Hello everybody!
I'm getting ready for a game on Wednesday, and I had a question about ranged combat, which will determine whether or not I build a Ranger.
The last time I played a tabletop RPG where I was not the DM was a Pathfinder game, where my ranged abilities were totally useless thanks to the utter ridiculousness of their rules system (it was a major letdown). I've read through my copy of the new PHB and I notice that there's really nothing governing ranged combat against other combatants within melee range of a friendly creature. Basically, as I interpret the rules for 5th Edition, any creature that has clear line of sight to another creature can make a ranged attack against it, provided the creature is in range and you are carrying an appropriate weapon. Moreover, there's no penalty for making a ranged attack against opponents locked in melee combat with a friendly creature.
It seems the only penalty incurred to someone trying to fight with a ranged weapon is if you are trying to attack a creature within five feet of you, in which case you take disadvantage to the attack roll. Other than that, am I correct in assuming that there's no penalty for trying to pick off a character in melee range of a friendly? This makes a huge difference for me: I really want to be playing a character that specializes primarily in some excellent ranged combat, and I like having the ability to fire arrows into enemies without having to constantly miss shots thanks to some stupid rule about whether or not the enemy is engaged in melee combat, etc. The simplicity of "Can you see it? Then you can shoot it [provided it is within range]" is a huge draw for me, and I don't want to walk in on the day of my game and have a DM say "No firing into melee," because I may as well not even play at that point.
Obviously, there are bound to be some complications: I can imagine that if the combatant I'm aiming for is on the other side of a friendly, I'd have an obstructed view of the combatant that would count for some kind of cover (likely at least 1/2 or 3/4 cover), which would incur a penalty, but I don't see why I couldn't simply strafe the target or move into a better position to have an unobstructed shot and avoid said penalty.
Thoughts? And if you could provide references to where I can find any rules contrary to these thoughts, that would be excellent!
looks like you have it covered brotha!
my DM gives cover to enemies i try to shoot at through friends, but like you said i usually just move. otherwise it's wide open, and fun. have a great time wednesday!
I'd say you have it pretty much sussed out 
Yep, I agree you have it correct. Though also note with the sniper feat the 1/2 or 3/4 cover won't matter. So even if your view is unavoidably obstructed (e.g. narrow corridor) you'll be fine.
TheTrevdor wrote:
DwarfLordSeven wrote: