Can an ally make it easier to hit them with an attack?

Question

In a recent session, I found myself using the Psion at-will Dimensional Scramble to reposition my allies in a fight among a bunch of floating platforms. I could hit an ally with the attack and teleport them from one platform to the other. They would take damage from this, but that damage was easier to deal with than the skill checks to jump from platform to platform. This tactic was made more difficult by the fact that the allies I was shifting this way had a very high Fortitude defence, making it harder to hit them with the attack.

If I'm making an attack against an ally, is there anything my ally can do to make it easier for me to hit them with that attack?

This question makes it pretty clear that there isn't any RAW saying whether or not you can automatically take the hit if you want, but I'm looking for any other options that might allow a player to make the attack easier, even if it isn't an automatic hit.

Answer 1

First of all, it sounds like you have a DM making a very interesting tactical challenge for you, that's awesome! Second, it appears that it has inspired you to think outside the box. I like to refer to this confluence as "Good D&D". :)

Secondly, and to your question, I think at best we're skirting RAW here, looking for a little cheese. Which is fine! My quick and easy answer (as a DM who tries to support his players ideas) would be to allow you to shout a warning to your buddy (as a free action) that this type of attack is coming. Likewise as a free action, he could close his eyes for just a second. This would leave him temporarily blinded (only during your attack, so no repercussions otherwise) which would grant you and you alone, combat advantage against him (but obviously not against the other creatures in the AoE). A nice +2 to your attack against him is better than nothing.

If your attack was vs. AC, I'd also rule that the ally could choose to not attempt to avoid the attack, which would remove the DEX/INT bonus from his AC. But beings this is Fortitude, we don't have a similarly justifiable option.

I haven't played 4E in a few years (though I'm returning to it in a few weeks!) but I seem to recall there's a feat or power or magic item that allows you to choose to target a different defense once per day. I only wish I could remember what it was and if it was available to your build. That might be helpful to target an allies lower defense.

Great question and good luck!