Designating enemies as "allies"

[small pumpkin man]

Ally means "willing target that you designate". There's no reason for it to get more complicated than that, game balance or verisimilitude wise.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Well, in the OP's scenario, the target was unconscious, and was thereby unable to give consent.

Ok, that sounds wrong out of context.

 

[IceFractal]

"Enemy" is easy - anyone you want the power to hit. It can even vary from round to round (For instance, your fellow party member attacks you, so you blast him back with a "hits enemies" power. But then it's revealed that he was under mind control, so you heal him with a "heals allies" power).

"Ally" is a bit trickier. I would say the target has to be willing for the power to affect them, or trust you in general. So a doppelganger could pretend to be your ally, allowing your "ally" powers to work on it so as to maintain the illusion. When unconcious, it would depend on whether they trusted you in general. However, I would make a special exception for healing - because of the body's survival instinct, an unconcious creature is always considered willing for healing.

 

[malraux]

[Also, in most cases NPCs don't have healing surges to spend, making many of the abilities not applicable even if they could be targetted.]

Every creature has at least 1 healing surge. More dependent on tier.

 

[Squire James]

I would consider an unconscious foe "willing" and therefore an "ally" for healing purposes unless I as the DM judge that the foe's some sort of suicidal fanatic.

 

[WalterKovacs]

One other thing ... allowing an unconcious [0HP or less] character to take a short rest will put it back up to 1HP without needing any outside healing.

 

[Hypersmurf]

One other thing ... allowing an unconcious [0HP or less] character to take a short rest will put it back up to 1HP without needing any outside healing.

That assumes that the short rest's note of "You may spend healing surges" counts as a healing effect.

I'm not convinced it does - a healing effect that requires you to spend a healing surge can restore you to 1 hit point even if you have no healing surges remaining, but is a short rest a healing effect that requires you to spend a healing surge? Or just a circumstance that allows you to spend a healing surge?

-Hyp.

 

[Danceofmasks]

I would consider an unconscious foe "willing" and therefore an "ally" for healing purposes unless I as the DM judge that the foe's some sort of suicidal fanatic.

You have obviously not played in many evil games.
Healing spells are the best method of torture, ever.

 

[Squire James]

You are correct about my general lack of exposure to "evil games". If it really becomes an issue, well, the people that have the most useful info tend to be fanatics...

 

[Danceofmasks]

Hmm .. I don't mean the occasional evil act, I mean evil as a state of mind.

In 3e for example:

You don't torture people for information, you kill them then speak to their corpse.

Torture serves a functional purposes: Fear

Death is not really a deterrent for denizens of a world where deities are real and cosmology ensures you a place in the afterlife.
Therefore, the only way to enforce law and order is torture. Of miscreants or (even better) their kin.

What about for adventurers?

How else are you supposed to build a reputation if your name isn't synonymous with terror?
Researching modified magic mouth spells just so you can record the sessions ..
And when those heroes come hunting you, they bring with them some incredibly valuable XP and gear.