Blunt answer - Your character will not pull their weight and will be a liability. In a world without pedestrian crossings and smooth pavements and braille, blind is a staggeringly debilitating handicap.
That depends. Blindsight would mostly work for sight. Perception still applies unless sight is required, but the DM can still rule the PC knows where people are via perception, just like you know where an invisible character is even though they are invisible.
Yes, but if you have blindsight then you are not blind - you are Daredevil or Toph.
You are still blind. You just perceive things without the use of vision. Much like actual blind people do.
As I said before: blind people have climbed Everest. There are blind fencers. You are showing your ignorance when you imagine blind people in real life who even live in total darkness do not rely on other senses. They often outclass non-blind people when it comes to hearing especially.
Hi: actual blind person here... could you please stop?
YES: blind people are capable of many things; I myself ski, rock-climb, and even at one point bi-athalon training... but here's the thing: all of that was done using A) assistive technologies, and B) help from others. Being blind is a DISABILITY; it is a right pain in my back-side; there are things that fully sighted people can do easily that I struggle with or can't do at all. I will never drive a car; and everyone else on the road should be grateful for that. In a realistic, survival or combat scenario; there are almost zero situations besides total darkness where-in I would not be objectively "worse" for a team than a fully sighted person with equivalent skills, abilities and knowledge. Negotiating a doorway, stairwell, or uneven ground is not an issue for most fully-sighted and able-bodied people; it is for me. And if I lived in a fantasy world with magic items and restoration spells; I would do terrible, terrible things to be rid of this problem.
So you could run a game in which combat rarely if ever takes place to meet the needs of a player who does not handle violence very well ...
... but wanting to play a blind character is just a "bad" idea because it would "cripple" a party because they won't be so effective in ... combat? Do you just make up whatever in the moment instead of being consistent? How do you reconcile these two things? And you did not answer my question about the wheelchair. A thousand threads could come and go. I want to know what you think if you think it's so unplayable for a character to have any kind of physical impediment.
You are talking about multiple subjects. I can run a game for somebody that doesn't like combat. D&D is not the greatest for this. I can run a game of D&D with light combat. I can run a game for somebody who wants to play a blind character but will let them know it is a bad idea.
Are trying to say that the person who doesn't like violence is also blind or wants to play a blind character in a game with low fighting?
Again, D&D is not the greatest game for low violence. I can run a game that is not D&D.
Such a wheelchair would have certain qualities identifying it as magical. It would also probably levitate/fly a few inches off the ground or, as per another poster, have legs.
Why does it have to? Unless the person is adventuring solo these qualities are not a necessity. What about terrain? What about combat? It doesn't matter, the party will make it work. Focusing on the wheelchair is like tracking how many times your PCs go to the toilet.
I think the point is that the person wants to envision themselves in a way they see as heroic. No need to make up new rules or anything. One PC has two legs, one has a snake tail instead of legs, one is in a wheelchair, one looks like a frog. Whatever, let's go have an adventure!
If Professor Xavier can be the leader of the X Men and be pretty badass then I'm sure its ok for a disabled person to be portrayed in DnD... With that said... A Rogue or Monk in a wheelchair makes zero sense even in a "fantasy" setting. Inclusiveness is cool, but get creative and make it amazing.
You clearly have no idea how strong a person in a wheelchair is.
I also cannot fathom how a wheelchair would in anyway stop a Rogue from picking a lock, finding traps, moving quietly...
Also, as a table dynamics issue, there's the consideration of how one player being given a custom magic item will play out with the rest of the group; with respect to players who want to experience this particular character configuration, you do need to read the room a little if your approach is going to be along the lines of "my character needs special in-game treatment to fit the image I want"; I'm not saying this should never happen, but it's something I'd be more skeptical of if someone made the ask during a pick-up game at someplace like a convention or FLGS rather than if this was something one of the people in my regular group wanted to try in our next campaign. Again, not trying to categorically shut the concept down, but it's the kind of thing that needs some discussion at Session 0, and I don't think every Session 0 will be the right time and place for that discussion.
I have a hard time imagining a group not just handwaving assistance. Like a blanket statement that they will help the PC get around. Then play can continue comfortably as normal. The players just want to play and be treated like everybody else regardless of their condition.
