Hitting friends in meelee with missle weapons

[CM]

I wish that were true in my campaign. Right now it is "if you hit cover, it is auto-hit your pal" and the archer just doesn't care.

Next time you fight a BBEG with a very high AC, be sure to move around behind him and have the archer target you. Assuming he misses you, he'll auto-hit the BBEG right?

 

[billd91]

I wish that were true in my campaign. Right now it is "if you hit cover, it is auto-hit your pal" and the archer just doesn't care.

It sounds to me that the archer needs an attitude adjustment, in a severe way.
I'd lay the smackdown on him for one too many shots in the back.

I'd also tell the DM that it doesn't make sense for all attacks hitting the cover to do damage since they might not penetrate the defenses of the cover even if they make contact. That's what AC is all about, isn't it?

I use this variant rule when I run the game. I think that lobbing any kind of missile weapon into a melee situation should be a highly dangerous practice, particularly if the line of sight runs right through your own ally's location. That's just asking for trouble, and I dish it out with relish.

 

[Templetroll]

This came up in our group. The party tanks, a human paladin and a human fighter, were constantly being pelted from behind, sometimes severely, by their supposed allies.

The paladin solved the problem rather elegantly. In front of the party he swore an oath to his god that he would absolutely slay the next being that struck him from behind with a projectile, if he had to hunt them to ends of the earth.

The party thief died two encounters later from suspiciously longsword-looking wounds. By sheerest coincidence, the paladin favored the longsword. Several other characters deviated their feat-paths to include Point-Blank and Precise Shot.

Problem solved. (And no, the paladin didn't fall from grace, GM ruled that ample warning was provided.)

Way back in 1e we had a huge group, around 12 players at a time. This made the party order big and due to that 'friendly fire' hits did occur. One player was the worst, always played a hobbit, tried to be in the middle of the party as it was supposed to be safest and always had things to throw with his great dex. He was responsible for more misses and more friendly fire damage than anyone.

Once, on a mountain path (these always happened on mountain paths..) some winter wolves attacked the front of the party. Two sturdy guys, at least one was a ranger (I think the only actual Good alignment in the party), were there when the hobbit tossed a bottle of alchemist's fire up there and hit the ranger, hurting both the guys in melee.

As the DM counted down the initiatives the rest of the party turned from that fight and everyone took an attack at the hobbit. The player was standing by the table his jaw dropped open and letting folks know he was getting low on hits. No one replied to him.

The hobbit died. The body was searched quickly and tossed off the mountainside. The player didn't missile into melee during games after that. I think he waited until the next week to roll up a new character.

 

[Scratched_back]

Next time you fight a BBEG with a very high AC, be sure to move around behind him and have the archer target you. Assuming he misses you, he'll auto-hit the BBEG right?

Hahah, this was always used as a theory in my group.

I know I may not be able to hit the Tarrasque easily, but you just watch how I pelt him when my wizard summons Jimmy the goblin on the other side of him...

 

[Stormbringer]

Have the annoying scout take the sharpshooter feat, the next time he takes a feat this would negate any bonus the target gets for cover or have the scout by the seeking enchanment for his missle weapon. Or just smack him after the battle with your trusty dwarven war axe he should get the point or the edge if thats the case.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Back to the original question.

Is there a way to mitigate/eliminate the damage a fellow PC takes from an ally's missile fire into melee.

There's a feat or special ability from a prestige class (IIRC) that enables an archer to ignore cover penalties.

There might also be something in Heroes of Battle (teamwork) that enables you to avoid hitting allies. If not, the party in question could develop just such a tactic using the teamwork rules in that book.

 

[RigaMortus]

Next time you fight a BBEG with a very high AC, be sure to move around behind him and have the archer target you. Assuming he misses you, he'll auto-hit the BBEG right?

What's the point? Just aim for the BBEG to begin with.

This is why my group incorporates Dex into the equation. Because if you miss because of cover, there is still the chance the cover will move out of the way and you really DO hit your intended target.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

What's the point? Just aim for the BBEG to begin with.

It was a joke...