"Wait, that didn't work right" - the Dysfunctional Rules Collection

[Amphetryon]

Wait what?

Prone

The character is on the ground. An attacker who is prone has a -4 penalty on melee attack rolls and cannot use a ranged weapon (except for a crossbow). A defender who is prone gains a +4 bonus to Armor Class against ranged attacks, but takes a -4 penalty to AC against melee attacks.

My emphasis. Spells that require a Ranged Attack roll are "weapon-like spells." It's certainly reasonable to parse it differently than the strict RAW, and almost definitely not RAI, but RAI isn't what this thread's about.