Attacking with reach weapons

[Rockblood]

I just got done with the second session of my game and this came up. One of the players uses a reach weapon and wanted to attack enemy B who was in range. Ally A how ever was was between the player and enemy B. I tried looking for answers and came up with nothing and the books only say that a reach weapon doubles your reach but nothing about if something was in the way. Is she still able to hit enemy B with Ally A between them?

[CampinCarl9127]

I believe the answer is that the enemy will receive soft cover, but I'm on the road right now and can't be 100% sure. I remember having a spartan-style party once where two characters had reach and we had to deal with this problem. I'll try to get a rules quote for you tomorrow when I get home, or maybe somebody else will beat me to the punch.

[CheezWizrd]

She takes a -4 to hit (more accurately, the enemy gains a +4 to AC from the intervening character, providing 'soft cover', as CampinCarl mentions above); Ally A provides cover, in this situation.
Review the rules for cover in the Combat section of the CRB; reach weapons use the rules for ranged weapons when determining cover (pp. 195-196).

[Rockblood]

thank you now I have other questions but don't know if I should put them here. Just remembered a few more after i had already posted this up lol.

[CampinCarl9127]

Yes, this is the correct place to be asking rules questions. If you have a question about the rules, feel free to ask away, we are happy to help! If you want something like roleplaying help or other general advice, just let us know and we can point you in the right direction.

[Just a Mort]

Ask the reach weapon user to take phalanx formation and poof, soft cover from allies disappears!

[Lorewalker]

There is an extra complication if you are sized larger than the intervening barrier, IE ally A.

Low Obstacles and Cover

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 you could pop and enlarge person or hope your allies are of a shorter race.

[Rockblood]

Oh wow shows how much I look into the new books. Yea sadly no one was small and no one had enlarge person as a spell or potion. As for the other questions they are

If there is a wall that ends at two entry ways and Ally A is on the square that is in front of the entry way and Ally B is up against the wall, can Ally B move diagonal into the entry way?

If Ally A and enemy A are fighting and Ally B isn't adjacent to enemy A but can still make a line that goes through the enemy while having it connect Ally A and B is enemy A being flanked? This one I know is kind of a dumb question and that I already know the answer is no but one of the players at my game insist that it is flanking if you can make a line that goes through the monster connecting the two players.

Can you stealth out in the open with nothing to hide with? Again I know the answer is no and again the player insist that he can.

If enemy A provokes a AoO with Ally A adjacent to it, can Ally A do more then just do a single attack?

[Darksol the Painbringer]

Moving through allies is allowed. You just can't end your movement in another creature's square (unless you have special rules that allow it, such as being Tiny sized or smaller).

Flanking rules has this to say:

Flanking wrote:

When in doubt about whether two characters flank an opponent in the middle, trace an imaginary line between the two attackers' centers. If the line passes through opposite borders of the opponent's space (including corners of those borders), then the opponent is flanked.

Here's an Image example they give in the book.

In order to Stealth out in the open, you need the Hide in Plain Sight class feature or ability, or something similar. Otherwise, you require some sort of cover/concealment in order to use Stealth.

You can substitute an Attack for a Combat Maneuver that can be replaced with an Attack; common forms are Trip, Sunder, or Disarm. Keep in mind that if you don't have Improved Trip/Sunder/Disarm feats, these maneuver performances will provoke an Attack of Opportunity from your target, so bear that in mind.

[Rockblood]

Thank you though the player was telling me and showing me that picture for flanking. I don't think he read the whole thing. Just the if you can draw a line from point A to point B and the line touches the enemy at all your flanking.

Another question came up last night and I'm starting to think this was made up by most DMs or was in 3.5 but was taken out of pathfinder.

If player A strikes at enemy A with a reach weapon and enemy A is within attacking distance, would Ally A accidentally hit Ally B if Ally B was in the middle giving enemy A +4 to its AC and if it didn't have that +4 then player A would of hit enemy A?

[CampinCarl9127]

That rule existed in 3.5 and did not transition to Pathfinder. There is no chance of hitting your ally, simply a penalty to hit.

[galahad2112]

as Far as Flanking/adjacent, the question is improperly worded. While you do not need to be adjacent, you DO need to THREATEN. This is kind of important, as you're other questions mention a PC with reach.
Example: 2 PCs are in a 5 foot wide corridor, a Rogue in front, and his Bard friend right behind him wielding a longspear. Suddenly, An Orc charges the rogue in the surprise round! Everyone rolls initiative; the Bard goes first, then the Rogue, and last the Orc. The Bard readies an action to trip the orc when the Rogue gets into flanking position, and ends his turn. The Rogue successfully uses acrobatics to tumble through the Orc's square at CMD + 5. The rogue and Bard are now flanking the Orc, even though the Bard is not adjacent. The Bard will now attempt to trip the Orc with his readied action at a +2 for flanking, rather than a -4 for soft cover from an ally. Once the Bard uses his action, the Rogue can now sneak attack the (possibly prone) Orc.

[Rockblood]

That is really odd. So there is 0% chance of you accidentally hitting your ally with a ranged weapon? Weird. Anyway thank you all for clearing this up for me and sorry for the tricky flanking question. If anymore pop up I'll be sure to ask the forums again.