Covering

A character with a cocked and loaded crossbow, or an arrow nocked and drawn in a bow, can announce that he is covering an opponent within his weapon's short range. The covering character can only choose to cover a single square on the board, as long as that square is within the weapon's short range and in sight. Only characters with a weapon proficiency slot in bow or crossbow can cover someone in this manner. Covering situations usually are created by the circumstances of the initial encounter; for example, an archer may surprise his enemy, cover him, and order him to drop his weapon. Characters can also declare a combat action to cover someone.

Since the arrow or bolt is ready to be fired, the covering character's first shot is fast. The covering character automatically wins initiative against the covered target. It is possible for a very fast creature to beat out the shot of a proficient archer, but even very fast creatures can be covered by a specialist.

The character can hold his cover until later in the round, if he wants to see what his target is going to do. He can fire first in any later phase. After the first shot has been loosed, the covering character can perform the rest of his missile fire at the regular action phase and rate of fire.

The covering shot itself is made with a +2 bonus to the attack roll. Covering is handy for freezing opponents in their tracks, since everybody knows how quickly an arrow or bolt can be released once it is drawn.

Covering can also be used with any hand-held bladed weapon - basically, the character puts her sword to an opponent's throat in a single adjacent square and menaces him. The victim must be stunned, dazed, pinned, unconscious, or surprised for a character to cover him with a melee weapon. As with bows and crossbows, the covering character automatically wins initiative against her target. The attack is made with a +2 bonus to hit, and the critical hit number drops to a 16.