[RPG] Is your gaze attack dangerous when blind

pathfinder-1e

Suppose Bob the wizard is out and enjoying a stroll through the woods of mild peril and he happens across a Basilisk, which has a 30' gaze attack that could turn Bob to stone.

Bob decides to blind the creature using glitterdust which (after Bob makes his first save for looking at the creature so he can cast the spell) succeeds and to his mind makes sense as Bob has not studied these creatures, poor Bob.

Subsequently the Basilisk is blind.

However, the GM, checking the statements for Blind and Gaze can't see any mention of blindness in gaze attacks or gaze attacks in the blind condition. Bob is still in peril.

This seems rather counter-intuitive; but I can't find any ruling in the standard books about this and blinding a creature that has a gaze attack does nothing to protect victims, especially since facing in Pathfinder is abstract and it doesn't matter which way the creature looks, it's if anyone is looking at the creature.

So; Has there ever been any kind of clarification or update regarding blind creatures with gaze attacks, or have I missed something? Will blinding a gaze attack creature protect you?

Best Answer

By the rules, it is only half effective:

A creature with a gaze attack can actively gaze as an attack action by choosing a target within range. That opponent must attempt a saving throw but can try to avoid this as described above. Thus, it is possible for an opponent to save against a creature's gaze twice during the same round, once before the opponent's action and once during the creature's turn.

So there are two gazes. Passive one, when you look into creature's eyes, and second one is active, when creature chooses to gaze in your eyes. To do so, creature must know where you are, and you still have total concealment against it.

The big question is - is Basilisk's gaze an activity that relies on vision? If so, then we can use rule for blinded condition:

All checks and activities that rely on vision automatically fail.

My personal ruling would be that active gazing is indeed an automatic failure, and for the passive gazing it is the character who is looking, his vision working OK - characters would benefit 50% chance to avoid having to make a saving throw - covering monster's face with dust or making it unable to look around would count, in my opinion, as a way of Averting Eyes. Still, it is also reasonable to rule that gaze simply fails, no matter what.

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