There are warriors who have lost their senses, be it through tragedy, a trial or by choice, or some other circumstance. There is a wisdom to seeing the world with more than just the eye. The Blind Blades took that lesson to heart; creating both a fighting style and lifestyle with which to take on their journey for Enlightenment. Often seen as worldly advisors and teachers, the blind blades can be found on battlefields as well as positions of leadership. Beware, should you meet a blind blade in single combat, no trick of the senses will avail you….
The Blind Blade is an archetype of the Samurai.
Weapon Proficiencies
The blind blade gains proficiency in the sword cane, combat scabbard (normal and sharpened), chakram, jutte, shang gou, fighting fan, and bo staff. Blind blades treat these weapons as though they were a part of the samurai weapon group for all purposes.
This modifies the samurai's standard weapon proficiencies.
Patience and Resolve (Ex)
The Blindswordsman has learned to be wary rather than forceful with his surroundings. The samurai must choose Wisdom as his Focus modifier.
Blindfolded Fighting (Ex)
At 1st level, a blind blade fights with patience; waiting to strike at a moment’s notice. The blind blade gains Blind-Fight and Blinded Blade Style as bonus feats without needing to meet the prerequisites. In addition, the blind blade may use their Wisdom modifier in place of their Strength or Dexterity modifier on attack rolls, so long as they remain blind.
This ability replaces Iaido.
Enhanced Senses (Su)
At 2nd level, instead of the typical uses of bushido, a blind blade can use their bushido to enhance their senses. So long as the samurai has 1 point of bushido in his pool, he gains the scent special quality out to 20ft and adds half his samurai level as an insight bonus to survival checks.
Additionally, the blind blade can spend a Bushido point to take 10 when making survival checks even when stress or other distractions would not normally allow it.
In order to make use of this ability, a blind blade must not be able to use their sight. This can either be because the blind blade is permanently blind or because they simply use blindfolds or other sight-obscuring means. If a blind blade intentionally uses their sight in combat, they lose the benefits of this ability and the benefits of any other ability that relies on that special sense (Even if they have that sense from another source) until he spends an hour or more blinded. He can use his sight without penalty outside of combat, but he doesn't gain the benefits of his special sense while he's using his sight. If he is ambushed or surprised, the blind blade has one round to blind himself.
This modifies Bushido Pool.
Sightless Flow (Ex)
At 3rd level, the blind blade further uses his senses for defense. When the blind blade uses Shirahadori, instead of using an attack roll the blind blade rolls a Perception, Survival or Sense Motive check (The blind blade cannot take 10 on this check). The blind blade still uses the triggering attack roll as the DC + 5. Should the check succeed, the blind blade gains a +5 dodge bonus to AC as they perceive the trajectory, scent, or intent of the attack.
This ability modifies Shirahadori.
Ikigai
At 5th level, The blind blade learns new ways to use their senses, appreciating the world in all its splendor. While blinded he gains the following abilities:
Foreshadow (Su): A blind blade’s hearing is almost preternatural in sensing danger. So long as you have 1 bushido point left in your pool, you gain a +1 insight bonus to Reflex saves to avoid traps and a +1 insight bonus to AC during a surprise round and against traps. The bonus to reflex saves and AC increases by 1 every four samurai levels after 1st. This counts as having Danger Sense for the purposes of prerequisites.
Signals of Distrust (Ex): The blind blade can somehow smell, hear or feel the reverberations that something is amiss. You can make a Perception check using your sense of sound, smell, or touch, in place of Sense Motive to make a Hunch, or Sense an Enchantment action. The blind blade also gains a +2 bonus on checks to see through mundane disguises.
Additionally, when meditating on his sense at the start of each day, the blind blade can choose one of the following abilities:
Ikigai of Smell:
World of Scents (Ex): The blind blade can focus his sense of smell to search out specific scents. As a standard action, the blind blade chooses a specific scent to search for (The "lack" of a specific scent, or simply trying to detect a scent that's out-of-place would also be acceptable choices). He can detect the presence and direction of the smell up to three times as far away as normal. If the smell is within his normal scent range, he detects the precise location.
