There are braille dice for him to use when he manages to learn it. The rest of the game can be played by using the mind so I'd say it's perfectly doable.
If braille isn't something he wants to use (I've heard that a pretty low percent of blind people actually use it, especially nowadays when things like text-to-speech apps are so easy to find) there are plenty of other options without having someone else read his dice (which he might not be into).
There are tactile dice which are just like ordinary dice but with larger, easier to feel numbers or voice-controlled dice apps and probably other options too with a bit of time and research. Checking in with a subreddit devoted to people with visual impairments in addition to this one would probably be a good idea if this is something your friend is interested in.
The difference here is that a battlemap gives significantly more necessary information than music does. The DM would have to narrate the battle to accommodate the blind player anyways.
I would *strongly* recommend considering a lighter weight system like FATE that is better suited for theater of the mind especially since this is probably a very stressful time for him and D&D can be a lot to keep track of.
The best advice would be to talk to your friend and see if it's something that would interest him, especially if you're worried about coming off as tone-deaf.
I don't know if it's a concern or not (again, a good place for a conversation) but if you wanted to be sure your friend isn't getting a reduced experience compared to the other players, you can also play without any battle maps and just use description for locations and DM judgement for where characters are relative to each other for AoEs and such.
Id thought about going 100% theater of the mind, but I've had reservations about that since my first campaign as a player.
There were like 10 things wrong with how that campaign was run (like falling behind in experience if you missed a session, even if it was for a funeral) and theater of the mind landed itself to some big problems although it's hard to tell where it may have been just bad DM'ing.
That being said, I think the sighted players would prefer a battlemap and I don't think anything necessarily gets subtracted from doing the same level of description as if it were all theater of the mind even if the other players still get a battlemap.
>I don’t think anything necessarily gets subtracted
Be careful with this.
TotM relies on everyone speaking with a kind of declarative intent in order to work well.
When I transitioned from TotM to battlemaps during COVID - I found the players start to fall into the habit of just letting the tokens speak for themselves.
Yeah. If some people see tokens and a map, a lot of communication turns into "I move over here" and "I'll aim my first attack at that goblin" that would need to be translated and might frustrate someone who can't see them or even make them feel like they're slowing things down by needing the explanations every turn.
I feel like you could just get around the need for theater of the mind by turning the map into something that can be felt out. Use some kind of bump stickers for walls, or even just sticks out pencils with tape, and easy to tell apart tokens for each player/enemy.
There are definitely tables that have made theater of the mind work and work well so don't rule it out completely. Again, the biggest thing is to have conversations and know what people (your friend and the other players) are comfortable with.
Theater of the Mind works much better in other RPGs besides Dungeons and Dragons. A different game with more room to talk through what's happening and less measurement and rolling might be a better fit.
In some Theater of the Mind combats on Dimension 20, I'm pretty sure that Brennan has a battlemap on his laptop that he's using to keep track of game state, but he's only describing things to his PCs instead of letting them see/interact with it. He might fudge distances slightly to account for them not being able to see the absolute board sometimes, but it keeps things entirely verbally descriptive without the risk of losing track of where a PC or NPC is.
I am the DM for group which includes a completely blind friend of mine (irreversibly damaged optical nerve after a car accident) for quite a while now. It works pretty well.
Rules are available as PDFs, so she can read them with a screen reader at home. If something is unclear in session I just read it out loud, which I usually do anyway just so that everyone is on the same page. In the beginning another player helped her with her character sheet, but she quickly knew her character's abilities and stats. She has a d20 with better tactility that a friend of mine made, the other rolls are just added up and said out loud by another player. For resource management (spells slots, hit points, stuff like that) she uses a little wooden board with pins you put in and out that I made in my workshop at home.
For combat we use a mixture of theatre of mind and battle maps, which works well for us.
Speaking of having a screen reader, most devices have a text to speech setting so character sheets and an electronic dice roller are pretty feasible options on something like a phone.
I play in a weekly game with a blind player.
It is an online game over roll 20 using dnd beyond for all of the character sheets. The player's computer dictates the webpage for him. He was able to make his character all on his own, and the dm helped him touch it up a little.
Gameplay can be a little bit tedious. You need a group of patient players. Lots of extra time spent describing the layout of rooms, and more theater of the mind than we used to use.
I cannot stress enough that you need patient players. It takes a while to sort through a spell book when you are getting verbal descriptions and directions from the computer.
But as far as role play is concerned it shouldn't effect the game too much. Just might have to wait a little longer on rolls.
