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<blockquote data-quote="questing gm" data-source="post: 6351196" data-attributes="member: 24003">My group is in the heat of this discussion as well.I ruled that a universal 1/2 cover (+2 AC) bonus should be applied to all characters and monsters engaged in melee regardless of the LOS or positioning of the firing character/monster (which by the the graph in OP, it doesn't matter where the archer is standing), but a player of mine challenged that (not that I don't want my players to do so).By the book, there seems to be no clear rule mentioning the mechanics involved for firing into combat (there was no mention under the Ranged Attack section at least, unless I missed it in another section). But under the Cover rules (page 74) for 1/2 cover, it says:So while it is in the book that creatures do provide 1/2 cover,&nbsp; I think it's fair to say that that should be taken into consideration in melee combat. I think the undermining question, however, is if creatures are a constantly moving cover in engaged melee, or the melee combatants are static and standing in place, allowing the firing character to move around for a clearer shot.That might depend if you want to reward tactical movement in combat (and most likely requiring some form of visual aid for keeping track of every character's place) or you want to keep combat fast and furious (with player's agreement to comply with your ruling, of course).Until there's an official ruling on this, I believe each DM will treat this situation differently on every table.EDIT: Adding in some further thoughts.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="questing gm, post: 6351196, member: 24003"] My group is in the heat of this discussion as well. I ruled that a universal 1/2 cover (+2 AC) bonus should be applied to all characters and monsters engaged in melee regardless of the LOS or positioning of the firing character/monster (which by the the graph in OP, it doesn't matter where the archer is standing), but a player of mine challenged that (not that I don't want my players to do so). By the book, there seems to be no clear rule mentioning the mechanics involved for firing into combat (there was no mention under the Ranged Attack section at least, unless I missed it in another section). But under the Cover rules (page 74) for 1/2 cover, it says: So while it is in the book that creatures do provide 1/2 cover, I think it's fair to say that that should be taken into consideration in melee combat. I think the undermining question, however, is if creatures are a constantly moving cover in engaged melee, or the melee combatants are static and standing in place, allowing the firing character to move around for a clearer shot. That might depend if you want to reward tactical movement in combat (and most likely requiring some form of visual aid for keeping track of every character's place) or you want to keep combat fast and furious (with player's agreement to comply with your ruling, of course). Until there's an official ruling on this, I believe each DM will treat this situation differently on every table. EDIT: Adding in some further thoughts. [/QUOTE]

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