Topic: Your definition of Enemy

[Overlord]

I think the issue is to define 'enemy'. But to alter the effects of the spell dependent on how much your deity cares? Wow! The deity provides the power points not necessarily the results of there use. Changing spell effects based on level or deity interaction (or for any reason) takes away from the players. Of course, this is only IMO.   

[markc]

 IMO it adds to the players. Because at the beginning the spell only detects the deities enemies and if the GM likes at higher levels it can detect the enemies of the person.

 Overlord;
 One thing that is commonly mentioned is that [most of] the rules were written back in the 80's or around there. Back then other games as well as RM had very basic ideals and story lines. Today we expect more of our games and tell better stories to boot. And commonly when we try and expand the rules we encounter problems because the rules were written during a simpler time.
 That said if the rules were written today there would be a lot more text with the spells to account for our more in depth story telling today.

MDC 

[kevinmccollum]

[most of] the rules were written back in the 80's or around there. Back then other games as well as RM had very basic ideals and story lines. Today we expect more of our games and tell better stories to boot.

I'm going to disagree. If you look at the old 80's RM/Not RM modules, they were much tighter and expected a lot more of the characters. As time passed, the stories grew less believable and were in fact dumbed down quite a bit. (A prime example is the old Southern Mirk-lots of trees with Dol-Goldur and the rewritten Dol-guldor which was greatly reduced in complexity.

[pastaav]

I think the issue is to define 'enemy'. But to alter the effects of the spell dependent on how much your deity cares? Wow! The deity provides the power points not necessarily the results of there use. Changing spell effects based on level or deity interaction (or for any reason) takes away from the players. Of course, this is only IMO.   

The flip side of that argument is that the information for the spell must come from something in the setting. Just because the GM knows that Tim is the villain it does not mean that this information the spell can access. Suppose only Tim knows he is bad guy shouldn't he get an RR to protect the information? We can probably agree that he should not get an RR if a god is trying to find the information, but then we are back to that the opinions of the god do matter.

In some game groups it is no big deal if detect enemy can allow you find every opponent that might do you negative stuff and slay them, in other game groups having this ability might totally disrupt carefully designed mysteries.

Being able to magically detect personal enemies with a spell is something that might be an issue, that is why the GM should carefully design what is meant by enemies in his game.

Btw, welcome to the forum.

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

The official interpretation is that the "enemies" must be set, by the GM, when the spell list is first learned. And once learned, the list of enemies will not change.

For example, if a Ranger were to gain this list somehow, the Enemies might be set as Orcs, Goblins, and Kobolds. And that is what it would remain.

For a Paladin of Reaan, the enemies list would be Priests/Paladins of Scalu, Demons, Undead, and creatures of the Unlife. And that list would never change.

Trying to use it against "anybody who means me harm at any time" makes the list way too powerful and I would strongly recommend and urge any and all GMs to not allow that.

[netbat]

If you really want to make it situational rather than always fixed, you could allow the spell to show 'enemies' if they are actively planning or working against the purpose of the deity. In a game I ran one player was a paladin of the deity of justice and law and cast the spell near another player who was actively planning on breaking the law for the express purpose of causing chaos. The paladin had a really great spellcasting roll.(I use SCSMs for all spells and use the roll as a guide for how effective the spell is) and he detected an enemy in the vicinity, but the other character changed his mind completely so the detection faded before the paladin could figure out who the enemy was. It makes for a slightly more useful but less powerful spell.

[Marc R]

I like that, nothing like stirring up the paranoia pot in play.

I have had "Enemy" re-define in play, but generally only based on an actual change in the view of the god. . . .like if during a campaign, goblins are disliked but not considered unholy enemies of the One God, then a Goblin army loots and desecrates the high temple of the One God, resulting in said god declaring all goblins unholy enemies and directing his church to start a holy war on them, the goblins might start the campaign unaffected by enemy spells, then after the sack of the temple, they are affected by enemy spells.