You base your assumption on something not stated and in the face of it, unlikely. That Joe and Sara are actually friends.
That's, uhh, literally baked into the premise, my dude.
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You base your assumption on something not stated and in the face of it, unlikely. That Joe and Sara are actually friends.
In the first post I said "Joe" was a friendly NPC. Perhaps it was ambiguous who he was friendly to but if he was friendly to "Bob" the wizard, suggestion wouldn't've been needed.
Ok, so here's where things get really confusing...
At the point where the PC turns on the NPC and begins attacking them, they are no longer the friend of the NPC. The NPC will no longer feel the need to protect the PC by holding them back, because if that PC is trying to stab them with a dagger, what do I care if they get hurt? Just how much love does the NPC have for the PC that they will keep grappling them?
The wording of the original suggestion relies on the NPC believing that they need to do it to protect their friend. So if the PC simply says "I licked all your dinner before I gave it to you! Aha!" then the request is no longer a reasonable one.
Fun times.
Ultimately, this is why the rules aren't really all that important and should always be taken as general suggested guidelines, never as set in stone.
Well that's part of the broader question, no? Whether a suggestion that was successfully cast should fail due to changing circumstances. In this case though, I wouldn't argue "My friend is trying to hurt me because they want to do something dangerous and I wanna stop them" to mean "They're not my friend anymore". There's a lot of shounen manga with that exact scenario. And if a pc tried this wording on a pair of guards I would probably still have the spell work if the two characters were just coworkers who didn't like each other very much. (Though if "Sara" shouted, I'm not your friend, so you don't have to hold me, I'd have rewarded the creative problem solving)
As I've said several times, in your game, you can run it however you wish.
In the OPs posts, Joe and Sara appear to be allies or at least on the same side if not actual friends (since the OP states that the veteran is not on the same side as the wizard). In my opinion that is sufficient to get them to act to prevent harm from coming to their allies. In addition, the suggestion only asked them to hold their ally. It didn't ask them to harm them or do anything extraordinary. This also seems quite reasonable in context. Finally, whether the wizard grabs the fighter or vice versa, it is not unreasonable to grab hold of your ally/friend to prevent them from going into danger - the only difference is that the wizard is far less likely to be successful at holding the other.
In addition, you really don't seem to understand the Suggestion spell as written. "Myself, if I was Joe, I'd let go the second Sara shouted" ... the suggestion was to hold the ally as long as they were following the wizard to save them from the danger. The person shouting doesn't, in any way, change the suggested course of action. If the PC attacks the NPC then, RAW, it still doesn't change anything this since the action has to be obviously dangerous when the spell is cast. However, I myself might house rule either the spell ending or another save if a situation became obviously dangerous due specifically to the suggestion (Like Champs example of opening a box with an obviously poisonous snake with the suggestion to pick up whatever was inside the box) but I realize that is completely a house rule. Normally, Joe would try to "hold" Sara back. However, if Sara is trying to fight Joe then they aren't chasing the wizard and the suggestions is working since she is effectively being "held" from chasing the wizard - so maybe Joe would dodge and try to talk Sara out of attacking them as long as they didn't chase the wizard :)
This is how I ruled it in the moment. Joe continued trying to hold her off despite being whacked with a staff, and eventually the spell wore off because the wizard had to concentrate on something else. In the future I'd probably have it fail the moment he's being attacked.
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That's, uhh, literally baked into the premise, my dude.
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
In the first post I said "Joe" was a friendly NPC. Perhaps it was ambiguous who he was friendly to but if he was friendly to "Bob" the wizard, suggestion wouldn't've been needed.
Well that's part of the broader question, no? Whether a suggestion that was successfully cast should fail due to changing circumstances. In this case though, I wouldn't argue "My friend is trying to hurt me because they want to do something dangerous and I wanna stop them" to mean "They're not my friend anymore". There's a lot of shounen manga with that exact scenario. And if a pc tried this wording on a pair of guards I would probably still have the spell work if the two characters were just coworkers who didn't like each other very much. (Though if "Sara" shouted, I'm not your friend, so you don't have to hold me, I'd have rewarded the creative problem solving)
This is how I ruled it in the moment. Joe continued trying to hold her off despite being whacked with a staff, and eventually the spell wore off because the wizard had to concentrate on something else. In the future I'd probably have it fail the moment he's being attacked.