Ranged attack question/Cover & firing into a melee

[cerberus2112]

When a character is making a ranged attack into a melee combat, he normaly suffers a -4 to his attack roll (negated by the Precise Shot feat).
Does the target also benefit from cover if he is on the other side of a combatant from the shooter? Or is this assumed to be part of the -4 penalty for shooting into a melee to begin with?

 

[Hypersmurf]

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In situation 1, if the human shoots at the orc (in melee with the dwarf), he takes a -4 penalty unless he has Precise Shot.

In situation 2, if the human shoots at the orc (in melee with the dwarf), he takes a -4 penalty unless he has Precise Shot. The dwarf is also providing 1/2 cover for the orc, so the orc gets a +4 cover bonus to AC.

If the human misses the orc by 4 or less, then he missed because the dwarf got in the way. The attack roll is compared to the dwarf's AC. If it beats the dwarf's AC, the dwarf is hit.

If it misses the dwarf's AC, we compare it to his flat-footed AC. If it would have hit the dwarf except for his Dex and Dodge bonuses, then it missed because he got out of the way... which means he didn't provide cover after all, and there is once again a chance that it hits the orc. Compare the attack roll to the orc's AC, without the cover bonus. If it beats the orc's AC, the orc is hit; if it doesn't, it misses.

Cover is fun

-Hyp.

 

[dcollins]

Does the target also benefit from cover if he is on the other side of a combatant from the shooter?

Yes. See the picture on PHB p. 123 (rightmost figure).