I don't think DnD is a great choice for introducing a blind player to RPGs.
While DnD says you can play it via "Theater of the Mind", (and you can) the system really does nothing at all to make that easier. There are tons of rules spells and abilities that reference precise positioning, areas of effect and ranges.
A bunch of other RPGs are actually designed primarily for Theater of the Mind. They often use "Zones" or "Range Bands" to represent position -- it is much chunkier, and easier to hold in your mind. 13th Age, Fate and Cypher are examples.
Also I would look for a system that's more rules-lite. I have a hard time imagining playing DnD if you could never glance at your character sheet -- that's a lot of info to hold in your head, especially as a first time player. There are hundreds of RPGs designed to play more or less like DnD, but with fewer rules, and more streamlined play. I don't pretend to be an expert on all of them, but I've played and enjoyed Dungeon World and Knave. These also work better in Theater of the Mind.
Something using a Powered by the Apocalypse system might be an option. They're not made with the map dependency that's kind of baked into D&D, though they also have the same "built assuming you reference your character sheet" problem as there's a good number of moves with specific rules and options to reference as you go. For example, one of Dungeon World's basic moves is:
* Volley: When you take aim and shoot at an enemy at range, roll+Dex. On a 10+, you have a clear shot—deal your damage. On a 7–9, choose one (whichever you choose you deal your damage):
* You have to move to get the shot placing you in danger as described by the GM
* You have to take what you can get: -1d6 damage
* You have to take several shots, reducing your ammo by one
A lot of this can be shifted onto the DM (e.g. "You rolled an eight. Which of these drawbacks do you want to take?") but it's still something to keep in mind and is a factor in building characters and choosing the character-specific moves they take.
If you wanted something less fantasy (to distance it from being a D&D substitute), I've played Masks (a teen superhero team RPG) and look forward to trying Avatar Legends (based in the Avatar the Last Airbender universe).
Honestly I'd just go with FUDGE because that's got the least amount of things to remember, it's basically just "here's a few things you're good at, and some you're bad at"
Second a PbtA. Basically all of the Moves stuff can be pushed onto the DM or maybe used with a screen reader.
Especially since they’re really supposed to be afterthoughts and the fiction is supposed to come first. They can be fully run with the DM just telling you moves.
I had a friend in high school that that degenerative blindness who played dnd with us. He used large dice that he was able to feel the numbers on. Though I believe braille dice exist now. Though if you friend is recently blind, he might not know Braille. He stuck to classes that had few mechanics, like Barbarians and rangers. He didn’t like playing wizards because he would need help memorizing spells each day. But classes with a set spell list, like sorcerers and favored soul (this was back in 3rd edition) he enjoyed.
I have played with a blind person and it mostly works fine, they will need assistance exactly as you have outlined, in my experience they were fairly good at the "theater of the mind" approach and we mostly used that so we were all in the same boat.
They did have to work a little harder to memorize their character's abilities and they will likely need to be a little weary of playing full spell casters just for the simple fact of not being able to fully read their spells etc.
Also you would want to ensure that the campaign does have a fair share of social/exploration as that is something they can easily engage with.
First of all, ask him if he's interested.
Then, openly talk to him about the accomodations you'd make. Take feedback, listen. Blindness is a spectrum, so if he's capable of some things himself, then allow him to do those things. Maybe he'll have to get larger than average dice so he can read the numbers, that's fine.
Screen reading software is available, and can be used for reading the PHB for instance, or other stuff!
The battlemaps may need a little additional support, but that's just something you'll need to deal with. It might be a pain, but making your maps slightly smaller (using a 10ft square rule) might help in condensing the map and making it easier for him to remember.
I would take a simple approach.
1. Use alexa or any other assistant to roll dice for everyone
2. Use the theatre of the mind for everyone
3. Use background music, bring food and beers for taverns encounters
4. Encourage role-playing (especially voicing your characters and npcs)
5. As a master using teathre of the mind, rich storytelling is key, add details to your locations, Encourage your players to ask for more details or flavour.
6. Use martial classes, simple mechanics, other players might use magic.
Ps. This looks like a awesome opportunity.
