It is probably clearly stated but can0t find it right now.
Yesterday the summoner in my party evoked his eidolon, which now has reach 10'. He placed the eidolon right behind the barbarian which was facing a faceless stalker. I thought about using rules for ranged weapons, but then I couldn't figure how a creature with 4 outstretched arms could fight against a creature with a huge barbarian swinging a bastard sword in the middle. That would apply even if I use a whip, it just sounds impossible.
What's the official take on attacking an enemy 10 ft away with reach weapons if another character is already fighting him in the middle?
|
The answer you're looking for is under the cover rules.
In this situation, the target has soft cover from the character with reach.
Gotcha!
"When making a melee attack against a target that isn't adjacent to you (such as with a reach weapon), use the rules for determining cover from ranged attacks."
That's correct. Note, however, that this tactic works very well if the Eidolon (or other creature with natural reach) is bigger than the barbarian (or other creature in front of it). A Large creature with a Medium ally in front of it can choose to calculate cover from one of its upper squares, which will usually allow you to choose a corner between you and your opponent that your ally doesn't block.
|
That's correct. Note, however, that this tactic works very well if the Eidolon (or other creature with natural reach) is bigger than the barbarian (or other creature in front of it). A Large creature with a Medium ally in front of it can choose to calculate cover from one of its upper squares, which will usually allow you to choose a corner between you and your opponent that your ally doesn't block.
Whoa there... that might be a bit of a stretch . I'm not sure if the Reach, Space, & cover rules allow you to calculate from the upper corner of your Space. The rules say "square" not cube which implies from the ground.
There's also the Low Obstacles and Cover rule which says, "A low obstacle (such as a wall no higher than half your height) provides cover, but only to creatures within 30 feet (6 squares) of it. The attacker can ignore the cover if he's closer to the obstacle than his target.
So even if 5' tall cube Bbn (i.e. the obstacle) is between the 10' tall cube Eidolon & the enemy, the enemy is the same distance from the obstacle as the Eidolon and thus still has cover.
--Vrock climbing wall
The answer you're looking for is under the cover rules.
In this situation, the target has soft cover from the character with reach.
Thanks, that is what i thought and was about to post a similar question to confirm my theory :)
There's also the Low Obstacles and Cover rule which says, "A low obstacle (such as a wall no higher than half your height) provides cover, but only to creatures within 30 feet (6 squares) of it. The attacker can ignore the cover if he's closer to the obstacle than his target.
So even if 5' tall cube Bbn (i.e. the obstacle) is between the 10' tall cube Eidolon & the enemy, the enemy is the same distance from the obstacle as the Eidolon and thus still has cover.
I think that rule is mainly designed for single-square characters, and the rule that lets you choose any square would trump it. But I see what you mean in saying we should only think about these things 2-dimensionally (although I'm not sure I agree).
|
|
I agree the RAW assume a medium sized character race. Once you start bringing in bigger creatures you run into trouble. But as Jason has stated the rules are so complex as a whole that you might never be able to iron out all the kinks.
In my game the enemy would have cover from the Eidolon because of the Bbn.