Okay, so basically, I'm very new to DnD. I'm about to begin playing in my first campaign ever and had a huge idea for a PC that I'm very passionate about. Basically, they were born blind and mute, and taken in by an old sorcerer. They were made into an apprentice, yada yada. Their master died and left them behind a staff. That's my issue: the staff. When the campaign starts, I want the staff, but it's living. The staff has a mind of its own and an eye. The staff can see and also speak for itself, but my character can also see through its eye and speak through the staff. Is this logistically possible, and if so... how?! Is it possible to have a living sentient staff in the first place? Is it possible for this living staff and my character to have some kind of permanent spell or enchantment that tethers them together so that my character can see and speak through it? I just thought it was a super cool idea and don't know how it would be possible, but it would be super cool if it was.
Definitely ask your DM. Always, always communicate with your DM about your ideas and see 1) if they're cool with it, and 2) how you can collaborate to make them happen.
That said, the wonderful thing about D&D is the concept of flavor, which is really just roleplaying things that have no impact whatsoever on game mechanics. It sounds like you don't actually want your character to be blinded (which is a fairly debilitating in-game condition) and mute, you just want to have a unique way of interacting with the world. That's what flavor is, and it doesn't need to involve a magical item or spell.
For example, I'm about to play a rogue in an upcoming campaign, but flavored like an urban druid. I have no druid levels, but I can "wild shape" to suit any social situation because I'm playing a changeling, and I speak the language of my environment - but instead of Druidic, it's Thieves' Cant. There's nothing mechanically druid about my character; I'm just going to describe them with a very druid vibe.
TL;DR - Talk to your DM about your concept and whether you need more than flavor to pull it off. Also...
One thing to note: Some people might find it insensitive for someone to roleplay a disability like it's something cool. I happen to have a disability that makes it very difficult for me to talk when my symptoms flare up. I have to rely on technology to talk - and there is nothing fun or glamorous about that. Most of the time, I probably wouldn't be bothered if someone wanted to play a mute character who relies on tools to do the talking for them. But on my bad days, when I physically cannot express myself and cannot participate in basic human socializing...that might sting a little. My advice is to make sure that your DM and everyone at the table is cool with roleplaying a character with a disability. Safe and friendly spaces make for the most fun gaming environments!
Your character sounds fun, and I hope it ends up being a wonderful first campaign for you!
Thank you for your kind feedback! I asked the same question on other forums and unfortunately others were not so kind.
I hadn’t even thought of how insensitive the idea for this character might be before it was brought to my attention, so I have to thank everyone who told me. I first came up with the idea because our DM asked us to create characters with disadvantages or challenging characteristics for his specific campaign, but I understand now how my character idea isn’t the greatest. It’d also been brought to my attention by another response that creating a character with disabilities and then just playing them with an item that almost completely negates those disabilities is also pretty insensitive as well.
I’ve done some more brainstorming, and became inspired again and will probably end up writing a whole new character, anyways. I cane up with another idea that I thought was just too good to pass up! Thank you again for your feedback and suggestions!
I appreciate the reply, and the open-mindedness to my perspective. As for an item negating the disability...if you find one lying around in the real world, you let me know! I'd love a staff that can talk for me, lol. Still hoping I can one day spontaneously develop telepathy!
I think it's neat that your DM wants you to build challenges into your character. Glad you've gotten newly inspired! Keep in mind, too, that you can also roll-play: lean into low stats and bad rolls. Maybe a dump stat becomes a fun recurring bit. Low Intelligence could mean you're really bad at math and constantly overpay for things when you try to bargain. Low Strength might mean you're insecure about how little you can bench press, so you overcompensate by telling tall tales of your feats of athleticism to anyone who'll listen. A failed perception check might be due to you getting distracted by a huge spiderweb in the window. Stuff like that can add fun color to the game, too.
D&D is a wonderful, collaborative experience and I hope it's everything you dream of and more when you finally get to play.
If you still need help with this, it's called 'awaken'. It basically allows anything to be sentient, so do that to the staff and BOOM, you got it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Look at it! Beauty! A spoiler!
Look what you've done, spoiling it for you and everyone who can see this screen. You're a disgrace, you know that, right? You have nothing to be ashamed of but yourself, you moster!
But to be completely fair, every monster has a cute side, like have you seen people draw goblins? Goblins look so cool! You're fine, you may seem like a monster, but I bet you're cute on the inside!
Hope I've made your day!
