Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Blind Master
Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted set out to build a fun and functional fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character. Forums and social media posts ad nauseum discuss a particular character concept all the time. Many times over the years folks ask for our take too. Among the new character options in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything a new 5E D&D Fighting Style makes the Blind Master puzzle complete. The Blind Master character incorporates both magical and mundane methods as well as some pretty esoteric martial techniques and truly earns the title of master. Let’s get into it.
Behind the CBG — Blind Master
Every CBG we create considers the journey as much as the final outcome. We aim to present a guide suitable for any level of 5E D&D play whether you’re pursuing an epic campaign from start to finish, starting beyond 1st level or choosing a character for a one shot. Then we take those concepts and develop an NPC or creature version of the character build for DMs to incorporate into their games. All of this gets packaged up and laid out in a PDF you can find over at Dungeon Master’s Guild. We’ve got dozens of pay what you want products at DMG, many of them best sellers so if you want to check those out start with the Blind Master here.
All about the character story
Each CBG starts with a character concept sticking to a particular schtick, from the Mind Breaker’s psyche crushing smites to the Blind Master’s discipline transforming an impairment into a powerful asset. Sometimes puns and pop culture references instigate the creation of a CBG too.
For us it’s important to consider who these characters are as individuals and why they follow these particular paths. One special thing to note with this CBG is while we always aim to make the journey to 20th level as practical as possible — none of these characters “come online” after an awkward slog through many levels — the Blind Master starts off at 1st level already with the components needed to overcome a serious mechanical drawback. By 8th level they’re quite accomplished and as capable as any other warrior in combat plus they’ve got terrific utility outside of battle too. Through learning various disciplines along their journey the Blind Master excels at controlling the battlefield and striking with deadly precision!
Blind Master NPC for 5E D&D
Full disclosure — the NPCs and creatures we make in CBGs are some of my favorite bits of 5E D&D content to create. We step back and look at the character build to find the standout features that feel like signature abilities. The juice! From there we consider what sort of person or people would possess or gain these abilities and build a stat block around them. More often than not the section of a CBG For Dungeon Masters presents a generic creature.
The design challenge for this NPC was representing all the neat stuff the character version can do without presenting a hot mess of a stat block with too many traits, actions and kludgy components all while not only mitigating but empowering their impairment. It as important to me for the NPC to reflect not only the key parts of the character like the Alert feat but also the more unusual elements like Echo Knight fighter. In the end I condensed many of the benefits the character enjoys into a trait, an action and a reaction capturing the spirit, if not the exact manifestation, of those features.
Also I wouldn’t have felt good about it at all without at least one reference to the 1989 Rutger Hauer film. Fun fact — the main reason Dave and Ted settled on the soldier background is for the vehicles (land) proficiency as a reference to this movie.
Humble Warrior. A blind master has little to fear and much to offer the world. Their journey of self-discovery takes them far and wide, where they may find themselves at odds with hostile forces as often as in positions to lend aid to those in need. Aspiring warriors may from time to time cross paths with the blind master with good intentions or ill. In either case they’ll receive quite a lesson in humility themselves.
“Blind Fury (Rechange 6). The blind master increases their reach by 10 feet until the start of their next turn and can make melee weapon attacks against any creature within 10 feet that isn’t behind total cover. When a melee attack hits the blind master can magically teleport to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the target. Until the start of the blind master’s next turn creatures within 10 feet provoke opportunity attacks from them even if they take the Disengage action.”
If your next 5E D&D game needs a character whose impairment develops into a source of incredible power — whether you’re the DM or a player — check out the Blind Master Character Build Guide here.
*Featured image — The depiction of The Wanderer from Magic: The Gathering War of the Spark expansion’s Wanderer’s Strike not only looks incredibly awesome as inspiration for a Blind master, there’s also some narrative connections. Like The Wanderer our Blind Master is also adept at swordplay and capable of magically absorbing energy through their sword. If that’s not enough the planeswalker is attuned to the Blind Eternities. [Art by Sara Winters]
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