Okay lets imagine a situation where one character(PC1) is engaged in melee with a zombie. PC2 is standing 10 feet directly behind PC 1 and wants to take a ranged shot at the zombie. PC3 is beside and behind PC1 and armed with a reach weapon and wants to stab the zombie...
Relevant rules snips...
Shooting or Throwing into a Melee
If you shoot or throw a ranged weapon at a target engaged in melee with a friendly character, you take a –4 penalty on your attack roll.
Concealment
To determine whether your target has concealment from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target's square passes through a square or border that provides concealment, the target has concealment.When making a melee attack against an adjacent target, your target has concealment if his space is entirely within an effect that grants concealment. When making a melee attack against a target that isn't adjacent to you, use the rules for determining concealment from ranged attacks.
Cover
To determine whether your target has cover from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target's square passes through a square or border that blocks line of effect or provides cover, or through a square occupied by a creature, the target has cover (+4 to AC).When making a melee attack against an adjacent target, your target has cover if any line from any corner of your square to the target's square goes through a wall (including a low wall). 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.
So, In a situation like the current one where PC2 is shooting directly through PC1 to attack the zombie he is fighting, a strict application of the above leads to a -4 to hit for firing at someone engaged in melee with an ally, +4 to the zombie's AC because it gets cover from PC1, and a miss chance because PC1 is partially concealing the zombie from view. PC3 would also suffer the AC bonus and miss chance because her reach weapon is treated as a ranged attack with regards to cover and concealment.
Now I know there are feats to mitigate some of the ranged penalties but it all seems rather punitive and restrictive, and I don't think I've ever played at a table that has enforced all those modifiers, but rereading the relevant rules seems that that is how it is intended.
I'm curious to know if I am interpreting the rules correctly and how other tables handle situations like this.
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You are correct that the PC in between her allies and the zombie provides cover (+4 AC) against both reach and ranged attacks. It's good to reposition in combat to minimize that penalty.
However, PCs do not provide concealment. Without another effect (mistmail, obscuring mist, dim lighting) in play, neither reach nor ranged attacker should suffer miss chance.
You've made some mistakes.
First, you're applying both cover and concealment from the same thing. Allies in the way provide soft cover, but not concealment.
Second, PC3 does not have to deal with the penalties. While she is three squares away from the zombie (in an L-shape, similar to knights' movement in Chess), she can select the corner diagonal from the zombie for the purposes of determining cover, meaning her ally isn't in the way and she can reach around him to attack without penalty.
You should definitely enforce the cover penalties and penalties for attacking someone in melee at range (including with reach weapons).
It is important to note as KingOfAnything mentions, PCs don't normally provide concealment.
But yes, the enemy's AC does effectively increase by 8 unless you have the feats to negate it.
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Second, PC3 does not have to deal with the penalties. While she is three squares away from the zombie (in an L-shape, similar to knights' movement in Chess), she can select the corner diagonal from the zombie for the purposes of determining cover, meaning her ally isn't in the way and she can reach around him to attack without penalty.
See the determining cover rules from the CRB:
"To determine whether your target has cover from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target's square passes through a square or border that blocks line of effect or provides cover, or through a square occupied by a creature, the target has cover"
You pick one corner of your square, and check against all corners of the target square, so the zombie has cover against reach.
Right, so creatures can't provide concealment, just cover. So the archer takes the -4 firing into melee penalty and the +4 to target's AC. The reach fighter has to deal with the +4 AC for cover. In both cases the cover is soft, so no ref save bonus
Now if the intervening PC were small size The GM could adjudicate it as partial cover and reduce the AC bonus to +2 right?
Second, PC3 does not have to deal with the penalties. While she is three squares away from the zombie (in an L-shape, similar to knights' movement in Chess), she can select the corner diagonal from the zombie for the purposes of determining cover, meaning her ally isn't in the way and she can reach around him to attack without penalty.See the determining cover rules from the CRB:
"To determine whether your target has cover from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target's square passes through a square or border that blocks line of effect or provides cover, or through a square occupied by a creature, the target has cover"
You pick one corner of your square, and check against all corners of the target square, so the zombie has cover against reach.
Hmm...
I was typing up a refutation, but I realized that my mind wasn't placing all the characters exactly where they were supposed to be on the grid, so it was failing to notice the intersection error.
So, really, PC1 is in a bad spot for allowing his allies to attack. (Though, conversely, it's a good spot for defending them.)
Rookie mistake, charging in front of the archer. I bet that reach weapon was even braced before PC1 stepped up. Must be a rogue.
I am not very familiar with reach builds, but it has recently come up in a game I'm playing in. Are there any Feats, like Precise Shot, to mitigate these penalties with reach weapons instead of ranged weapons?
I am not very familiar with reach builds, but it has recently come up in a game I'm playing in. Are there any Feats, like Precise Shot, to mitigate these penalties with reach weapons instead of ranged weapons?
Yup, its called Phalanx Formation