Of course if you're designing this into play you've got options to account for the effort it takes; manually wheeling 20 miles will take more recovery time than someone walking the same distance, so build in additional recovery time. Play athletics checks with disadvantage, or with an additional negative modifier to account for the chair.
I'm not doing that in any of my adventures, present or future, because that's bullshit for D&D.
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"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
Thanks Wysperra for sharing quotes from the wheelchair thread.
if I play a blind character, it would probably be in for prewritten campaign. If I go for more of a face character approach, in which being blind is far less of an issue, it may leave the party at more of a disadvantage in combat, but may fill another role. Sadly, I do feel that D&D campaigns are often combat heavy. Either way, I think it would be important to get party buy-in.
Well, you could play a blind character who has a familiar and has to see through that (pretty sure this has already been said though) kind of like a support animal. However, you would take some penalty to Wisdom checks and probably would have disadvantage on initiative.
Is this just for flavor, or is it actually supposed to affect you? If it's just flavor, then maybe think about it like you are completely blind but are used to it by now, so you are essentially not blind, but still get the flavor of it. If you want an actual handicap, then maybe talk with your DM about giving you 30 foot tremorsense, blind sight, or other limited sightless sense.
Familiar: This one's sort of inspired by what others have said, but you could have a familiar the assists you, though it does not attack/scout/distract/help you in any other way.
I agree with the sentiment that a blind character will be a handicap to the group. The Blinded condition will make them very susceptible to a lot of things, and make them poor at combat.
I suspect that two of the best options would be a Cleric focussing on aruas and AOE's, and an Artificer. The Artificer would provide items to boost the rest of the party, and could go for Battlesmith for a defender who can see, thus commands like "Attack anyone who comes close" or "defend me" can work well.
Regarding the heated debate of whether blindness really is a handicap, yes it is. Yes, people who are blind can climb mountains and run marathons, but D&D isn't about situations you can take steadily. Think instead of the situation as a game of dodgeball. I guarantee that having a blind person on a dodgeball team is a handicap.
Disadvantage on initiative certainly seems to make sense in many cases.
The familiar idea could go one step further with a pack of the chain warlock. You could have a familiar with a bit more intelligence or that could communicate. I also really like the Artificer defender idea. The Defender could be a great help and guild, and act as a seeing companion in combat.
As for the other questions, I'm trying to see if I can make a character work with a real handicap. One who is actually blind, and has to deal with the game system mechanics around it, without handwaving magic that just lets him 'see' through other means. Meta-game wise, I'm interested in exploring concepts around hope, determination, and failure, when faced with adversity. But yes, I do think I'd want to get DM and party buy-in to the idea first. :)
I'm interested in playing a blind character. Not your stereotypical anima character who wears a blindfold, but can see/sense everything anyway. But with the actual in-game handicap of having the 'blind' condition. And I don't have a class or build in mind yet, so I'm looking for ideas and suggestions!
Obviously I don't want to be a liability for the party, and would like to still have the character pull her weigh in the party. Some ideas including building a character who relies more of auras or other more passive abilities. Spells that don't require sight may be a way to go as well, but a lot of spells would not be usable by RAW. Or perhaps a mounted character to help get around. The blind fighting fighting-style seems like it could be a no-brainer as well. Alternately, maybe the character can 'see' through other means, such as a familiar, or 'arcane eye' spell.
What other ideas can you think of? And how might you build a blind character? Any help would be welcome.
I would think wanting a character with a handicap would be detrimental to players completing certain missions.
If it was my character I think I would build a Berserker or Zealot Barbarian, for extra damage if to manage to land a blow. Reckless Attack and Danger Sense can somewhat help to mitigate the disadvantage that comes from not being able to see. I would focus on high constitution first in order to soak up in coming damage, rage helps with this. I would probably choose to be a Dwarf with the Tough Origin feat, Tremor sense would be nice to have in an important/difficult battle. Branching into Warlock at higher level for Armour of Agathys and a familiar could be fun.
Good for you, but it’s not a change that got a lot of press, thus the correction, and plenty of people are sticking with 2014 so it’s relevant to the larger discussion.
