Fighting blind without Blind-fighting

[Twowolves]

Sort of in keeping with the spotting invisible thread, I have some questions regarding an scenario coming up in my game.

I have a medusa with 4 levels in scout that I intend to use as a foe for an archer-type character in a duel. If he closes his eyes to avoid the saves to avoid being petrified, what exactly are the consequences? Is the medusa "invisible" to him, and thus has total concealment (with the 50% miss chance and the "guess my square" game)? Does the medusa not provoke AoO from him? Is he flat footed, or just -2 to hit and ac? Does he get his dex bonus to AC? The medusa has skirmish and Shot on the Run, how hard would it be to guess where to shoot? I looked at "blindness" under the combat modifiers section, and "invisibility" as well, but how the two interact is a little fuzzy to me, and I'm AFMB just now.

Any help?

 

[Klaus]

For all intents and purposes, he's blind. No Dex to AC, must guess a square, 50% miss chance even if he targets the correct square, etc, etc.

 

[Jarrod]

Give that medusa a couple of levels in Rogue instead. Oh, boy, owie.

So. Right. Closing eyes = blind.

Blinded: The character cannot see. He takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class, loses his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any), moves at half speed, and takes a –4 penalty on Search checks and on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Spot checks) automatically fail. All opponents are considered to have total concealment (50% miss chance) to the blinded character. Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them.

If the medusa is running and gunning, then the character must make a Listen check to pinpoint the square the medusa is in. This is an opposed check, so make sure her Move Silently is up.

But seriously. Rogue.

 

[Twowolves]

I thought seriously about rogue levels, but I figured the +10' movement would make up for the short range of her gaze attack (30'). With shot on the run and skirmish, she'll still do extra damage (1d6 vs 2d6), keep him constantly in range, and I wouldn't have to worry about him just hauling butt off in some random direction, staying out of gaze range and dropping her with one full attack hail of arrows.

I feel pretty silly not having looked for the Blinded condition just to start with, instead of reading the combat chapter for what I needed (silly me, thinking the combat chapter would have that kind of info).

 

[hong]

Just put the fight in a 30' square room. Hey presto, no running away.