Salutations.
I have been having discussions with a valued, experienced player regarding the ranged rules regarding the -4 to hit penalty for firing at a monster who is engaged in melee and the +4 AC bonus for soft cover when that friend is between the monster and shooter... essentially creating an -8 varience to the attack. When I searched this on the boards, I found...
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/pathfinderR PG/rules/rangedWeaponsFiringIntoMeleeAndCover&page=1&source=search# 0
However, there was no official response to this. My player said he wrote Paizo...but there has been no official answer yet.
I interpret the rules to say that both do impact if both conditions are simultaneously met.
He states that because bodies are constantly moving, weaving, etc, that these two rules really overlap. He doesn't feel it was ever paizo's intention that they could both apply at the same time.
Does anyone know if/where this was ever officially answered?
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Edit:
My understanding is that you are correct. I don't know of an official reply. Both cover and firing into melee are penalties. In general, penalties stack. So, they stack to -8.
If this carries any weight for you, and I recognize that it doesn't for everyone, the Rules of the Game article on ranged attacks for 3.5 includes the following: "The penalty you take for firing into a melee stacks with any other penalties that apply to the shot, such as range or the target's cover. See Rules of the Game: Does It Stack? for more on stacking penalties." Although PF has some differences for how cover is handled by reintroducing variable cover, the rules on stacking are pretty much the same. Sorry for all the waffle words. :)
One of them is a penalty to an attack roll because you are firing into melee.
The other one is a soft cover bonus to the enemy's AC depending on the positioning of the characters.
The two are completely unrelated, and therefore they stack. The enemy can get the soft cover bonus to AC even if the he is not adjacent to your friend, if your friend is in a square between you and the target.
Improved Precise Shot negates the soft cover penalty.
edit:fixed typos.
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One of them is a penalty to an attack roll because you are firing into melee.
The other one is a soft cover bonus to the enemy's AC depending on the positioning of the character's.
The two are completely unrelated, and therefore they stack. the enemy can get the soft cover bonus to AC even if the he is not adjacent to your friend if your friend is in a square between you and the target.
Improved Precise Shot negates the soft cover penalty.
Thx for the correction. :)
I agree with you all...but to make sure I get this right with my player, I've posted it in the "Ask James Jacobs" thread. I didn't realize there was one. Nifty. Thanks for your help!