Cover, Please clarify something for me.

[tagnetti]

The explanation of when you have a partial cover scenario is a bit confusing to me . For example It says if there is a wall half your height and the opponent is within 30 feet of it. They have cover, but If I am understanding this right(If you are closer to the wall then they are you have cover and they don't) Is that right? Kind of makes sense.

Here is another part of it that throws me off. It says Creatures,even enemies provide soft cover against Melee giving a +4 to DV with no other bonuses. However the only instance in which I can think that would be applicable on a melee attack is if someone is between you and your attacker and they either have reach or are using a reach weapon. Does that sound right?

Thanks

 

[argo]

The explanation of when you have a partial cover scenario is a bit confusing to me . For example It says if there is a wall half your height and the opponent is within 30 feet of it. They have cover, but If I am understanding this right(If you are closer to the wall then they are you have cover and they don't) Is that right? Kind of makes sense.

You seem to have it right. To put it another way: a low object (such as a wall 1/2 your height) provides you with cover if you are within 30ft and as close or closer to the object than the enemy attacking. So if an archer is standing behind a wall and is firing at another archer 10ft away, the first archer has cover relative to the second but the second has no cover. If a guy with a sword is standing next to a wall and another guy with a sword is standing on the opposite side of a wall (both the same distance from the wall) then they both have cover.

Here is another part of it that throws me off. It says Creatures,even enemies provide soft cover against Melee giving a +4 to DV with no other bonuses. However the only instance in which I can think that would be applicable on a melee attack is if someone is between you and your attacker and they either have reach or are using a reach weapon. Does that sound right?

Yes and yes. And don't forget that they also provide that soft cover against ranged attacks in addition to the -4 penalty they take for firing into meele.

Any other questions?

 

[MichaelH]

Here is another part of it that throws me off. It says Creatures,even enemies provide soft cover against Melee giving a +4 to DV with no other bonuses. However the only instance in which I can think that would be applicable on a melee attack is if someone is between you and your attacker and they either have reach or are using a reach weapon. Does that sound right?

Soft Cover here is the same as in the 3.5 PH (pg. 151). However, the PH version has been officially errata'd. It says, "Creatures, even your enemies, can provide you with cover against ranged attacks, giving you a +4 bonus to AC." The errata deletes "melee" and inserts "ranged." Perhaps this clears up the confusion here. Soft cover has to do with ranged attacks, not melee attacks. This should be changed when the official Conan errata is released.

 

[tagnetti]

Excellent, Thanks. That makes sense to me. I guess I could see the cover applying to reach scenarios as well, but that would be rare and also a bit confusing especially if a creature is one size larger they would simply swing right over that 5 foot section. I will stick with the ranged thought process as that makes sense.

 

[MichaelH]

The second paragraph under Cover says to use the ranged rules for determining cover when you make a melee attack against someone not adjacent to you (when using a reach weapon, for example). So yes, if you attack an opponent with a reach weapon, and a creature stands between you, your opponent receives a +4 bonus to his AC due to cover.

 

[tagnetti]

Thanks for clarification