Cover and conceal me

[Rechan]

I see a LOT of powers/items that allow one to ignore cover/concealment.

Is it me, or do cover/concealment not come up in a lot of battles?

For some reason my players never hide behind cover, and encounters I've played in, there aren't a lot of cover to hide behind. Concealment only happens in the case of monsters that grant concealment to themselves.

Is this just a fluke, or is it just a theorietical emphasis?

[Infiniti2000]

Cover comes up a lot in our games, at least once per combat and probably about 3 times per combat. With the significant amount of movement possible in the game, cover is easy enough to obtain. It's a sure thing for any ranged attacker. If you don't see cover used, then it's because a/ you have no ranged attackers on either side, b/ the DM doesn't provide interesting terrain, c/ your ranged attackers are not targeting the bosses behind the enemy lines (allies provide cover) or perhaps the DM is not arranging the bosses behind mooks.

My guess is simply a failure on the DM's part somewhere. For instance, the standard modules provide a huge number of possibilities for cover so I'm sure you're not using them (which is fine, but it does provide an example of interesting terrain).

Concealment isn't as often and depends on the PCs chosen. If you have a warlock or rogue or stealthy ranger, you'll likely see a lot of concealment. You still won't see as much concealment for opponents, but I would think you should still see some, perhaps 1 in every 4 encounters. This is also mostly encounter design by the DM (e.g. shadowy rooms, encounters at dusk or night, stealthy opponents, magic).

[keterys]

The next fight I'm running tomorrow includes 3 flyers on ledges (so cover from attacks from the ground) and shadow hounds (so concealment for anyone who doesn't have low light or better)...

Goblin Hexers are another way for concealment to come up.

I would say that cover should be an actual concern quite frequently, but concealment is generally easy to get around. I'm not so sure sunrods are a good thing for the game.

[Ryujin]

My Warlock has concealment virtually every round, by simple virtue of moving 3 or more squares. If there is cover nearby I'll take it, because I don't like getting stomped. Creatures fighting in ranks provide cover to the creatures behind them. There are zone powers that provide concealment, in addition to other effects.

[N0Man]

The amount of cover and concealment in a game is likely going to be affected greatly by the following factors:

1. Classes being represented in your game that have powers and abilities to gain concealment.
2. Classes being represented in your game that have powers and abilities that gain considerable benefit from cover and concealment.
3. Players in your game that are tactically minded enough to consider the use of cover and concealment.
4. A DM that designs encounters with varying environments and interesting details, which can effectively create cover and concealment.

For your own games, make a point to throw in a few details to the environment to help flesh it out and allow for cover. If your players don't pick up on it automatically, run the monsters so that they make use of the cover against players. When your players see monsters using environment to their advantage, it helps drive the point home to them that they can and should follow suit. Put in tables, columns, barrels, rocks, altars, stalactites, or whatever fits the environment.

As a player, try to draw more details out of the DM. Ask him if there are certain details in this room that one might logically find here. Improvise and use something unexpected as cover. Use your teammates as cover, or provide cover to them. It is possible to provide cover, and even superior cover through formations with your teammates.

[Lauberfen]

My group is just encountering a 'world wide sunrod shortage' to try and make lighting meaningful again.