Cover and Concealment?

[Imaginari]

Hi all,

Question: Do cover and concealment stack?

(1) The bad guys are in the room with you. It is fairly dark and you can't see them clearly. They have partial concealment, -2 to hit.

(2) There is a low wall in the room which some of the bad guys are hiding behind. The low wall provides partial cover, -2 to hit.

So, if you wanted to hit the bad guy behind the wall in the somewhat dark room, what penalty do you have? -2 or -4 because they have both cover and concealment.

This example aside, would there be any situation where someone would have both cover and concealment penalties?

Thanks.

 

[Mistwell]

Yes, as far as I can tell they stack. -4 penalty to attacks.

 

[Syrsuro]

Hi all,

Question: Do cover and concealment stack?

(1) The bad guys are in the room with you. It is fairly dark and you can't see them clearly. They have partial concealment, -2 to hit.

(2) There is a low wall in the room which some of the bad guys are hiding behind. The low wall provides partial cover, -2 to hit.

So, if you wanted to hit the bad guy behind the wall in the somewhat dark room, what penalty do you have? -2 or -4 because they have both cover and concealment.

This example aside, would there be any situation where someone would have both cover and concealment penalties?

Thanks.

Interesting question. By the RAW, it would appear that they do stack.

I can see it arising in several ways (blind character shooting at someone with cover, fights involving cover in areas of dim lighting or smoke, etc.)

In fact - it ought to occur everytime your party faces a subterranean creature with a range attack and darkvision (e.g. Kobolds). Even if you have them using a light under normal conditions (for whatever reason), as soon as the fight breaks out the ranged attackers will duck behind their cover and douse their light - giving them the benefit of both concealment and cover versus the players.

Carl