@OP: I think a "blind" character with Blind Fighting Style will be disadvantaged enough for their condition to matter at the table, without being a spotlight hog / complete drag on the party's efforts. Especially if you also use the earlier suggestion of making them a 2024 Dwarf who can Domain Expansion their perception of the environment with their tremorsense feature periodically.
You could ask your DM about having a seeing-eye dog/wolf/owlbear. Your still going to be face a lot of challenges which will negatively impact your character and the party. Also, a bard might be fun from an RP perspective, someone who has experienced much of the world mostly through stories, epic poems, songs, legends, etc. You could go for feats like Inspiring Leader and make the most of Bardic inspiration.
I'm interested in playing a blind character. Not your stereotypical anima character who wears a blindfold, but can see/sense everything anyway. But with the actual in-game handicap of having the 'blind' condition. And I don't have a class or build in mind yet, so I'm looking for ideas and suggestions!
Obviously I don't want to be a liability for the party, and would like to still have the character pull her weigh in the party. Some ideas including building a character who relies more of auras or other more passive abilities. Spells that don't require sight may be a way to go as well, but a lot of spells would not be usable by RAW. Or perhaps a mounted character to help get around. The blind fighting fighting-style seems like it could be a no-brainer as well. Alternately, maybe the character can 'see' through other means, such as a familiar, or 'arcane eye' spell.
What other ideas can you think of? And how might you build a blind character? Any help would be welcome.
If you can find it, there was a movie called Blind Fury with Rutger Hauer as a blind swordsman. Absolutely hilarious and actually had me thinking of trying this a few times over the years.
Now, I know you want to play a blind character (and that I made a suggestion for you) but maybe a different handicap would be better? If you swore of violence/weapons, then that would be fun to roleplay, and would be a sufficient handicap. You wouldn't participate in fights, other than healing your allies or trying to stop them, and you would probably prevent your allies from fighting too. You could even play as a Paladin of Redemption or Cleric of Peace.
Hi: actual blind person here... could you please stop?
YES: blind people are capable of many things; I myself ski, rock-climb, and even at one point bi-athalon training... but here's the thing: all of that was done using A) assistive technologies, and B) help from others. Being blind is a DISABILITY; it is a right pain in my back-side; there are things that fully sighted people can do easily that I struggle with or can't do at all. I will never drive a car; and everyone else on the road should be grateful for that. In a realistic, survival or combat scenario; there are almost zero situations besides total darkness where-in I would not be objectively "worse" for a team than a fully sighted person with equivalent skills, abilities and knowledge. Negotiating a doorway, stairwell, or uneven ground is not an issue for most fully-sighted and able-bodied people; it is for me. And if I lived in a fantasy world with magic items and restoration spells; I would do terrible, terrible things to be rid of this problem.
You are talking about multiple subjects. I can run a game for somebody that doesn't like combat. D&D is not the greatest for this. I can run a game of D&D with light combat. I can run a game for somebody who wants to play a blind character but will let them know it is a bad idea.
Are trying to say that the person who doesn't like violence is also blind or wants to play a blind character in a game with low fighting?
Again, D&D is not the greatest game for low violence. I can run a game that is not D&D.
Here is the wheelchair thread - https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/general-discussion/202225-wheelchair-bound-adventurers
Here are some of my posts:
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Thanks Wysperra for sharing quotes from the wheelchair thread.
if I play a blind character, it would probably be in for prewritten campaign. If I go for more of a face character approach, in which being blind is far less of an issue, it may leave the party at more of a disadvantage in combat, but may fill another role. Sadly, I do feel that D&D campaigns are often combat heavy. Either way, I think it would be important to get party buy-in.
Well, you could play a blind character who has a familiar and has to see through that (pretty sure this has already been said though) kind of like a support animal. However, you would take some penalty to Wisdom checks and probably would have disadvantage on initiative.
Roll for Initiative: [roll]1d20+7[/roll]
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Is this just for flavor, or is it actually supposed to affect you? If it's just flavor, then maybe think about it like you are completely blind but are used to it by now, so you are essentially not blind, but still get the flavor of it. If you want an actual handicap, then maybe talk with your DM about giving you 30 foot tremorsense, blind sight, or other limited sightless sense.
