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<blockquote data-quote="Vegepygmy" data-source="post: 5707317" data-attributes="member: 40109">In Water Bob's defense, the 3.5 PHB (page 140) says: &quot;If you shoot or throw a ranged weapon at a target engaged in melee with a friendly character, you take a -4 penalty on your attack roll because you have to aim carefully to avoid hitting your friend.&quot;&nbsp;The SRD apparently lacks this explanatory text, possibly for good reason: it doesn't actually make any sense. The effect of your friend possibly blocking your shot is already accounted for by your target gaining a +4 soft cover bonus to AC, and it's difficult to see why it gets even harder to hit your target just because he and his soft cover are fighting each other.&nbsp;No, the -4 penalty is really there because without it, full attacking at range while your ally pins an opponent down is just too easy. It can perhaps be rationalized by the fact that a target engaged in melee is moving unpredictably and has his defenses up, but really, it's just there to keep ranged attacks from being too good.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Vegepygmy, post: 5707317, member: 40109"] In Water Bob's defense, the 3.5 PHB (page 140) says: "If you shoot or throw a ranged weapon at a target engaged in melee with a friendly character, you take a -4 penalty on your attack roll because you have to aim carefully [B]to avoid hitting your friend[/B]." The SRD apparently lacks this explanatory text, possibly for good reason: it doesn't actually make any sense. The effect of your friend possibly blocking your shot is [I]already accounted for[/I] by your target gaining a +4 soft cover bonus to AC, and it's difficult to see why it gets [I]even harder[/I] to hit your target just because he and his soft cover are fighting each other. No, the -4 penalty is really there because without it, full attacking at range while your ally pins an opponent down is just too easy. It can perhaps be rationalized by the fact that a target engaged in melee is moving unpredictably and has his defenses up, but really, it's just there to keep ranged attacks from being too good. [/QUOTE]

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