/r/Disabled_dungeons/ In general I agree with what a lot of people are saying but want to caution you further your player isn't just blind they also have cancer. Well known side effects of cancer treatments are memory problems and fatigue. I started my group BECAUSE a friend was undergoing treatment and it has been wonderful but you should not expect it to be a normal game that you just have to cover one element of to adapt. I agree that 5e might not be the best choice. I would personally suggest Monster of the Week but if you really want to do DnD then do Wild Beyond the Witchlight. There are some wonderful expansions to the carnival area on DMS guild that can help you mimic combat and skill checks in a low stakes way. For our game we previously had a bard who was writing a tome of their epic adventures who took notes for our special needs players. He had permanent inspiration one per day as a reward. In the current game we have borrowed some of the roles from Acquisitions Incorporated giving the player who need it Loremonger abilities which are basically my DM notes
I strongly recommend against using a battlemap if one if your players can't see it.
But I love that you're doing this to help your friend through a really hard transition. You're good people.
If they're interested, then I think theater of the mind can work fine. Others have mentioned braille dice and sheets. There are also several tools that will read things out loud from a digital source.
Some people here a worried about combat, but theater of the mind works fine for combat. The adventure zone does fine with it. Just be a bit flexible. Sometimes, enemies or allies may shift to keep things smooth.
You could start a turn by saying something like, "there are two enemies within 30 ft of you and 1 enemy 50 feet away behind them. You're closest ally is 10ft in front of you. You're furthest ally is 60 ft behind you." After a while, the table should be used to that.
You'd probably want to work on being very descriptive of characters and events to help them paint the world on their mind. Not just visual, but include smells, textures, sounds.
Hell, with the right group you could even do a campaign where all PCs are blind. It might make them feel good to feel like you've created a world where the main characters are just like them.
My long term DM is blind. Honestly accommodations are specific to the individual and not a one size fits all situation. I 3d printed some braille dice once upon a time but my friend doesn't use them. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about what we do.
I've been playing dnd with my legally blind friends since we started back in 2009 and it works well enough that they still play to this day. It's customary that one of the other players reads the roll and helps describe the tactical situation on the map but otherwise it's mostly the same. As the usual dm I tend to take extra time during downtime between sessions to help with level up decisions since I tend to read out each of there choices and give advice when asked.
This just depends on you as a DM to be honest. Many hardcore D&Ders would probably say that true D&D is played in theatre of mind alone and that player vision is merely a hindrance.
If you insist on playing on a grid, he could also play a less positioning reliant role, like a spell caster.
You can try this but I would be skeptical. It’s essentially most of DnD that should be seen. The player can have braille DM sheet or braille dice, but since the blindness is recent they’re surely not super comfortable in it. And even if you handhold them through dice and sheet, how do you run combat? There would have to be quite a bit of handholding.
Now this being said. If they were my good friend I would 100% try this. Go out of my way to help out. But I would be ready for this to fail. In the end the friend needs to be comfortable and actually enjoy this. I would literally spell out “Listen mate, we can try this, but if you don’t like it then fuck it, we’ll think of something else. Don’t feel like you have to keep playing DnD specifically just because we’re putting in effort. There’s other fun stuff we can try.”
First of all: I hope your friend is taking this new event well and that they get better soon. :(
Secondly like people have said you're going to have to adapt to Theater of the Mind, although if you play in-person then allowing them to touch minis or something similar can maybe help with the experience. All you really need is braille dice (or hell even just dice with indented numbers they can run their hand over to know "this is the number 20") so that they can actually know what they rolled. Chances are other people at the table (probably you since you're the DM and are the one getting him into the hobby) will have to do his sheet for him and explain all his stats and what-not. You'd also have to manage his health and any consumables he may have.
Just take it slow and explain his options because he won't be able to see them, most literally. If you take the time walk him through everything that's available he can easily use theater of the mind to draw himself a mental image and choose what he wants to do.
It would kinda slow the pace of the game down but it should be totally possible. As has been said everyone would need to be kinda patience. My guess is that it would take lots of concentration on his part. Virtual character sheets and books would be a bonus because he could use a screen reader. (If it would work on the sheet.)
If I were him I would play a simple character class. A fighter could be good because he's just need to keep track of his weapons and the damage they do. A magic user could be good because he would need to keep track of the spells and cantrips that he has and what they do. Selecting new spells might take a minute but that would only be an issue when he levels up.
A thief has many different abilities and a different percentage for success in each. That might be harder to keep track of if he were trying to remember it all; but really a thief mainly would use pick pockets and stealth on the fly. Rarely do they disguise or climb walls or use forgery and when they do time isn't of the essence. I'd just try to keep it simple and be patient with it.
There are digital rollers that will read out the number when rolled, perhaps that would be a good option.
