Prerequisite Skill Focus (Listen) as Feat, or Listen 8 ranks as Skill Trick). +10 bonus to Listen checks to discern the square in which target is located (effectively halving the penalty). Sighted people can also use this for finding invisible and concealed creatures. Steady Shuffle: (no prerequisite for Feat, Tumble and Jump 5 ranks as Skill Trick) You no longer suffer the -4 penalty to your Balance check when using the Accelerated Movement tactic. Sighted people gain the very same benefit for treacherous terrain.
wrecan 01-21-08, 04:14 PM	As a short answer to your question... When fighting blind, all of your foes are invisible to you all of the time. Your archer would need some way to discern what square a person is in when he shoots his arrow and he still incurs a 50% miss chance.