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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sunseeker" data-source="post: 6194282">See, I've always run AOE healing to affect only allies, unless the caster says otherwise, which yes, I realize is the opposite of the rules, but I also let players choose to deal "non-lethal damage" without a feat because frankly, I find it silly.  It saves me a lot of trouble tracking, and it saves my players headaches.  I'll grant you it gives a consistency to the RULES, but not the game-world, since game-worlds are by nature, non-consistent. To me, it feels only more challenging to bookkeeping and tracking.  Otherwise when it comes to challenge I concern myself less with "friendly fire" issues and more with creating challenging events for my players to overcome.This is a red herring at best.  Not dealing with AOE healing healing the badguys doesn't necessarily make a game more challenging, it makes it more complicated, and increased complication does not in and of itsself generate better gameplay.  Simple things can be challenging, complex things can be challenging, complicated things can be dull and grindy, while simple things can be drab and uninteresting.  IMO, there are a lot of ways to approach creating a challenge, increased complication is one of them, but not always the best one, and one that when I DM, I try to avoid.Yes, and no.  I change things up for different games, depending on players.  Generally speaking, if an ability could be directed(harm only baddies/heal only allies) then I assume it was.  If a spell can't be, then well, it can't.  As far as I know, Fireball cannot be directed outside of special features.  Plus honestly, in most groups I've run people expect close-range fireball to harm them so I indulge them.I'm honestly not real decided on what side of that fence I fall on.  I establish "game fiction" in each individual game, so I decide if everything will help or hurt, or selectively help and selectively hurt at the offset based on how some initial discussions with my players before the game.As above, I attempt to establish this at the outset of the game.  If people have forgotten, I may remind them, but honestly it's not my responsibility as DM to track player effects.  That may sound selfish, but honestly I can only track so much.</blockquote>

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