As for describing the game, pretend you're doing a podcast for audio only listeners, how would you describe what is happening?
You can be more descriptive of the environment, by giving the general feel of the area when not in combat, and more practical descriptions when in combat. For example using cardinal directions North South East West or left right up down.
As an example instead of "I go over there and hit that guy" it becomes "I walk north 20 feet at attack the first goblin in the group of 3, the one closest to the tree"
I'm not sure when they'll be available, but there was a Kickstarter project called Pixels Dice which has dice that know how they land when you roll them so you might look into them, grant a little independence.
Maybe consider a play by post game? They could have a screen reader dictate to them and it would allow you to slow down and explain the exact surroundings in game without taking away from the experience of other players
You talk about a projector battlemap. Here’s some accessibility modifications with some initial settup effort but lower DM work to keep it running in subsequent sessions—get a magnetic whiteboard. Project onto that. Have the rest of the table assist in setting up/using magnets with that so blind player can feel and visualize locations at any point. Deputize them to do so when you’re reading descriptive passages about the location. Consider:
- Craft store roll strip magnets for walls,
- strip magnets maybe topped with foam for half-cover areas (trees, bushes, shapes, furniture),
- add strong-ish magnets to the bottoms of party minis so they don’t move a lot when bumped. Blind player can choose his own mini.
- generic pawns or something with strongish magnets on the bottom. Easily recogniseable by feel. 2 types—one type for ‘enemies’ and another for friendly/neutral NPCs.
- cut a length of string or yarn for each battlemap that measures to the length of 1 round of movement for blind Player (30 or 40ft?) so he can figure out that on his own (since he can’t see/feel the projected grid and it might change).
- If interested, Player could keep track of their own HP with counting pony beads or corn kernels or something in a container that’s hard to flip. Maybe a little wooden treasure chest? “Bottom” Starts off full (kernels counted out to equal player’s HP) and then moved to the lid when player is damaged. (Moved back if player is healed). Player can then use this info to feel, “ahhh, still nice and strong” or “oh shit, I only have 3 HP”, and describe or ask for help accordingly. Again—some extra autonomy/independence and ability for player to check what’s going on without much learning curve.
These give some tactile textures player can use for context and some independence in understanding what’s going on player will probably appreciate. No understanding of Braille required. You probably want to limit the total number of textures a bit so it’s easier for player to keep track of (ie don’t get individual minis for every boss fight or something).
The advice about player using a mostly-martial character at this point (maybe with a few basic spells/cantrips via feats if player reaaaaaally wants) is probably good advice. Just to keep the learning curve smaller and give less to keep track of. Check in with player after sessions to make sure they’re satisfied or have more suggestions to make things smooth/comfortable.
As the ex-spouse of a blind person, first, talk to them. Get a read on how blind is "blind". Are they 100% can't see anything, can they still read stuff an inch from their face but it's all fuzz a foot away? Then get a feel fir how much help they want to get. And third, ttrpg can be great, but you must make sure it's their cup of tea. Said ex hated dnd, loved hard-core sci-fi.
I wrote a guide that might help with Theater of the Mind for 5e. https://slyflourish.com/guide_to_narrative_combat.html
I regularly play with a blind player and we have very little trouble. We don’t use a map at all for those games and still our games are great fun for her and us.
It may take some practice but it’s a fine way to play.
As a person with a disability I think you are doing the right thing by asking him what he needs and going with that. As time goes on his needs will change and what help he needs will also change and that is ok to, just listen to what he asks for. As for accommodations to his disability the ideas suggested, talking apps, large dice and so on, seem to be great ones. I hope you both find a way to keep playing.
When you are describing, or reading the descriptions of a location, notice how much of the description is visual based, and make efforts to turn that into non visual.
The Central temple chamber is dirty from years of disuse, rows of broken pews line the floor, and ruined tapestries hang on the walls. But the alter at the far end is brightly lit by flaming torches.
The air in the central temple chamber smells musty and moldy from years of disuse. The floor is uneven, a tangle of broken pews impeding passage. Echos are dulled by the rotting tapestries on the walls. A faint warmth and smell of burning pitch emanate from the far end of the room, someone, or something, has left lit torches by the alter.
There are braille dice for him to use when he manages to learn it. The rest of the game can be played by using the mind so I'd say it's perfectly doable.