Unerring Scent (Ex): The blind blade can more acutely smell death. Or at least, things that smell *like* it. Against corporeal undead, creatures with the stench special quality, or creatures or objects that have intentionally been given a more pungent smell (Such as a character who been smeared with dung, or is wearing an unusually powerful purfume), the blind blade's sense of smell allows them to hone in much better. If any such targets are within range of the blind blade's scent, the blind blade is considered to have the blindsight ability, allowing him to fight those creatures as though they were completely visible to him.
This ability replaces way of life.
Perfected Senses (Ex)
At 8th level, the blind blade's senses sharpen to evermore ways to perceive without sight. The blind blade can pinpoint the location of all creatures within range of his scent, not merely those within 5 feet of him.
Alternatively, when the blind blade meditates for an hour (If he has the meditate ability, the hour for both abilities is the same), he may choose one of the following special qualities in place of scent, these special qualities also provide a bonus to a different skill. If the blind blade is in blinded blade style, the feat does not provide him with a scent ability, instead it increases the chosen special sensory quality by 10ft. Like before, if the blind blade intentionally uses his sight in combat, he loses these senses until he spends an hour blinded.
Sound: Blindsense 20ft, Perception
Touch: Tremorsense 30ft, Sense Motive
Additionally, when selecting his ikiagi for the day, he may choose one of the following abilities instead, depending on the sense he chose. Like the ikiagi of smell, the blind blade must be blinded to make use of these abilities.
Ikigai of Sound:
Echoes of the Hidden World (Ex): The blind blade is constantly paying attention to the sounds around him. Whenever the blind blade's blindsense ability would be in range of a mechanical trap, secret/concealed door, hidden compartment, or other, similar intentional non-magical concealments, the blind blade can make a Perception check to notice or find such things as if he were actively looking for them. This ability does not allow the blind blade to locate magical traps or detect illusionary or other sorts of magical concealment however.
Sounds of Conflict (Ex): The blind blade can funnel his sense of hearing to better pick up the clashing of steel; the cutting of flesh. When the blind blade hears an attack within 30ft of him, he may make a Perception Check by expending an attack of opportunity. The DC is equal to the attack roll (Including modifiers). If he succeeds on this perception check and the target has not moved from their original position, he does not suffer a miss chance against that creature due to concealment or total concealment for one round. If he could already ignore concealment and total concealment against the target,
Ikigai of Touch:
Warm Skin, Cold Steel (Ex): The blind blade can detect creatures that are actively engaged in combat at twice the normal range of his tremorsense ability. If a creature is within the blind blade's normal tremorsense range, he can also detect what type of armour the creature is wearing (If any), if they are armed or unarmed and their relative encumberance (I.e, if the creature is carrying a light load, medium load, etc). This ability is precise enough that the blind blade can broadly categorise creatures based on their rough shape: Humanoid, Animal/Vermin, Construct, Elemental or Other. (The GM has final say, but should use their best judgement. For example a Chocobo and a Dragon would both register as animals, while a Giant or a Skeleton would register as humanoid.)
Defensive Posture (Ex): Whenever more than one creature attempts to flank the blind blade while in his tremorsense range, he reduces the bonus to attack rolls provided by flanking by 1. If the blind blade has 10 or more samurai levels, he cannot be flanked by those within his tremorsense range that he can perceive unless they have 4 or more hit dice or 4 or more thief levels than his samurai level. This counts as Improved Uncanny Dodge for the purposes of prerequisites.
These abilities replace improved way of life.
Blind Swordsman (Ex)
At 20th level, the blind swordsman does not require sight to know the world. So long as the blind blade is blinded and is currently benefitting from his sense special quality, gains an ability similar to the True Seeing spell, out to a radius of 20ft. Within that radius, the blind blade ignores all forms of concealment and total concealment, knows the exact locations of creatures, automatically determines illusions and can immediately determine that a creature or object is polymorphed, changed or transmuted. He can also detect Ethereal creatures (Such as ghosts) and knows that they are not physical creatures. As this is not sight, the blind swordsman has no special ability to determine details.
(For example, while a blind blade could determine that he is about to walk right through an illusion, he can't determine what the illusion is, even if he then chooses to use his sight (Though in this case he would get the normal +5 bonus on saving throws for knowing that an illusion exists). Nor could he tell you what the original form of a polymorphed creature was, just that the creature was polymorphed.)
This replaces Master Samurai.
