Hi, if an ally is under a Confusion Spell and is attacking you, does he go all out, casting attack spells and all? And, does he roll a saving throw vs a beneficial spell you might cast on him, like Suppress Charms and Compulsions, as if he were a foe?
All the confusion spell does is make you attack someone. It does not force you to make saves against helpful spells.
As for the attacking part, you are not restricted to weapon based attacks so spells should be an option.
I assume they attack the creature to the best of their ability. Thus, if a full-attack action is possible they will.
Since it does not say 'attack action' then I would assume that they use spells if possible.
Regarding saving throw, yes. The confusion spell clearly states that any attack is interpreted as such. A spell being cast upon you by someone who is not your friend (as a result of confusion) would require a touch attack (if a touch spell) and a saving throw.
Unfortunately, the wording here is pretty vague and up to DM fiat but this is how I would (and have) run it.
- Gauss
Resorting to your 'best attack' is not (in my mind) competent tactics so much as practice practice practice. Why would you pummel with your fists if a spell is your main go to method of combat?
- Gauss
Being confused as to who to attack is not the same as not knowing how to attack. By raw it only says you attack the nearest creature, and by the spell it seems that you are confused only about who is/is not your ally.
As an example some guy high on bath salts knew enough to use a knife to force his friend to give him a gun so he could go attack another person.
I know magic and drugs are not the same thing, but it does illustrate loss of logic in one area does not have to cross over into another area.
BBT, lots of people can be confused and still do things normally. Confused people drive cars (right into a building mistaking the building for an intersection). I see no problem with a confused person mistaking friend for foe and attacking that person with the best attack they have: a spell.
However, on a game mechanics issue we have two possibilities:
A) Confusion takes a character out of the combat 3/4 of the time and in the case of a non-martial character they are not dangerous while doing so. In the case of a martial character, they are extremely dangerous 1/4 of the time.
or
B) Confusion takes a character out of the combat 3/4 of the time and in either of the cases of martial or non-martial they will try to kill his allies 1/4 of the time using the best the character can offer.
I prefer B for several reasons.
First, it balances out the effects between martial and non-martial characters.
Second, Confusion is just one level below Dominate Person but only turns the character into an ally-killer 1/4 of the time. This seems reasonable for a spell 1 level lower than Dominate Person.
- Gauss
How would a confused character pick it's "best" spell?
Attacking is easy, "Hit It With A Weapon!" At best there's one decision, Melee or Ranged? Which likely isn't a very hard choice depending on the character and whether anyone is adjacent to you.
I usually describe it as the player hallucinating, being mistaking his allies to be threats. If they are not willing to pull the trigger I do it for them choosing an appropriate single target spell or normal weapon attacks, if they were using expertise last round I'd allow them to continue it, if they were trying to subdue opponents they can do that too.
Let's assume the nearest target appears to be taunting you and you feel compelled to attack him/her, the more I think about it, it seems better to have the GM decide on the best tactic to bring down a single target opponent.