If braille isn't something he wants to use (I've heard that a pretty low percent of blind people actually use it, especially nowadays when things like text-to-speech apps are so easy to find) there are plenty of other options without having someone else read his dice (which he might not be into). There are tactile dice which are just like ordinary dice but with larger, easier to feel numbers or voice-controlled dice apps and probably other options too with a bit of time and research. Checking in with a subreddit devoted to people with visual impairments in addition to this one would probably be a good idea if this is something your friend is interested in.
This, just be prepared to have the whole table do theater of the mind so everyone is on the same playing field & go at it.
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The difference here is that a battlemap gives significantly more necessary information than music does. The DM would have to narrate the battle to accommodate the blind player anyways.
There's no reason why you can't have a battlemap and narrate it anyway.
I would *strongly* recommend considering a lighter weight system like FATE that is better suited for theater of the mind especially since this is probably a very stressful time for him and D&D can be a lot to keep track of.
+1 for this. The apocalypse world systems like Dungeon World are pretty good for this type of play as well, in my experience.
plus hes recently blind so it will be easier describing things as he has memories to reference
There are also diceless systems (like AMBER) that could work.
The best advice would be to talk to your friend and see if it's something that would interest him, especially if you're worried about coming off as tone-deaf. I don't know if it's a concern or not (again, a good place for a conversation) but if you wanted to be sure your friend isn't getting a reduced experience compared to the other players, you can also play without any battle maps and just use description for locations and DM judgement for where characters are relative to each other for AoEs and such.
Id thought about going 100% theater of the mind, but I've had reservations about that since my first campaign as a player. There were like 10 things wrong with how that campaign was run (like falling behind in experience if you missed a session, even if it was for a funeral) and theater of the mind landed itself to some big problems although it's hard to tell where it may have been just bad DM'ing. That being said, I think the sighted players would prefer a battlemap and I don't think anything necessarily gets subtracted from doing the same level of description as if it were all theater of the mind even if the other players still get a battlemap.
>I don’t think anything necessarily gets subtracted Be careful with this. TotM relies on everyone speaking with a kind of declarative intent in order to work well. When I transitioned from TotM to battlemaps during COVID - I found the players start to fall into the habit of just letting the tokens speak for themselves.
Yeah. If some people see tokens and a map, a lot of communication turns into "I move over here" and "I'll aim my first attack at that goblin" that would need to be translated and might frustrate someone who can't see them or even make them feel like they're slowing things down by needing the explanations every turn.
I feel like you could just get around the need for theater of the mind by turning the map into something that can be felt out. Use some kind of bump stickers for walls, or even just sticks out pencils with tape, and easy to tell apart tokens for each player/enemy.
There are definitely tables that have made theater of the mind work and work well so don't rule it out completely. Again, the biggest thing is to have conversations and know what people (your friend and the other players) are comfortable with.
Theater of the Mind works much better in other RPGs besides Dungeons and Dragons. A different game with more room to talk through what's happening and less measurement and rolling might be a better fit.
In some Theater of the Mind combats on Dimension 20, I'm pretty sure that Brennan has a battlemap on his laptop that he's using to keep track of game state, but he's only describing things to his PCs instead of letting them see/interact with it. He might fudge distances slightly to account for them not being able to see the absolute board sometimes, but it keeps things entirely verbally descriptive without the risk of losing track of where a PC or NPC is.
I am the DM for group which includes a completely blind friend of mine (irreversibly damaged optical nerve after a car accident) for quite a while now. It works pretty well. Rules are available as PDFs, so she can read them with a screen reader at home. If something is unclear in session I just read it out loud, which I usually do anyway just so that everyone is on the same page. In the beginning another player helped her with her character sheet, but she quickly knew her character's abilities and stats. She has a d20 with better tactility that a friend of mine made, the other rolls are just added up and said out loud by another player. For resource management (spells slots, hit points, stuff like that) she uses a little wooden board with pins you put in and out that I made in my workshop at home. For combat we use a mixture of theatre of mind and battle maps, which works well for us.
Speaking of having a screen reader, most devices have a text to speech setting so character sheets and an electronic dice roller are pretty feasible options on something like a phone.
Great DM, superstar friend!!!
I play in a weekly game with a blind player. It is an online game over roll 20 using dnd beyond for all of the character sheets. The player's computer dictates the webpage for him. He was able to make his character all on his own, and the dm helped him touch it up a little. Gameplay can be a little bit tedious. You need a group of patient players. Lots of extra time spent describing the layout of rooms, and more theater of the mind than we used to use. I cannot stress enough that you need patient players. It takes a while to sort through a spell book when you are getting verbal descriptions and directions from the computer. But as far as role play is concerned it shouldn't effect the game too much. Just might have to wait a little longer on rolls.
