Since the beginning of the campaign I'm in, my warlock has had "Eldritch Sight" which allows me to cast "Detect Magic" at will. I've been a thorn in my DM's side for 3 years until yesterday my character sacrificed his normal sight for something that the group needed. Now, he can only see via "Detect Magic" and we are trying to figure out any different mechanics we should add or change to my character to make this fun.
Think "blinded" condition, can see magic even better now to make up for the lack of regular sight, can start seeing the intent of magic being cast, plus to arcana checks, minus to perception, etc...
So as I was briefly mentioning on the Rules & Game Mechanics thread, you probably don't want to actually go with being blinded all of the time or having to actually cast detect magic continually as an alternative, as this introduces a bunch of mechanical problems.
If I were running this I'd probably house-rule that magic pervades everything in the setting, so even if something doesn't have an active magical effect on it you can still "see" it, but only appears in shades of "grey" (or the detect magic equivalent). So in general mechanical terms your character can still see, but they're colour-blind. When you want to see magical auras you would then cast detect magic as normal, i.e- focus your Eldritch Sight in order to see more.
As a DM I'd probably allow some minor benefits like the ability to sense "an aura", but you'd still need to activate the spell to see exactly where it is, what type, how strong etc. basically it'd just be a way for the DM to drop hints. This would be partly to counteract possible cases where this sight is a disadvantage, not just the colour blindness but also the vulnerability to anything that interferes with magic.
How this might progress though is potentially interesting; for example at a higher level your patron might upgrade the Eldritch Sight to be always on so you can always see the full auras without having to cast or concentrate upon the spell. It might even upgrade to be able to see auras through thinner obstructions so you could see that there's a spellcaster in the next room or such. As well as things like you suggest, e.g- when a spell is cast you can make an Arcana check without spending your reaction, advantage on Arcana to learn what an active spell effect is doing etc.?
When such added abilities should come into effect though is tricky; you didn't say what level you are, and it'll depend what level the campaign is likely to make it to (though if it's been three years maybe you're already a fairly high level?). Even if you're already quite a high level, if the blinding has only occurred recently I wouldn't personally push for upgrades straight away, because a "loss" or change in circumstances for a character can be a fun thing to RP for a bit as they try to adjust (are they frustrated, intrigued, lashing out etc.?). Plus it's the kind of cool, personal bonus that should feel more special when it's handed out by your patron rewarding you for your sacrifice and perseverance or such?
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Since the beginning of the campaign I'm in, my warlock has had "Eldritch Sight" which allows me to cast "Detect Magic" at will. I've been a thorn in my DM's side for 3 years until yesterday my character sacrificed his normal sight for something that the group needed. Now, he can only see via "Detect Magic" and we are trying to figure out any different mechanics we should add or change to my character to make this fun.
Think "blinded" condition, can see magic even better now to make up for the lack of regular sight, can start seeing the intent of magic being cast, plus to arcana checks, minus to perception, etc...
Thanks!
So as I was briefly mentioning on the Rules & Game Mechanics thread, you probably don't want to actually go with being blinded all of the time or having to actually cast detect magic continually as an alternative, as this introduces a bunch of mechanical problems.
If I were running this I'd probably house-rule that magic pervades everything in the setting, so even if something doesn't have an active magical effect on it you can still "see" it, but only appears in shades of "grey" (or the detect magic equivalent). So in general mechanical terms your character can still see, but they're colour-blind. When you want to see magical auras you would then cast detect magic as normal, i.e- focus your Eldritch Sight in order to see more.
As a DM I'd probably allow some minor benefits like the ability to sense "an aura", but you'd still need to activate the spell to see exactly where it is, what type, how strong etc. basically it'd just be a way for the DM to drop hints. This would be partly to counteract possible cases where this sight is a disadvantage, not just the colour blindness but also the vulnerability to anything that interferes with magic.
How this might progress though is potentially interesting; for example at a higher level your patron might upgrade the Eldritch Sight to be always on so you can always see the full auras without having to cast or concentrate upon the spell. It might even upgrade to be able to see auras through thinner obstructions so you could see that there's a spellcaster in the next room or such. As well as things like you suggest, e.g- when a spell is cast you can make an Arcana check without spending your reaction, advantage on Arcana to learn what an active spell effect is doing etc.?
When such added abilities should come into effect though is tricky; you didn't say what level you are, and it'll depend what level the campaign is likely to make it to (though if it's been three years maybe you're already a fairly high level?). Even if you're already quite a high level, if the blinding has only occurred recently I wouldn't personally push for upgrades straight away, because a "loss" or change in circumstances for a character can be a fun thing to RP for a bit as they try to adjust (are they frustrated, intrigued, lashing out etc.?). Plus it's the kind of cool, personal bonus that should feel more special when it's handed out by your patron rewarding you for your sacrifice and perseverance or such?
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
The character is a lvl13 warlock/ 2 bard (we need some extra healing and support), so we are pretty high lvl.