So I have a player whose character has Expeditious Excavation and he wants to know whether or not he can dig a pit and jump into it to enjoy cover for flinging spells.
So the scenario is, I have an elf wizard in a 5-ft pit trying to cast spells at enemies within spell range. The Elf is 5'6" tall. Is he considered to have line of effect to the enemies assuming no other obstacles? Does he have Total, or Partial cover?
I would argue that if he can see the target, he will never have total cover. Total cover implies u are behind a wall, ducked down.
I would say yes, he has line of effect. I would also say he has improved cover against enemies not within 10 feet of him, or above him at at least 45 degree angle. I would also rule for no reflex save bonus or AC bonus from bursts or attacks directly above such hole, but would allow it from angles.
If he is standing and taking actions that require Line of effect... partial cover.
If he drops prone, total from anyone not looking directly into the pit.
By the way, there is no reason to discourage this, it is tactically sound practice, there is a reason infantry personnel dig foxholes, and spell slinging is fairly analogous to a firefight. This isn't a 'cinematic' response to combat, but it should be an effective one until an enemy reaches him.
If he is benefiting from total cover, he might be prone when someone reaches him, so prone, facing an attacker on higher ground could be a daunting tactical disadvantage when it happens, but in ranged combat he should be good.
Other downsides to this strategy.
- when it comes time to move, it will take him extra spaces/actions to leave his hole
- providing no target encourages enemy archers/casters to ready actions to attack when he pops up, meaning concentration checks for interruption every round
- any tactic the players take is fair game for the GM
-finally... stealth. Enemies don't need "hide in plain sight" to hide from someone who ducks in a hole every round. Allies might need to make sense motive checks to determine that an enemy is moving up each round from cover to cover in a way that makes him difficult to spot from the foxhole, meaning the wizard might need to make perceptions checks to notice enemies that the rest of the party can plainly see (punish the player for using out of character knowledge in this circumstance)