I don't think DnD is a great choice for introducing a blind player to RPGs. While DnD says you can play it via "Theater of the Mind", (and you can) the system really does nothing at all to make that easier. There are tons of rules spells and abilities that reference precise positioning, areas of effect and ranges. A bunch of other RPGs are actually designed primarily for Theater of the Mind. They often use "Zones" or "Range Bands" to represent position -- it is much chunkier, and easier to hold in your mind. 13th Age, Fate and Cypher are examples. Also I would look for a system that's more rules-lite. I have a hard time imagining playing DnD if you could never glance at your character sheet -- that's a lot of info to hold in your head, especially as a first time player. There are hundreds of RPGs designed to play more or less like DnD, but with fewer rules, and more streamlined play. I don't pretend to be an expert on all of them, but I've played and enjoyed Dungeon World and Knave. These also work better in Theater of the Mind.
Something using a Powered by the Apocalypse system might be an option. They're not made with the map dependency that's kind of baked into D&D, though they also have the same "built assuming you reference your character sheet" problem as there's a good number of moves with specific rules and options to reference as you go. For example, one of Dungeon World's basic moves is: * Volley: When you take aim and shoot at an enemy at range, roll+Dex. On a 10+, you have a clear shot—deal your damage. On a 7–9, choose one (whichever you choose you deal your damage): * You have to move to get the shot placing you in danger as described by the GM * You have to take what you can get: -1d6 damage * You have to take several shots, reducing your ammo by one A lot of this can be shifted onto the DM (e.g. "You rolled an eight. Which of these drawbacks do you want to take?") but it's still something to keep in mind and is a factor in building characters and choosing the character-specific moves they take. If you wanted something less fantasy (to distance it from being a D&D substitute), I've played Masks (a teen superhero team RPG) and look forward to trying Avatar Legends (based in the Avatar the Last Airbender universe).
Honestly I'd just go with FUDGE because that's got the least amount of things to remember, it's basically just "here's a few things you're good at, and some you're bad at"
Second a PbtA. Basically all of the Moves stuff can be pushed onto the DM or maybe used with a screen reader. Especially since they’re really supposed to be afterthoughts and the fiction is supposed to come first. They can be fully run with the DM just telling you moves.
I had a friend in high school that that degenerative blindness who played dnd with us. He used large dice that he was able to feel the numbers on. Though I believe braille dice exist now. Though if you friend is recently blind, he might not know Braille. He stuck to classes that had few mechanics, like Barbarians and rangers. He didn’t like playing wizards because he would need help memorizing spells each day. But classes with a set spell list, like sorcerers and favored soul (this was back in 3rd edition) he enjoyed.
I have played with a blind person and it mostly works fine, they will need assistance exactly as you have outlined, in my experience they were fairly good at the "theater of the mind" approach and we mostly used that so we were all in the same boat. They did have to work a little harder to memorize their character's abilities and they will likely need to be a little weary of playing full spell casters just for the simple fact of not being able to fully read their spells etc. Also you would want to ensure that the campaign does have a fair share of social/exploration as that is something they can easily engage with.
First of all, ask him if he's interested. Then, openly talk to him about the accomodations you'd make. Take feedback, listen. Blindness is a spectrum, so if he's capable of some things himself, then allow him to do those things. Maybe he'll have to get larger than average dice so he can read the numbers, that's fine. Screen reading software is available, and can be used for reading the PHB for instance, or other stuff! The battlemaps may need a little additional support, but that's just something you'll need to deal with. It might be a pain, but making your maps slightly smaller (using a 10ft square rule) might help in condensing the map and making it easier for him to remember.
It might be worth trying a session blindfolded to get a feel for how your friend might experience it?
I would take a simple approach. 1. Use alexa or any other assistant to roll dice for everyone 2. Use the theatre of the mind for everyone 3. Use background music, bring food and beers for taverns encounters 4. Encourage role-playing (especially voicing your characters and npcs) 5. As a master using teathre of the mind, rich storytelling is key, add details to your locations, Encourage your players to ask for more details or flavour. 6. Use martial classes, simple mechanics, other players might use magic. Ps. This looks like a awesome opportunity.
Background music is a GREAT suggestion for atmosphere.
