So, one of the most brutal things about dragons in D&D 3.5 (aside form them being, y'know... dragons!) was their Blindsight ability. It was pretty near impossible to sneak up on a dragon and their Blindsight made them pretty much intimately aware of everything within the radius of this ability, no matter how high you might roll on a Stealth check.
Reading up on the 5e version of this ability and it looks like things have been toned down a bit: "A monster with blindsight can perceive its surroundings without relying on sight, within a specific radius."
Does this mean this ability is not as potent as it was in previous editions of the game? Can dragons theoretically be snuck up on now?
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C. Foster Payne
"If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around."
Blindsight means a dragon can see despite darkness, fog, invisibility, and similar forms of obscurement. You can't hide from someone that can see you clearly, so that leaves physical cover as the only thing you can use to hide - e.g. behind a corner, crate, or column.
As for sneaking up on a dragon, that's up to the DM's discretion. A creature in combat is assumed to be looking in every direction, so unless the DM decides otherwise, you can't just come out of your hiding spot and expect not to be seen. Before combat breaks out, a DM may decide it's possible to sneak up on them, depending on what they're doing. But dragons have great Perception so you'd better have Pass Without Trace and roll high.
So whenever I run my campaigns I believe that blindsight works like echolocation. As InquisitiveCoder said, if you are totally behind cover or roll high on a steath check to blend in with rocks, then the dragon doesn't notice you. However, if you move around in the dragon field of "vision," it sees you, even if you duck behind something else; it "saw" your movement. However, I do agree that an illusionary invisibility could forgo that sense, such as Pass Without Trace combined with a high stealth roll.
So, one of the most brutal things about dragons in D&D 3.5 (aside form them being, y'know... dragons!) was their Blindsight ability. It was pretty near impossible to sneak up on a dragon and their Blindsight made them pretty much intimately aware of everything within the radius of this ability, no matter how high you might roll on a Stealth check.
Reading up on the 5e version of this ability and it looks like things have been toned down a bit: "A monster with blindsight can perceive its surroundings without relying on sight, within a specific radius."
Does this mean this ability is not as potent as it was in previous editions of the game? Can dragons theoretically be snuck up on now?
C. Foster Payne
"If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around."
Blindsight means a dragon can see despite darkness, fog, invisibility, and similar forms of obscurement. You can't hide from someone that can see you clearly, so that leaves physical cover as the only thing you can use to hide - e.g. behind a corner, crate, or column.
As for sneaking up on a dragon, that's up to the DM's discretion. A creature in combat is assumed to be looking in every direction, so unless the DM decides otherwise, you can't just come out of your hiding spot and expect not to be seen. Before combat breaks out, a DM may decide it's possible to sneak up on them, depending on what they're doing. But dragons have great Perception so you'd better have Pass Without Trace and roll high.
So whenever I run my campaigns I believe that blindsight works like echolocation. As InquisitiveCoder said, if you are totally behind cover or roll high on a steath check to blend in with rocks, then the dragon doesn't notice you. However, if you move around in the dragon field of "vision," it sees you, even if you duck behind something else; it "saw" your movement. However, I do agree that an illusionary invisibility could forgo that sense, such as Pass Without Trace combined with a high stealth roll.