Watchdog spell and "hostile intent"

[StevenH]

Quick question for you.



The Watchdog spell triggers when someone crosses the border with hostile intent.



But what happens if someone crosses it who is just minding their own business, with no clue there is someone nearby? If they would attack when they discover the caster is there, then I think it would trigger.



But what happens if the person would run away if they discovered someone there? Would that be considered "hostile"? And would the Watchdog trigger, or ignore the hapless intruder?


I'm tempted to ignore the "hostile intent" part of the write up, and let Watchdog trigger with false positives, but the wording is in there for a reason. Is it meant to allow some people to not trigger it?


Thoughts?

[vorpalvitto]

The big issue with that would be that anything would trigger the spell. Even an insect passing by.
You could also change the spell to only work on sentient beings (IQ 6+), but then any animal that wants to snack on people would not trigger the spell.
IMHO if the spell could do false positives then it would not be as useful.

[Dalin]

I might interpret it as "if the caster would view the entity as an intruder."

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by StevenH

I'm tempted to ignore the "hostile intent" part of the write up, and let Watchdog trigger with false positives, but the wording is in there for a reason. Is it meant to allow some people to not trigger it?

I think it's meant to allow people camping inside it to leave to use the bushes and return, and someone on watch to move around, in both cases without triggering it.

[Fred Brackin]

You're overthinking this. You're the GM. You _know_ what the intruder's intentions are.

If it's going to attack the PCs it's hostile. If it's not going to attack it's not hostile. The Sell is endowed with the GM's meta-omniscience. It's not a computer you have to program.

[David Johnston2]

If someone has the intent to steal, to attack anyone they know is there, or anyone who gets in their way, that's hostile intent. If someone has no such intent but will make a reaction roll that could lead to hostility or will encounter an unexpected enemy that isn't hostile intent.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

You're overthinking this. You're the GM. You _know_ what the intruder's intentions are.

If it's going to attack the PCs it's hostile. If it's not going to attack it's not hostile. The Sell is endowed with the GM's meta-omniscience. It's not a computer you have to program.

I could see it working three ways, and the GM will have to determine which. The first is the way you've outlined it - it detects any creature who, upon detecting the caster, will become hostile (in video game terms, it detects aggro-on-sight mobs). If this will be determined by a Reaction Roll, it may be appropriate to make that roll as soon as they enter the warded area (if the result is that they'll become hostile upon detecting the caster, they trigger the spell; note you could have a case where someone isn't "hostile" when entering the area but becomes such when they notice the caster is cutting down a sacred tree, and thus gets past the ward, or someone is "hostile" but opts against attacking when they see the caster tending to a wounded animal - that is, the basic Reaction Roll indicates one result, but the caster's actions/behavior modify it such that it crosses over into the other direction), but that's ultimately up to the GM.

The second would be if the spell basically works by detecting "killing ki" or similar. This means the creature needs to basically already be looking for something to kill - this doesn't have to be the caster, but a serial killer looking for a victim, a predator on the hunt for prey, etc. This is a bit more restrictive than the above (as it won't handle foes that have no idea there's anything to kill in the area), and also opens the possibility that some individuals might be able to suppress their killing ki to avoid triggering it even when they fully intend to kill someone (through special mental exercises that may include autohypnosis, for example). You may need to include specific exceptions for your own allies. A variant of this would mean the creature wouldn't necessarily be intending to kill, just attack in some way - in which case it would also detect a territorial animal checking for invaders to drive off, a park ranger searching for poachers to arrest, etc.

The third and most restrictive version would be a combination of the above - the creature needs to be specifically on the hunt, not just for any potential targets/prey, but for the caster. So the predator needs to have already detected the caster in some way (probably scent) and mean them harm, law enforcement needs to specifically be looking for the character (not necessarily knowing who the character is, if they're actually just looking for "the one who stole Count Jerk's coinpurse" and that happens to be the caster).

Personally, I'd lean toward the first or second interpretations.

[mburr0003]

Originally Posted by StevenH

But what happens if someone crosses it who is just minding their own business, with no clue there is someone nearby?

This is why I've changed the spell in my House Rules, to eliminate questions like this. My version:

When cast around an area, this spell warns the caster of any physical thing crossing it's boundary. The caster may exclude specific targets ("my friend Bob McKnight"), or even general targets ("all animals less than 10 pounds in weight"), but all exclusions must be stated when spell is cast. If the caster is asleep, he wakes instantly without being stunned. The spell is not destroyed if triggered; it lasts until its natural expiration. The caster may immediately cast Information spells to increase Watchdog's capacity to detect non-physical things, these spells will last as long as the Watchdog lasts with no extra cost to maintain.



I disallow difficult to discern exclusions, such as "all party members who aren't mind controlled", unless the PC immediately casts a spell that can detect discern such things (such as Aura or Mind Reading).

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by mburr0003

This is why I've changed the spell in my House Rules, to eliminate questions like this.

I've got very similar rules for the same reasons.

As worded, Watchdog is potentially a very powerful "detect treachery" spell. If one of your traveling companions eventually intends to lead you into an ambush, a strict reading of the spell RAW would have Watchdog go off every time they cross the boundary. Likewise, it could potentially detect doppelgangers, vampires, demon-possessed people and other hidden threats who intend to eventually do the caster harm even if the caster couldn't sense them by other means.

If you doubt the loyalty of your minions or companions, cast Watchdog and have everyone pass through the barrier one at a time as a sort of security screen.

It's also potentially useless due to false alarms if you count ever blood-sucking insect that crosses the boundary as having hostile intent. It might also trigger if friends cross the boundary with the intent of playing a harmless practical joke.

While all the GURPS Magic spells require GM interpretation and customization for a given campaign, the most logical interpretation for triggered spells is that the triggering condition can't be anything the caster couldn't detect with their unaided senses under ideal conditions. That would allow invisible, hidden, extraplanar, etc. foes to easily pass Watchdog's boundaries without triggering it.

Alternately, assume that the spell has the same sensory acuity as an actual dog, allowing it to detect hidden foes by sound or smell as well as sight.

[RGTraynor]

My vote's with Varyon's #1.

This is one of the numerous cases where the spell could have stood with a much longer explanation, if only SJG was prepared to put out -- and the fanbase prepared to purchase -- a 500 page Magic book.