In Pathfinder, who is (and isn't) your ally?
I'm inclined to think the following are allies:
- Your willing party members
- Your animal companion
- Your summoned creatures
- You
I think the following are clearly not:
- NPCs trying to kill you
But what is the line for NPCs? And for animals?
- Is there a rule that says which NPCs do/n't count?
- If I get a dog and bring it along with me, is it my ally? Does it matter whether I train the dog?
I recently read a post elsewhere suggesting that a Skald could share her Spirit Totem Rage Powers with a satchel full of mice bought from a feed store (allowing the mice to attack your foes with negative energy). This strikes me as wrong (largely because I don't believe that those standard mice have any concept of alliance with me, even if I've trained them). That said, if you told me you have a trained warhorse, and you want to flank with it, I wouldn't bat an eye. So perhaps the dividing line for animals is that an animal that can be and has been trained to fight beside you is an ally? Perhaps that means one could train those mice with the guard and attack tricks (since they have the same INT as a horse) and then expect them to receive and make use of that Spirit Totem power?
I'm especially curious if this is answered explicitly in the rules (or some FAQ) but also interested in interpretation.
Best Answer
As a designer (third-party), I assume that anything that works with “allies” works with “anyone the player wants it to, and no one the player doesn’t.” That seems to be the safest assumption, when designing things, and many tables do play that way. From my reading of official material, I think it seems that Paizo has the same practice.
This means that material is designed around the idea that you can (and someone will) get creative with ally designations. Designed so that it isn’t too problematic when someone does that. So that ends up also being a practical play rule, as well.
I will note that just because designers try to keep this idea in mind doesn’t mean they don’t sometimes forget to consider it; there definitely are cases where it can cause problems. But I would consider those unusual cases that should be handled independently, not by trying to make a stricter definition of “ally” binding on all uses of the term. Whether any particular case is a problem is, I think, almost impossible to objectively state; that will be a table-by-table thing.