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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6639915" data-attributes="member: 6787650">Cover works against melee too--the only requirement to use cover is that the attack has to originate on the other side of cover. There's nothing about "against ranged attacks" in the cover rules.I do think that it's smart for ranged specialists to also be competent in melee, because if you can't fight in tiny tunnels you're strategically limiting yourself. But even in tiny tunnels, it's often better to have one melee tank and three range specialists, because that way you can bring four PCs' worth of firepower to bear on a chokepoint whereas if everyone were a melee specialist you could only bring one. (And Sharpshooter again shows its worth by preventing your chokepoint PC from acting as involuntary cover, making it harder to shoot the enemies beyond him.)Melee can be stronger in niche situations, but you'll almost always have more tactical flexibility with a ranged capability, which is why even melee dudes should carry throwing daggers.Playing with cover on both sides is one of the best and funnest parts of ranged combats. (Yes, I'm a BattleTech fan.) Melee-only guys are left out of that and have no real option for getting engaged but to charge across no-man's land, getting peppered with arrows in the process, in hopes of surviving long enough to enter the fight on the other side. Hobgoblins love shooting dumb greataxe-wielders full of arrows. I don't actually get to play ranged adversaries as often as I'd like because my PCs avoid fighting intelligent opponents (they'd rather explore than wage war), but when it happens it's fun.And it's not unlikely at all that the hobgoblins will have a field of fire hundreds or thousands of feet long. Not to beat a dead horse, but 600' isn't very far. It's the distance your car goes in 12 seconds when you're moving at 35 mph through a residential neighborhood. It shouldn't be hard in most terrain for rational enemies to choose a position that gives them a field of fire at least 600' long. Even in the "road through the woods" scenario, this could mean a hobgoblin barricade across the road manned by four archers (3/4 cover), who engage anyone getting within 600'. Melee PCs can get off their horses and sneak through the woods to get to the hobgoblins (roll Stealth checks) while missile-using PCs get behind cover of their own and keep them busy in an archery duel--this is a best case scenario for the melee guys[1] but the ranged guys are still more than holding their own, and it's more than possible that by the time melee guys get into range through the difficult terrain, the hobgoblins will already be dead.[1] Well, not quite. A best-case scenario for the melee guys is actually "night attack." Melee and ranged are very nearly equivalent at night.</blockquote>

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