Quick Cover Question

[Wisdom Penalty]

I thought I understood Cover, and now I'm no longer certain. Please see the attached image. Please assume we don't have any weird feats or whatever; these creatures are regular Medium-size schlubs.

Green has a short bow.
Yellow has a reach weapon.
Red has a melee weapon.

A few questions:

1) T/F: Green can fire his bow at Yellow without provoking AOs because he has Cover relative to Yellow.

2) T/F: Green can fire his bow at Yellow without any Cover penalties because Yellow does not have Cover relative to Green.

3) T/F: #1 and #2 contradict themselves.

4) T/F: Green can fire his bow at Red, but Red has (soft) Cover from Yellow.

5) T/F: Because Yellow has a reach weapon, Green is considered "in melee" even if he doesn't need to worry about AOs. Therefore, Green suffers a -4 penalty when firing at Yellow because Yellow is "in melee" as well (and Green does not have Precise Shot).

 

[Random Axe]

Pardon my shorthand ignorance, but what is T/F?

Anyway. Both 1 and 2 are correct. And they do not contradict.

4 is correct.

5: the -4 penalty for firing "into melee" does not apply from Green to Yellow. Firing into melee means shooting at 1 of two OTHER combatants engaged with each other. Let's pretend a "Blue" was standing right NEXT to Yellow, attacking Yellow. If Green wanted to shoot at Yellow, then there would be a -4 penalty without Precise Shot. If Green wanted to shoot at Blue, the same thing. Because Yellow and Blue are the ones "in melee". Shooting beyond Yellow and Blue at Red incurs a -4 Cover penalty.

 

[blargney the second]

1) T
2) T
3) F
4) T
5) F. "In melee" means adjacent bases. (aka based)

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

T/F means True/False.

Thanks for the responses.


I actually think Green and Yellow are in melee for purposes of "firing into melee", as that penalty only drops when there's more than 10-feet of separation.

W.P.

 

[blargney the second]

Correction: "in melee" is a little more complicated.

Shooting or Throwing into a Melee

If you shoot or throw a ranged weapon at a target engaged in melee with a friendly character, you take a -4 penalty on your attack roll. Two characters are engaged in melee if they are enemies of each other and either threatens the other. (An unconscious or otherwise immobilized character is not considered engaged unless he is actually being attacked.)

If your target (or the part of your target you’re aiming at, if it’s a big target) is at least 10 feet away from the nearest friendly character, you can avoid the -4 penalty, even if the creature you’re aiming at is engaged in melee with a friendly character.
Precise Shot

If you have the Precise Shot feat you don’t take this penalty.

 

[blargney the second]

"Friendly character" doesn't include yourself. To fire into a melee, there must be at least three combatants: you, your friend, and the enemy he is fighting. The -4 penalty is to simulate taking care to avoid hitting your buddy.

I take the "at least 10 feet away" bit to mean that your attack penalty only applies if they are adjacent to each other and at least one threatens the other. (ie >=10 feet, rather than >10 feet)

 

[Corran]

As to 4) T/F: Green can fire his bow at Red, but Red has (soft) Cover from Yellow.

There was a rule concerning ranged attacks that if the creature that provides cover is closer to the attacker than the defender it does not provide cover.

So in this particular case Yellow would not provide cover because he's closer to Green than Red.

The problem is that I can't find this rule...

I thought it was in the FAQ (Sage Advice) but I can't find it there. Perhaps it's a 3.0 rule (I remember using it in The Sunless Citadel).

 

[blargney the second]

It's the Low Obstacles And Cover section in the cover rules.

 

[frankthedm]

1) True: Green can fire his bow at Yellow without provoking AOs because he has Cover relative to Yellow.

2) True: Green can fire his bow at Yellow without any Cover penalties because Yellow does not have Cover relative to Green.

3) True: #1 and #2 contradict themselves from a logical standpoint. The square combat grid causes this. If one measured from center of base to center of base to determine cover as some wargames do, they both would have cover from one another.

4) True: Green can fire his bow at Red, but Red has (soft) Cover from Yellow.

5) True & False: Because Yellow has a reach weapon, Green is considered "in melee" even if he doesn't need to worry about AoOs. However, Green does not suffer a -4 penalty when firing at Yellow because all friendly characters {to green] are at least 10 feet away.