Reposition has the attack trait.
That means it cannot be used on an ally in combat, correct?
How does this compromise sound...
A PC can auto succeed a reposition of an ally by using a manipulate action.
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1. The Attack trait does not in any way mean that it can't be used on an ally.
2. There isn't a default rule of allowing an ally to autosucceed attacks against you, or to autofail saves (aside from cases that specifically call it out like drugs). It is fairly popular to use the suggestion from the sidebar of the Gliminal (a monster that can fatally overheal people) as a general adjudication for cases where being able to not defend makes sense. That sidebar suggests allowing a willing target to adjust the degree of success by one (one better in a case like Reposition, one worse for a save).
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1. The Attack trait does not in any way mean that it can't be used on an ally.
You could use Strike on an ally if you really wanted to.
The ally might have something to say about that...
But the rules don't.
1. The Attack trait does not in any way mean that it can't be used on an ally.You could use Strike on an ally if you really wanted to.
The ally might have something to say about that...
But the rules don't.
Snapping them out of a Confusion effect is the most common reason I've seen to slap a friend around. Or kicking them in the shins.
How does this compromise sound...
A PC can auto succeed a reposition of an ally by using a manipulate action.
That's fine. Like Hammerjack says, I use the gliminal sidebar to adjudicate these things, though I allow PCs to Critically Fail any save they take if they so desire.
D&D 2024 introduced a new rule that allows anyone to willingly fail any saving throw. This has resulted in a number of broken strategies revolving around controlling creatures with effects like suggestion then ordering them to fail any saving throw you subject them to. The end result is that almost any creature in the game can be permanently enslaved.
Ironically, that rule would work better in PF2e, because only the controlling player can decide if the creature counts as willing under any circumstance.
The Gliminal sidebar seems to purposely keep an element of randomness by only adjusting the roll by one degree, and I think that's fine. Yet it would be nice if the sidebar (or something like it) was somewhere in the general rules where people can actually find it without being pointed to it.
Well, it ISN'T a general rule, just an approach that is often a good idea. When PFS adopted it as a campaign standard rule, they put it in the PFS FAQ, but it would be on any individual GM choosing to make it their standard to communicate it to their players.
A player character in my Strength of Thousands campaign repositioned another player character back at 2nd level. I had chronicled that encounter back in River into Darkness Revisited comment #3, but let me quote the relevant parts. A 6th-level Will-o'-Wisp is a very dangerous foe for a 2nd-level party, but they had the aid of two 6th-level NPCs, Takulu and Itoro.
The wisp flew in, mocking the humanoids for foolishness and asking, "Who is in charge here?" Jinx claimed to be in charge, so it made the pun, "Then you will get a charge out of this," and shocked her. It critically hit (30 to hit versus AC 17) for 21 damage, leaving Jinx at 3 hp.
Jinx was next in initiative, so she started a Courageous Anthem and cast Soothe on herself.
The rogue Roshan followed with a bold move: she grappled the Will-o'Wisp. She failed, but the player spent a hero point and succeeded on the reroll. (Note: the player made Roshan expert in Athletics, because with so many ranged casters in the party, she does not expect a flank. She hopes to use Grapple and Trip to make foes off-guard.)
Cara moved onto Jinx's square to Reposition Jinx further away from the Will-o'-Wisp.
<skipping seven other turns>
Then the Will-o'Wisp zapped Roshan with two critical hits to free itself from the grapple. Instead of flying away or Feeding on Fear for 2d4 healing or Going Dark, it attacked Itoro, its apparent main threat, with its 3rd action.
Jinx cast Soothe on Roshan. Roshan woke up. Cara Stepped to flank for Itoro. Zandre cast Force Barrage on the wisp. And Itoro rolled a 36 to critically hit the flanked Will-o'-Wisp and took it down.
I had a rules discussion with Cara's player before Cara's turn, because the player was trying to figure out how to get heavily-damaged Jinx away from the Will-o'-Wisp while also ending Cara's turn adjacent to the wisp for flanking. I remembered an old rule that a character could temporarily stand in another character's square if they did not end their turn trying to stand in the same square. Thus, Cara could stop in Jinx's square and remain there because she moved Jinx out of the square. The Remastered rule is a little different, Moving Through a Creature’s Space, and would allow Cara to Step or Stride immediately after stopping in Jinx's square but not to Reposition immediately.
Jinx is the only magical healer in the party (though Roshan is trained in Medicine and carries healer's tools), so the party would have trouble recovering if she went down.
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As mentioned: you can absolutely do on an ally. IMO that's why Reposition was added in the Remaster: people in premaster PF2 wanted to move allies around but there was no action for it aside from Shove, and so GMs were making one up. Improvised Actions are in the rules, but PF2 tries to avoid making GMs have to do that for things that come up a lot.
One answer is as mentioned: a willing target causes you to get one degree of success better. That means anyone trained in Athletics is highly likely to succeed.
You can go one farther and say "its an ally, you can do it", and not call for the roll at all.
There's times when a roll simply isn't necessary for one reason or another. Sometimes that reason is "there's no plausable way you'd fail at this" and calling for a roll at all is basically just checking for a nat 1. I wouldn't do this with a character like my Oracle who routinely has a total modifier in Athletics of -2 (and is a Gnome with -1 STR so can't really reposition anything easily), but the really strong character with Master Athletics grabbing the unconscious Gnome? Why would they possibly fail at that 5% of the time?
In rare circumstances that reason might be "you're trying to move your dying ally out of harms way so they don't get killed before someone else can save them". I had that actually happen once, in a really ugly situation where 3 people were dying and player 4 repositioned one to get them close enough together that the medic (player 5) could battle medicine all 3 in a single turn.
How generous you are here may also depend on how likely your players are to try and abuse it if you give them auto-success, but sometimes in special circumstances it's okay to say "you can do it" and just keep the game moving. Something I miss from PF1 is the Take 10 rule, where you could simply use a 10 in place of a roll. I know why PF2 doesn't have it, but in situations like this it would nicely solve the problem: someone good at it can simply do it on an ally, and someone who is bad at it will have to roll to fish for a higher number.