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Okay, so basically, I'm very new to DnD. I'm about to begin playing in my first campaign ever and had a huge idea for a PC that I'm very passionate about. Basically, they were born blind and mute, and taken in by an old sorcerer. They were made into an apprentice, yada yada. Their master died and left them behind a staff. That's my issue: the staff. When the campaign starts, I want the staff, but it's living. The staff has a mind of its own and an eye. The staff can see and also speak for itself, but my character can also see through its eye and speak through the staff. Is this logistically possible, and if so... how?! Is it possible to have a living sentient staff in the first place? Is it possible for this living staff and my character to have some kind of permanent spell or enchantment that tethers them together so that my character can see and speak through it? I just thought it was a super cool idea and don't know how it would be possible, but it would be super cool if it was.
Like all weird things, the answer is "ask your DM for it"
Definitely ask your DM. Always, always communicate with your DM about your ideas and see 1) if they're cool with it, and 2) how you can collaborate to make them happen.
That said, the wonderful thing about D&D is the concept of flavor, which is really just roleplaying things that have no impact whatsoever on game mechanics. It sounds like you don't actually want your character to be blinded (which is a fairly debilitating in-game condition) and mute, you just want to have a unique way of interacting with the world. That's what flavor is, and it doesn't need to involve a magical item or spell.
For example, I'm about to play a rogue in an upcoming campaign, but flavored like an urban druid. I have no druid levels, but I can "wild shape" to suit any social situation because I'm playing a changeling, and I speak the language of my environment - but instead of Druidic, it's Thieves' Cant. There's nothing mechanically druid about my character; I'm just going to describe them with a very druid vibe.
TL;DR - Talk to your DM about your concept and whether you need more than flavor to pull it off. Also...
One thing to note: Some people might find it insensitive for someone to roleplay a disability like it's something cool. I happen to have a disability that makes it very difficult for me to talk when my symptoms flare up. I have to rely on technology to talk - and there is nothing fun or glamorous about that. Most of the time, I probably wouldn't be bothered if someone wanted to play a mute character who relies on tools to do the talking for them. But on my bad days, when I physically cannot express myself and cannot participate in basic human socializing...that might sting a little. My advice is to make sure that your DM and everyone at the table is cool with roleplaying a character with a disability. Safe and friendly spaces make for the most fun gaming environments!
Your character sounds fun, and I hope it ends up being a wonderful first campaign for you!
Thank you for your kind feedback! I asked the same question on other forums and unfortunately others were not so kind.
I hadn’t even thought of how insensitive the idea for this character might be before it was brought to my attention, so I have to thank everyone who told me. I first came up with the idea because our DM asked us to create characters with disadvantages or challenging characteristics for his specific campaign, but I understand now how my character idea isn’t the greatest. It’d also been brought to my attention by another response that creating a character with disabilities and then just playing them with an item that almost completely negates those disabilities is also pretty insensitive as well.
I’ve done some more brainstorming, and became inspired again and will probably end up writing a whole new character, anyways. I cane up with another idea that I thought was just too good to pass up! Thank you again for your feedback and suggestions!
I appreciate the reply, and the open-mindedness to my perspective. As for an item negating the disability...if you find one lying around in the real world, you let me know! I'd love a staff that can talk for me, lol. Still hoping I can one day spontaneously develop telepathy!
I think it's neat that your DM wants you to build challenges into your character. Glad you've gotten newly inspired! Keep in mind, too, that you can also roll-play: lean into low stats and bad rolls. Maybe a dump stat becomes a fun recurring bit. Low Intelligence could mean you're really bad at math and constantly overpay for things when you try to bargain. Low Strength might mean you're insecure about how little you can bench press, so you overcompensate by telling tall tales of your feats of athleticism to anyone who'll listen. A failed perception check might be due to you getting distracted by a huge spiderweb in the window. Stuff like that can add fun color to the game, too.
D&D is a wonderful, collaborative experience and I hope it's everything you dream of and more when you finally get to play.
If you still need help with this, it's called 'awaken'. It basically allows anything to be sentient, so do that to the staff and BOOM, you got it.
Look at it! Beauty! A spoiler!
Look what you've done, spoiling it for you and everyone who can see this screen. You're a disgrace, you know that, right? You have nothing to be ashamed of but yourself, you moster!
But to be completely fair, every monster has a cute side, like have you seen people draw goblins? Goblins look so cool! You're fine, you may seem like a monster, but I bet you're cute on the inside!
Hope I've made your day!