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Is it possible to lower, fail, etc. your CMD so an ally can bull rush you, drag, etc. you out of harms way?
RAW, given the abstract nature of combat in PFRPG I don't think it is possible. You can choose to fail a saving throw or not take an AoO, so some might extrapolate that to 'choosing to fail/not take combat rolls' but static number defenses are a different animal. At best you can refer to SR, a static defense which you can lower for a turn so helpful spells can be cast without possibility of a fizzle.
Basically we are picking apart a round to make it managable for the system. The reality is everything is occuring at the same time essentially. So if you are choosing to not be a 'hard' target for your ally, the enemy can take advantage of it as well. Also rarely does the system allow for you to do something when it isn't 'your turn' and what you can do is one of the shorter lists in the game.
Short answer is 'No,' the long answer is 'No because it would complicate and invalidate many of the systems rules.'
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Consider a Bull Rush. For every 5 by which the maneuver roll exceeds your CMD, you can be moved an additional square. So if you let someone bull rush you, how far could he move you? If he's not rolling for it, this is a bit vague.
OTOH, CMD implies you're doing at least some things to avoid getting moved around; you're adding your Dex modifier to CMD for example. That suggests that you could cooperate by just not adding your Dex...
Well, no rules for it.
It should be possible, but the rules have never dealt with it. The topic really should have been covered in Ultimate Combat or something...
In real life, you can push, drag, etc... allies out of harm's way, it's silly that you can't do it in a fantasy game. So the question becomes, "in what ways can you lower your CMD?"
(the below are suggested houserules, as there is no RAW answer)
Dex: Avoiding the maneuver. You want it to "hit" you, so IMO you can opt to make yourself flatfooted to an attack and thus you do not have to apply dex and dodge bonuses to CMD.
Luck, competence, and similar bonuses: You want to be "hit", so these should not have to apply.
Monk AC bonus and similar: You don't want to avoid the attack, so these do not have to be added.
Feat and class CMD bonuses (like Improved Drag): These are meant to be beneficial for you and tend to represent your training and skill in avoiding adverse maneuvers. None of these bonuses should apply to CMD.
Strength: I really don't know. On the one hand, you're not resisting, on the other hand, strength tends to correlate to bulk and mass, which you can't control. Maybe str bonus to CMD can be halved?
Size mod: Takes into account mass and inertia, I don't think you can consciously lessen these factors, so this applies in full.
Deflection: Tends to not be something you can control / automatic. Would apply to CMD.
Other modifiers: Use your best judgment, with the above as guidelines for how to adjudicate.
Yes. You cam let a ally hit you...you can even let a enemy hit though I would not recommand that.
Drag...or Reposition are fine. Since Bull Rush has a greater or lesser effect depending on the roll...if you have to bullrush somebody more than five feet out of the danger than I would factor all the resistant defense( IE str, Dex, BAB, dodge but not the base ten or deflection bonus) out the CMD and you would roll vs that.
Though that is if the target is aware of the situration. If the target is not than it is a normal CMB chack vs CMD.
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@Stream: I was thinking in that direction, but you worked it out more thoroughly. Looking at it, it doesn't look terribly practical.
Maybe it's easier to just grant an automatic "natural 20"? After all, while you should be able to waive dex/dodge bonuses, you're also in a hectic situation... so maybe you were too busy defending against an enemy to cooperate fully...
It's not perfect, but it's fast and easy. Compare to coup de grace, which assumes an automatic critical hit. Good enough? I think so.
Ascalaphus:
I was thinking you would still have to roll your CMB but your ally's CMD would be 0. That would determine how far you could move your ally so a low CMB character (the wizard) would not be able to move his friend nearly as far as the Fighter with the high CMB...
how about reversing the CMD calculation? for a simple way to get a target number for this.
CMD is calculated assuming you are using your strength and dexterity to resist combat maneuvers, what would happen if you used them to help them along? basically using the positive modifier from str/dex as a negative number in order to figure out what it would be.
for instance if a 14 str 16 dex character (level 1 fighter) was the target of a cmd check, his normal cmd would be 16 to resist it, or 6 to allow it to happen. kind of vague and doesn't take into account using bab to resist, but it's a quick thing to figure out.
I agree with StremOfTheSky.
I'd rule that the base CMD would be something like:
10 + Size modifier + Deflection Bonuses (assuming those can't be deactivated, e.g.: a Ring of Protection).
My first thought was yes, but after some thought I agree with Skylancer4. In real life, where we don't have to wait our turn to act there would be no reason for someone to "bullrush" you if you were going to let them do it unless you were immobilized.
If you were engaged in a melee with an enemy and then your ally calls out "I'm going to run up and push you out of harm's way. Hold Still!" and then you stopped dodging your enemy and let your body go limp when your ally hit you so he could easily move you, you would most likely have time to just run out of the way yourself (if you didn't have to wait for your turn).
In the game, which uses turns to make things manageable, you generally don't get to do even simple things when someone else is taking a turn except a few immediate actions. Just as going on "Full Defense" requires an action, relaxing your defense should also take an action on your turn so that if you are letting yourself be pushed by your ally then you also are not doing your full defense against any enemies so your CMD and AC would be lower for the whole round. I would also have to consider whether doing this provokes an AoO from threatening enemies because you are not applying your full attention to defense, or at least makes you vulnerable to sneak attacks because you are not using your dexterity that round.
And furthermore, consider mounted combat. If you are riding a mount and it moves you, you are only able to make a single attack. Allowing yourself to be moved is the same as moving.
Let's say an enemy is 15 feet away from you. Your ally standing behind you has the turn before you, so would it be fair to have the ally bullrush you, pushing you next to the enemy so you could have a full round attack on your turn? I don't think so.
I'd say it makes the most sense if allies bullrush against your full CMD because you don't have the time to think about what's happening before they slam into you. Or, on your turn, you could go on "minimal defense" as a move(?full round??) action to drop your dex/dodge bonuses until your next turn (or simply move on your turn).