Spell Target 'Willing Ally'


Running the Game


I'm hoping to get an answer from a dev, or some clear-cut page in the rules for this, speculation is good, but I'm really wanting a clearly-defined answer.

Some spells, such as Magic Fang in this particular case, are listed as Willing Ally for Target. To the point, does that also include yourself, or must it be an ally (i.e.; another character)? I'm looking at giving the druid a try here, and going the Wild path. Wild Claws gives me, well, claws, and if Magic Fang can be cast on myself, that'd be kind of awesome.. but no one else in my group has natural/unarmed attacks right now; so it'd be a waste to prep that spell if I can't make use of it.


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Draven Torakhan wrote:

I'm hoping to get an answer from a dev, or some clear-cut page in the rules for this, speculation is good, but I'm really wanting a clearly-defined answer.

Some spells, such as Magic Fang in this particular case, are listed as Willing Ally for Target. To the point, does that also include yourself, or must it be an ally (i.e.; another character)? I'm looking at giving the druid a try here, and going the Wild path. Wild Claws gives me, well, claws, and if Magic Fang can be cast on myself, that'd be kind of awesome.. but no one else in my group has natural/unarmed attacks right now; so it'd be a waste to prep that spell if I can't make use of it.

I don't have an answer from the PF2E Playtest, but I do have an answer from PF1E.

PF1E CRB FAQ wrote:

Ally: Do you count as your own ally?

You count as your own ally unless otherwise stated or if doing so would make no sense or be impossible. Thus, "your allies" almost always means the same as "you and your allies."

So, not an official answer, but possibly a starting point if you don't get an official answer.

Liberty's Edge

Req has it right,

Paizo isn't going to waste ink printing "For Spells, Powers, & Effects, you count as you own Ally" 5-9 times through the book.


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This is likely true. However, there's been a lot of 'gotchas' in 1e due to vague phrasing, so. Wanted to at least put it out there.


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It's actually incredibly relevant. I've seen people argue on this forum that, for example, Retributive Strike doesn't let the Paladin respond to attacks against themself due to the use of the word ally.

It doesn't have to be printed a bunch of times in multiple places. They just need one blanket rule, stated at the start of the book with other core rules and also in the back in the glossary definition of ally, defining whether or not you count as your own ally in PF2. Ideally this would get an answer from a dev, and also appear as a clarification in an upcoming errata so we don't have to wait for the final book.

(For the record, I also believe you do or should count as your own ally, except where specifically stated otherwise.)


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I want to point out that a lot of spells in pf2 have
Target: You or an ally
While others have
Target: An ally

So, we do need a clear cut definition somewhere.

As an example, it never crossed my mind that if you count as your own ally you can retribution strike after being hit yourself, I always thought it was only triggered by your rest allies getting hit.

It literally takes 1 sentence to write "you don't count as your own ally" or "you count as your own ally"


Fuzzypaws wrote:

It's actually incredibly relevant. I've seen people argue on this forum that, for example, Retributive Strike doesn't let the Paladin respond to attacks against themself due to the use of the word ally.

It doesn't have to be printed a bunch of times in multiple places. They just need one blanket rule, stated at the start of the book with other core rules and also in the back in the glossary definition of ally, defining whether or not you count as your own ally in PF2. Ideally this would get an answer from a dev, and also appear as a clarification in an upcoming errata so we don't have to wait for the final book.

(For the record, I also believe you do or should count as your own ally, except where specifically stated otherwise.)

Hunh .... honestly, I never thought that I could use retributive strike in response to attacks on myself, exactly because of the word ally.


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I have assumed that you don’t count as your own ally because there is nowhere that states that you do. If it’s not in the rulebook, it’s best to assume it is not the case. They have stated that if it’s something that was a rule in PF1e but is not in the playtest, it’s best to assume it was intentionally excluded.

There are so many instances of things targeting ”an ally” as opposed to “you or an ally” or “a willing target” that I assume if they wanted you to count as your own ally they would say it in the book. Unless they meant to and forgot or something. But for purposes of a playtest it makes more sense to me to play things RAW


Good points being made. That being said, a druid who can't use magic fang on themselves is butts. Butts, I say!

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