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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 6522711" data-attributes="member: 6669384">"Distance, volume, speed"?  D&D makes no adjustment for a target's speed anywhere in the rules.  If you decide to shoot an arrow out of the air on a Ready Action, the size penalty is the only one the rules would consider.  (What the DM considers is another matter.)That point aside, several people have mentioned the superior Intelligence of the Wizard as an explanation for this pinpoint accuracy in judging distance.  Since area affect spells occur for pretty much all spell casting classes, would this justification apply to Clerics?  Bards?  Sorcerers?  Druids?  (The list goes on.)  And I've known some very intelligent people.  They're not inherently better at judging distance.  A dedicated mathematician could try to use Algebra/Geometry, based on the height of their eye from the ground and the exact angle they're looking at to site their target spot, but it's still an estimation.  This method also presumes flat, level ground, *AND* a clearly visible spot on the ground to measure to.  And when that last situation exists they already get precise placement.Someone suggested that the players, with practice, would be able to consistently estimate distance on an unmarked table top, to the inch.  I'd bet money that this would fail, if put to the test.  They'll get it right, some times, but they'll get it wrong as well.Practice in the real world?  A professional golfer, with the Aid Another from a caddy, still has to take time to estimate the distance to the green, or to the dogleg in the fairway for a layup shot, and they're happy if they get it accurate within five yards.  A professional quarterback gets paid a bloody fortune to be able to throw the ball through a 14 inch circle (traditionally a hanging tire), but still makes mis-throws in play.  And they have range marks on the field (yard lines) and lots of practice at that particular shot.Now I could see Precise Shot being applicable as a Feat to bypass this limit, since one major use/abuse of the precision is to "fire into melee" and have a Burst effect shave the line between to melee opponents.  Considering that the situation doesn't come up too often though, and can often be bypassed by adjusting the caster's position to improve their view of the field. I don't see a lot of spell casters expending a Feat on it. Feats are just too precious.As for some skill, the same argument applies.  The Wizard has a high Int, so they get decent skills.  The Bard and the Ranger have a large base number for skills, so they'd have some to spare.  The other classes?  Most Sorcerers I've seen are skill-tight.  So are a lot of Clerics.  (Again, the list goes on.)  And I'm not even sure how you'd apply a skill, when there's no PC dice roll for shot accuracy or spell placement.If I was to have an applicable skill, it would be either Spot or Spellcraft, probably with a DC of 15 for the check.  Note that Spot specifically calls for range modifier, and it's cross-class for many classes, so a 15 isn't as easy as it might sound.</blockquote>

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