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<blockquote data-quote="Critic of the Dawn" data-source="post: 3681079" data-attributes="member: 43085">If you don't get a flanking bonus, from my parsing of the text you are not actually flanking.&nbsp; Nothing seems to indicate that you can be flanking in a case when a flanking bonus is denied to you.&nbsp; While the RAW and the FAQ do not appear to specifically state that flanking does not apply in the case you suggested, the examples given seem to suggest that this was the intention.I interpret the Flanking Rules to indicate that the creature must be in the threatened squares of two creatures on opposite sides of it, and that the test is to draw an imaginary line to see if it passes through opposite borders of the creatures space.&nbsp; Unless you have some way of threatening squares with your bow (normally this is not possible, but there may be spells or prestige classes that allow it), I would not allow you to flank with it.&nbsp; If you did get some way to threaten with your bow, however, I think it would make sense to allow you to flank with it - one of the examples given in the PHB has a Hobgoblin gaining the benefit of flanking while using a reach weapon, so if you can figure out a way to use your bow in the same way, I'd consider it okay.Note that even if your DM allowed you to flank with a bow, you would still take a -4 to your attack roll for firing into melee unless you had the Precise Shot feat.Eric &quot;Critic of the Dawn&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Critic of the Dawn, post: 3681079, member: 43085"] If you don't get a flanking bonus, from my parsing of the text you are not actually flanking. Nothing seems to indicate that you can be flanking in a case when a flanking bonus is denied to you. While the RAW and the FAQ do not appear to specifically state that flanking does not apply in the case you suggested, the examples given seem to suggest that this was the intention. I interpret the Flanking Rules to indicate that the creature must be in the threatened squares of two creatures on opposite sides of it, and that the test is to draw an imaginary line to see if it passes through opposite borders of the creatures space. Unless you have some way of threatening squares with your bow (normally this is not possible, but there may be spells or prestige classes that allow it), I would not allow you to flank with it. If you did get some way to threaten with your bow, however, I think it would make sense to allow you to flank with it - one of the examples given in the PHB has a Hobgoblin gaining the benefit of flanking while using a reach weapon, so if you can figure out a way to use your bow in the same way, I'd consider it okay. Note that even if your DM allowed you to flank with a bow, you would still take a -4 to your attack roll for firing into melee unless you had the Precise Shot feat. Eric "Critic of the Dawn" [/QUOTE]

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