Familiar: This one's sort of inspired by what others have said, but you could have a familiar the assists you, though it does not attack/scout/distract/help you in any other way.
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Excellent idea with the initiative disadvantage.
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I agree with the sentiment that a blind character will be a handicap to the group. The Blinded condition will make them very susceptible to a lot of things, and make them poor at combat.
I suspect that two of the best options would be a Cleric focussing on aruas and AOE's, and an Artificer. The Artificer would provide items to boost the rest of the party, and could go for Battlesmith for a defender who can see, thus commands like "Attack anyone who comes close" or "defend me" can work well.
Regarding the heated debate of whether blindness really is a handicap, yes it is. Yes, people who are blind can climb mountains and run marathons, but D&D isn't about situations you can take steadily. Think instead of the situation as a game of dodgeball. I guarantee that having a blind person on a dodgeball team is a handicap.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
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Thanks all. Some more excellent ideas.
Disadvantage on initiative certainly seems to make sense in many cases.
The familiar idea could go one step further with a pack of the chain warlock. You could have a familiar with a bit more intelligence or that could communicate. I also really like the Artificer defender idea. The Defender could be a great help and guild, and act as a seeing companion in combat.
As for the other questions, I'm trying to see if I can make a character work with a real handicap. One who is actually blind, and has to deal with the game system mechanics around it, without handwaving magic that just lets him 'see' through other means. Meta-game wise, I'm interested in exploring concepts around hope, determination, and failure, when faced with adversity. But yes, I do think I'd want to get DM and party buy-in to the idea first. :)
I would think wanting a character with a handicap would be detrimental to players completing certain missions.
If it was my character I think I would build a Berserker or Zealot Barbarian, for extra damage if to manage to land a blow. Reckless Attack and Danger Sense can somewhat help to mitigate the disadvantage that comes from not being able to see. I would focus on high constitution first in order to soak up in coming damage, rage helps with this.
I would probably choose to be a Dwarf with the Tough Origin feat, Tremor sense would be nice to have in an important/difficult battle. Branching into Warlock at higher level for Armour of Agathys and a familiar could be fun.
Danger Sense requires sight to work
Edit: Well, the 2014 version does
How so, there is no mention of sight in 2024 PHB Danger sense. It just says you have advantage on Dex saves if you are not incapacitated.
As I said, it’s an element from the 2014 iteration of the class/feature.
My group has switched to 2024 so that is not relevant to me if I wanted to play a blind character for some reason.
Good for you, but it’s not a change that got a lot of press, thus the correction, and plenty of people are sticking with 2014 so it’s relevant to the larger discussion.
@OP: I think a "blind" character with Blind Fighting Style will be disadvantaged enough for their condition to matter at the table, without being a spotlight hog / complete drag on the party's efforts. Especially if you also use the earlier suggestion of making them a 2024 Dwarf who can Domain Expansion their perception of the environment with their tremorsense feature periodically.
You can take the Skulker feat in the 2024 PHB as another way to get 10’ blindsight along with other benefits if you want it.
You could ask your DM about having a seeing-eye dog/wolf/owlbear. Your still going to be face a lot of challenges which will negatively impact your character and the party. Also, a bard might be fun from an RP perspective, someone who has experienced much of the world mostly through stories, epic poems, songs, legends, etc. You could go for feats like Inspiring Leader and make the most of Bardic inspiration.
If you can find it, there was a movie called Blind Fury with Rutger Hauer as a blind swordsman. Absolutely hilarious and actually had me thinking of trying this a few times over the years.
Now, I know you want to play a blind character (and that I made a suggestion for you) but maybe a different handicap would be better? If you swore of violence/weapons, then that would be fun to roleplay, and would be a sufficient handicap. You wouldn't participate in fights, other than healing your allies or trying to stop them, and you would probably prevent your allies from fighting too. You could even play as a Paladin of Redemption or Cleric of Peace.
Roll for Initiative: [roll]1d20+7[/roll]
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Homebrew Races: HERE Homebrew Spells: HERE Homebrew Monsters: HERE
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