Hiding in a barrel - partial cover?

[rswhisper]

I have a question; say a small sized character hides in a barrel with a shortbow. Can the character use an attack / move action combination to fire and then hide down within it? Would the barrel provide full cover while hiding within it as such?

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

rswhisper wrote:

I have a question; say a small sized character hides in a barrel with a shortbow. Can the character use an attack / move action combination to fire and then hide down within it? Would the barrel provide full cover while hiding within it as such?

Depending on the size of the barrel:

Move action to stand from prone (going from full cover to partial or no cover)
Standard action to attack
Free action to drop prone (gaining full cover from the barrel)

He'd just want to be wary of enemies with ranged attacks readying their actions to shoot him when he pops out. :)

[Shadow_of_death]

Patryn has it right, Although it'd be more fun to put spikes on the barrel and roll around attacking things.

[El Baron de los Banditos]

Patryn of Elvenshae wrote:

He'd just want to be wary of enemies with ranged attacks readying their actions to shoot him when he pops out. :)

And that, kids, is how Whack-a-gnome became a new game for Gorum festivals!

[Skylancer4]

DM might also impose penalties to your attack roll, drawing a bow while standing in a barrel would pose some difficulties even at small size category.

[Xaaon of Korvosa]

Adamantium Barrel with Arrow slits?

I would say the small creature inside would lose their Dex bonus as well, thus an enemy moving up to the barrel would find a very easy target..like shooting fish in a barrel...

[Godwyn]

RAW, it mostly works. Not sure if there is actually enough room for even a small character to drop prone inside a regular sized barrel.

However, I would honestly treat it as the benefits from a tower shield at that point. Maintaining contact with the barrel then does not prevent touch attacks and spells from targeting the character. Mainly as a balance issue, because a properly used tower shield -should- provide cover like that and stop things, that is the entire point of the shield. As the designers felt that was too problematic, I have no problem ruling that barrel hijinks (or even more severe small characters hiding in a bag of holding worn by someone else) to limit the power of them.

[Shadowdweller]

The real question is whether it works better than, say, having a goblin seal the barrel, cut an arrow slot in the side (+8 AC and effective evasion for improved cover), and kneel down (+2 AC vs ranged attacks) while using rapid shot through the thing.