Playing a Deaf Character

Creating your Character

When you create your character (or if an event causes permanent deafness) make a note on your character sheet that they act on a permanent "Deafened" condition. You gain the following features:

• You permanently act under the "Deafened" condition. If your character is only partially deaf, they instead act under the "Partially Deafened" condition, which results in disadvantage on any ability check that relies on sound.
• You gain the "Lip Reader" feature at level 1, detailed later in these rules.
• You learn the "Sign Language" language.
• You have a magic item, an Amulet of Translation - Sign Language, detailed later in these rules.

Perception and Passive Perception

Audio is a large part of how hearing individuals remain aware of the world around them, an advantage that deaf individuals don't have. As a result, deaf individuals rely more on sight than sound, and tend to be more perceptive when it comes to visual aspects of the world.

For active Wisdom (Perception) checks, your DM should determine whether the check is exclusively a sound based check. For example, a dragon roaring might be sound based, but loud sounds also create sound waves and vibrations that can be felt in the air or ground. If the check is purely sound based, you automatically fail the check. If the audio does cause any sort of vibrations that might be felt, or there is something else in the scene that you might be able to notice with any of your other senses, you either make the check normally, or at disadvantage, your DM determining which based on the sound in question.

For Passive Wisdom (Perception) checks, treat your passive score as normal. Learning how to live without sound, you've learned to rely on your other senses for your spacial awareness. Your DM may give you Disadvantage on a check (-5 to passive skills) if the passive check relates exclusively to sound, however you cannot automatically fail a passive Wisdom (Perception) check that relies on sound.

Spellcasting and Verbal Components

Being deaf does not mean a character is mute, and while they may choose not to use their voice, that does not mean that they cant. These rules offer three options for allowing deaf characters to perform verbal components.

• Your character can cast spells as normal, either through practicing the verbal components for spells, or your sign language completing the verbal language components of the spell.

OR

• Your character has practiced the verbal components for your spells, practicing endlessly until you've gotten the mouth movements down. Each time you learn or prepare a spell that you have not used before, you spend part of your time during a long rest practicing the spell. You can only practice one spell in this way per long rest, and you must have at least one unused spell slot of the spell remaining. Once you have done so, you are able to perform the verbal components of the spell as per usual.

OR

• You've studied what mouth movements are required to cast particular spells with verbal components, however doing so can still be difficult, particularly in the midst of combat. When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher, you must make a DC 8 + the spell's level check, using your spellcasting ability modifier plus your proficiency bonus if you are proficient in the Performance skill (Spellcasting Ability [Performance]). On a fail, the spell fails, wasting your action, but not the spell slot.