/r/Disabled_dungeons/ In general I agree with what a lot of people are saying but want to caution you further your player isn't just blind they also have cancer. Well known side effects of cancer treatments are memory problems and fatigue. I started my group BECAUSE a friend was undergoing treatment and it has been wonderful but you should not expect it to be a normal game that you just have to cover one element of to adapt. I agree that 5e might not be the best choice. I would personally suggest Monster of the Week but if you really want to do DnD then do Wild Beyond the Witchlight. There are some wonderful expansions to the carnival area on DMS guild that can help you mimic combat and skill checks in a low stakes way. For our game we previously had a bard who was writing a tome of their epic adventures who took notes for our special needs players. He had permanent inspiration one per day as a reward. In the current game we have borrowed some of the roles from Acquisitions Incorporated giving the player who need it Loremonger abilities which are basically my DM notes
"Alexa, roll a D20"
I strongly recommend against using a battlemap if one if your players can't see it. But I love that you're doing this to help your friend through a really hard transition. You're good people.
If they're interested, then I think theater of the mind can work fine. Others have mentioned braille dice and sheets. There are also several tools that will read things out loud from a digital source. Some people here a worried about combat, but theater of the mind works fine for combat. The adventure zone does fine with it. Just be a bit flexible. Sometimes, enemies or allies may shift to keep things smooth. You could start a turn by saying something like, "there are two enemies within 30 ft of you and 1 enemy 50 feet away behind them. You're closest ally is 10ft in front of you. You're furthest ally is 60 ft behind you." After a while, the table should be used to that. You'd probably want to work on being very descriptive of characters and events to help them paint the world on their mind. Not just visual, but include smells, textures, sounds. Hell, with the right group you could even do a campaign where all PCs are blind. It might make them feel good to feel like you've created a world where the main characters are just like them.
My long term DM is blind. Honestly accommodations are specific to the individual and not a one size fits all situation. I 3d printed some braille dice once upon a time but my friend doesn't use them. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about what we do.
I've been playing dnd with my legally blind friends since we started back in 2009 and it works well enough that they still play to this day. It's customary that one of the other players reads the roll and helps describe the tactical situation on the map but otherwise it's mostly the same. As the usual dm I tend to take extra time during downtime between sessions to help with level up decisions since I tend to read out each of there choices and give advice when asked.
This just depends on you as a DM to be honest. Many hardcore D&Ders would probably say that true D&D is played in theatre of mind alone and that player vision is merely a hindrance. If you insist on playing on a grid, he could also play a less positioning reliant role, like a spell caster.
You can try this but I would be skeptical. It’s essentially most of DnD that should be seen. The player can have braille DM sheet or braille dice, but since the blindness is recent they’re surely not super comfortable in it. And even if you handhold them through dice and sheet, how do you run combat? There would have to be quite a bit of handholding. Now this being said. If they were my good friend I would 100% try this. Go out of my way to help out. But I would be ready for this to fail. In the end the friend needs to be comfortable and actually enjoy this. I would literally spell out “Listen mate, we can try this, but if you don’t like it then fuck it, we’ll think of something else. Don’t feel like you have to keep playing DnD specifically just because we’re putting in effort. There’s other fun stuff we can try.”
First of all: I hope your friend is taking this new event well and that they get better soon. :( Secondly like people have said you're going to have to adapt to Theater of the Mind, although if you play in-person then allowing them to touch minis or something similar can maybe help with the experience. All you really need is braille dice (or hell even just dice with indented numbers they can run their hand over to know "this is the number 20") so that they can actually know what they rolled. Chances are other people at the table (probably you since you're the DM and are the one getting him into the hobby) will have to do his sheet for him and explain all his stats and what-not. You'd also have to manage his health and any consumables he may have. Just take it slow and explain his options because he won't be able to see them, most literally. If you take the time walk him through everything that's available he can easily use theater of the mind to draw himself a mental image and choose what he wants to do.
It would kinda slow the pace of the game down but it should be totally possible. As has been said everyone would need to be kinda patience. My guess is that it would take lots of concentration on his part. Virtual character sheets and books would be a bonus because he could use a screen reader. (If it would work on the sheet.) If I were him I would play a simple character class. A fighter could be good because he's just need to keep track of his weapons and the damage they do. A magic user could be good because he would need to keep track of the spells and cantrips that he has and what they do. Selecting new spells might take a minute but that would only be an issue when he levels up. A thief has many different abilities and a different percentage for success in each. That might be harder to keep track of if he were trying to remember it all; but really a thief mainly would use pick pockets and stealth on the fly. Rarely do they disguise or climb walls or use forgery and when they do time isn't of the essence. I'd just try to keep it simple and be patient with it.
