| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Neo2151 |
Posted - 01 Jun 2005 : 08:03:21
Well met!
I've just brought life to a new druid in the realms, however, he is blind and I'm looking for advice on playing a character with no vision. If anyone see's fit, I'd truly appreciate any advice any of ye could give.
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| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Xysma |
Posted - 02 Jun 2005 : 16:43:42
quote:
Originally posted by Neo2151
My thanks Bookwyrm, I'll take it all to heart. However, I think i'll fill in a little of his story for a better understanding of this druid. Skye hasn't always been blind, in fact it was just three days ago (in game) that he lost his sight. I'm using him to open up a large adventure i've set up for my group after they get about oh, 13 or 14 more levels.  What happened is a small group of powerful demons attacked the druid circle that Skye lived as part of. All were slain except for him, and the horned demon that let him live did so only to see him suffer all the more. What the demon did however, was literally poke Skye's eyes from his head as he cast a spell to steal a bit of my soul. So when I had the group find me, bloody and torn, and take me back to town, the head cleric of the church couldn't regenerate my eyes. Apparently the only way that will happen is with the death of the demon, the small portion of my soul is freed and the spell can be cast successfully.
Also, I haven't decided on what my animal companion should be. I've pretty much decided either an owl, hawk, or wolf (owl for their night vision, hawk for their day vision, or wolf for their scent) and was looking for opinions on that as well. The only stipulation I have against the owl is that I don't want to feel like i'm playing out Montolio, albeit as a different class.
As far as feats go, I've already got Blindfight and Hear the Unseen (Complete Adventurer), and I plan to take Blindsight at level nine (my first feat after I can get my wis to 19). There's another feat I can't remember the name of that allows me to make a spot and/or listen check as a free action once a round. Something i'll be looking for though is a feat to improve the range of my Blindsight once I have it. I'm pretty sure i've seen a feat like that somewhere but I can't find it for the life of me, so if anyone knows if there is such a feat and where it's at, I'd really appreciate knowing.
Thanks All
Tal
Have you considered any magical items to help you cope with your vision loss? I know there is a Blindfold of True Darkness, market price is around 8,000 gp, it's in Arms and Equipment Guide, it provides 60' blindsight if I'm not mistaken. Also, the "seeking" special ability could be applied to ranged weapons your character uses.
Also, since your character is a druid, depending on what wild shapes you can take, you could possibly have access to a Wild feat that would grant you tremorsense. I'm not certain that there is a "termorsense" feat, but the trend with Wild feats is generally, if you can take the form of a creature with an extraordinary ability, you could take a feat to retain that ability when not in that form. You should check Masters of the Wild, but I'm pretty sure if you can take dire bat form, you can take a feat that grants you blindsight. Also some wolf form (probably dire) gives you access to scent as a feat, which would be a boon for your character. |
| Neo2151 |
Posted - 01 Jun 2005 : 19:43:43
My thanks Bookwyrm, I'll take it all to heart. However, I think i'll fill in a little of his story for a better understanding of this druid. Skye hasn't always been blind, in fact it was just three days ago (in game) that he lost his sight. I'm using him to open up a large adventure i've set up for my group after they get about oh, 13 or 14 more levels. What happened is a small group of powerful demons attacked the druid circle that Skye lived as part of. All were slain except for him, and the horned demon that let him live did so only to see him suffer all the more. What the demon did however, was literally poke Skye's eyes from his head as he cast a spell to steal a bit of my soul. So when I had the group find me, bloody and torn, and take me back to town, the head cleric of the church couldn't regenerate my eyes. Apparently the only way that will happen is with the death of the demon, the small portion of my soul is freed and the spell can be cast successfully.
Also, I haven't decided on what my animal companion should be. I've pretty much decided either an owl, hawk, or wolf (owl for their night vision, hawk for their day vision, or wolf for their scent) and was looking for opinions on that as well. The only stipulation I have against the owl is that I don't want to feel like i'm playing out Montolio, albeit as a different class.
As far as feats go, I've already got Blindfight and Hear the Unseen (Complete Adventurer), and I plan to take Blindsight at level nine (my first feat after I can get my wis to 19). There's another feat I can't remember the name of that allows me to make a spot and/or listen check as a free action once a round. Something i'll be looking for though is a feat to improve the range of my Blindsight once I have it. I'm pretty sure i've seen a feat like that somewhere but I can't find it for the life of me, so if anyone knows if there is such a feat and where it's at, I'd really appreciate knowing.
Thanks All
Tal |
| Xysma |
Posted - 01 Jun 2005 : 19:20:02
quote:
Originally posted by Neo2151
Well met!
I've just brought life to a new druid in the realms, however, he is blind and I'm looking for advice on playing a character with no vision. If anyone see's fit, I'd truly appreciate any advice any of ye could give.
Go straight to a cleric and have him cast "remove blindness" on you. |
| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 01 Jun 2005 : 10:43:03
Well, first thing to do is, of course, give him full ranks in Listen (fortunately, it's a class skill), and the Blind-Fight feat. (This feat is essential.) His animal companion should be trained to guide him, both through physical touch (the druid holds a hand on the companion or, if it's large enough, rides it), as well as through making noises. For example, the blind ranger in Sojourn had an owl that would circle over enemy targets to allow him to fire an arrow.
If your druid is a melee fighter, have a spellcaster do what Drizzt did to the above ranger: drop a spell of darkness on him. It won't affect him, but it makes those around him as blind as he is.
If your druid has a BAB of +4 and a Wisdom score of at least 19, you can take the feat "Blindsight, 5' Radius." It's exactly as it sounds: your character gains blindsight out to five feet, which means no miss chance in melee.
Roleplaying a blind character, assuming he's been blind for a while if not his whole life, is interesting. He can't see anything. Now, that sounds like a stupid thing to say, but you just need to stop and think about it. He can't see ANYTHING. Blindfold yourself and walk around for a while. Go outside and listen to the world. "Watch" TV blindfolded. (Yes, I've done this.)
The world of the blind is not as empty as it seems. The blind can't see anything, and that is our primary sense as humans. Until recently in history, you couldn't even be literate when blind unless you had raised letters. Faerun doesn't have Braile, so literacy likely doesn't matter for your character. He can't see color or depth. But, in a way, he can hear depth and smell color.
Your character will be able to identify sounds and smells the way we do with colors. We might be able to smell the same thing, but it won't be as striking to us. We don't normally need smell to identify things. He will. He'll recognize the bard by the fact that she uses soap often, while the fighter doesn't. Not that, of course, you'd need your nose to notice when the fighter's around, what with the way his armor clinks so much. The rogue and the ranger are more invisible, because they not only move quietly, they also know tricks to minimize their own scents. The wizard always smells of his own spell components, and probably of his familiar too. (Spellcasters with the Eschew Materials feat would be as noticeable as normal people.)
Don't do the cliche and ask to touch someone's face to know what they look like, unless your druid wasn't born blind. Stick with sound and smell to identify people; it not only seems more uncanny when you do, but feeling everyone's face will get really boring in the game.
This is all, of course, without any suggestions on balancing a blind character. You should be getting something in return, but you'll need to work that out with your DM. |
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