Cover
Walls, trees, creatures, and other obstacles can provide cover during combat, making a target more difficult to harm. A target can benefit from cover only when an attack or other effect originates on the opposite side of the cover.
There are four degrees of cover. If a target is behind multiple sources of cover, only the most protective degree of cover applies, not added together.
| Cover | Bonus |
|---|---|
| One-Quarter | +2 to AC and Dexterity saving throws |
| Half-Cover | +3 to AC and Dexterity saving throws |
| Three-Quarters | +5 to AC and Dexterity saving throws |
| Total Cover | Can't be directly targeted |
Creatures Providing Cover
Sometimes, creatures in close proximity create a veritable mess of bodies, potentially causing attacks targeting one to hit another. If an attack would miss a creature by an amount less than or equal to the bonus to AC granted by the cover of another creature, and the attack would hit that other creature, the GM might consider having that other creature take the attack's damage.
For example, the shooter is trying to hit an enemy target with an AC of 16 (19 with cover), the covering creature has an AC of 14 and has granted the enemy target a +3 bonus from Half-Cover, since they are both medium creatures. The shooter only hits with an attack roll of 19 (and above), but can accidentally hit the covering creature with an attack roll of 16-18.
A good rule of thumb is that if the covering creature has a higher AC than the target it's covering, it's very likely the covering creature won't get hit by a misplaced attack.
Degrees of Cover
- One-Quarter Cover is granted to a target if an obstacle blocks at least one-fourth of its body, such as a thin pillar or a creature of one-size category smaller.
- Half-Cover is granted to a target if an obstacle blocks at least half of its body, such as a low wall or a creature of the same size category.
- Three-Quarters Cover is granted to a creature if about three-quarters of it is obstructed, whether by an obstacle or a creature of one size category larger.
- Total Cover is when a target is completely concealed by an obstacle, though some spells or abilities can reach such a target by including it in an area of effect.
Larger Creatures & Cover
If a creature between you and a target is two or more sizes larger than both of you and your target, that creature can considerably grant Half-Cover or Three-Quarters just due to its size. However the GM might consider that such a creature doesn't gain cover from terrain it's significantly larger than, for example, a huge dragon probably wouldn't receive One-Quarter cover from being behind a 1-foot-wide pillar.
Nerfs to Feats The following Feats are given nerfs to adjust to the Advanced Cover Rules: Sharpshooter & Spell Sniper.
Sharpshooter
The following is changed: * Your ranged weapon attacks ignore half and three-quarters cover. To: * Your ranged weapon attacks reduce partial cover by one step (from three-quarters to half or half to one-quarter) against targets greater than 30 feet from you. If the target has one-quarter cover, you ignore it entirely. Spell Sniper
The following is changed: * Your ranged spell attacks ignore half-cover and three-quarters cover. To: * Your ranged spell attacks reduce partial cover by one step (from three-quarters to half or half to one-quarter). If the target has one-quarter cover, you ignore it entirely.