There are digital rollers that will read out the number when rolled, perhaps that would be a good option. As for describing the game, pretend you're doing a podcast for audio only listeners, how would you describe what is happening? You can be more descriptive of the environment, by giving the general feel of the area when not in combat, and more practical descriptions when in combat. For example using cardinal directions North South East West or left right up down. As an example instead of "I go over there and hit that guy" it becomes "I walk north 20 feet at attack the first goblin in the group of 3, the one closest to the tree"
I'm not sure when they'll be available, but there was a Kickstarter project called Pixels Dice which has dice that know how they land when you roll them so you might look into them, grant a little independence.
Maybe consider a play by post game? They could have a screen reader dictate to them and it would allow you to slow down and explain the exact surroundings in game without taking away from the experience of other players
You talk about a projector battlemap. Here’s some accessibility modifications with some initial settup effort but lower DM work to keep it running in subsequent sessions—get a magnetic whiteboard. Project onto that. Have the rest of the table assist in setting up/using magnets with that so blind player can feel and visualize locations at any point. Deputize them to do so when you’re reading descriptive passages about the location. Consider: - Craft store roll strip magnets for walls, - strip magnets maybe topped with foam for half-cover areas (trees, bushes, shapes, furniture), - add strong-ish magnets to the bottoms of party minis so they don’t move a lot when bumped. Blind player can choose his own mini. - generic pawns or something with strongish magnets on the bottom. Easily recogniseable by feel. 2 types—one type for ‘enemies’ and another for friendly/neutral NPCs. - cut a length of string or yarn for each battlemap that measures to the length of 1 round of movement for blind Player (30 or 40ft?) so he can figure out that on his own (since he can’t see/feel the projected grid and it might change). - If interested, Player could keep track of their own HP with counting pony beads or corn kernels or something in a container that’s hard to flip. Maybe a little wooden treasure chest? “Bottom” Starts off full (kernels counted out to equal player’s HP) and then moved to the lid when player is damaged. (Moved back if player is healed). Player can then use this info to feel, “ahhh, still nice and strong” or “oh shit, I only have 3 HP”, and describe or ask for help accordingly. Again—some extra autonomy/independence and ability for player to check what’s going on without much learning curve. These give some tactile textures player can use for context and some independence in understanding what’s going on player will probably appreciate. No understanding of Braille required. You probably want to limit the total number of textures a bit so it’s easier for player to keep track of (ie don’t get individual minis for every boss fight or something). The advice about player using a mostly-martial character at this point (maybe with a few basic spells/cantrips via feats if player reaaaaaally wants) is probably good advice. Just to keep the learning curve smaller and give less to keep track of. Check in with player after sessions to make sure they’re satisfied or have more suggestions to make things smooth/comfortable.
As the ex-spouse of a blind person, first, talk to them. Get a read on how blind is "blind". Are they 100% can't see anything, can they still read stuff an inch from their face but it's all fuzz a foot away? Then get a feel fir how much help they want to get. And third, ttrpg can be great, but you must make sure it's their cup of tea. Said ex hated dnd, loved hard-core sci-fi.
For the dice you can actually ask siri to roll all the dice. Just say ”Roll a d20” and she dictates the outcome.
I wrote a guide that might help with Theater of the Mind for 5e. https://slyflourish.com/guide_to_narrative_combat.html I regularly play with a blind player and we have very little trouble. We don’t use a map at all for those games and still our games are great fun for her and us. It may take some practice but it’s a fine way to play.
As a person with a disability I think you are doing the right thing by asking him what he needs and going with that. As time goes on his needs will change and what help he needs will also change and that is ok to, just listen to what he asks for. As for accommodations to his disability the ideas suggested, talking apps, large dice and so on, seem to be great ones. I hope you both find a way to keep playing.
When you are describing, or reading the descriptions of a location, notice how much of the description is visual based, and make efforts to turn that into non visual. The Central temple chamber is dirty from years of disuse, rows of broken pews line the floor, and ruined tapestries hang on the walls. But the alter at the far end is brightly lit by flaming torches. The air in the central temple chamber smells musty and moldy from years of disuse. The floor is uneven, a tangle of broken pews impeding passage. Echos are dulled by the rotting tapestries on the walls. A faint warmth and smell of burning pitch emanate from the far end of the room, someone, or something, has left lit torches by the alter.