Blinded
- A blinded creature can’t see and automatically fails any ability check that requires sight.
- Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and the creature’s Attack rolls have disadvantage.
Causes
Common Causes: Spells like Blindness/Deafness and Darkness, an area being Heavily Obscured (like dense fog or a pitch-black night), Mummy Lords, and Gibbering Mouthers
Affected Groups
Why it matters to players: If you want to debilitate an enemy spellcaster quickly, this is a good blanket response. While a martial can still take attacks at disadvantage at things they might be able to hear, smell, or bump into; many spells have a line of sight requirement. Besides sight-based checks, your other ability checks are unaffected unless your DM rules otherwise. You can still Dodge to make attack rolls against you flat or try wrestling with your enemy with a Grapple check.
Why it matters to DMs: This is a key condition to remember when building an environment. Many creatures have Blindsight, Tremorsense, or Dark vision to help them cope with dark areas. If you have remarkably effective PCs you’re trying to balance an encounter against, make sure your NPCs and monsters take advantage of the shadows and the dark of night to gain an edge in combat.
Why it matters to DMs: This is a key condition to remember when building an environment. Many creatures have Blindsight, Tremorsense, or Dark vision to help them cope with dark areas. If you have remarkably effective PCs you’re trying to balance an encounter against, make sure your NPCs and monsters take advantage of the shadows and the dark of night to gain an edge in combat.
