Hey all!
I had a question about PVP dialog, w/ regard to the need to express "hostile intent."
If someone comes up to you, making demands with clearly implied threats, are you, as the "defender," required to explicitly state you're going to fight back? Here's a hypothetical situation:
Necromancer: (Walking around with undead in a dungeon)
Paladin: Halt right there, dismiss your undead at once!
Necromancer: Ah, just one moment... (Necromancer turns on "hostile," then begins casting spells, combat starts)
To me, the interaction above is just fine. A necromancer, minding their own business, was approached by someone giving an adversarial command, with a clear implication that failing to follow said command would result in being attacked/forced to comply. So the necromancer doesn't need to expressly declare, "Die, Paladin," because the hostile nature of the interaction is already established, when the Paladin initiated the dialog with a command/threat. Basically, both parties are already aware of the potential for hostility, so no further clarification is needed.
I've always been of the opinion that if someone comes up to you with "fighting words," or is making demands that an average person would assume are going to be backed with force, the "defender's" reply does not need to specifically state you are going to hurt the aggressor or fight back, before doing so. Basically, while the person initiating the hostile interaction has to announce their hostile intent, you don't need to express your intent to defend yourself by force; this is just simply your right to do so, after someone has confronted you in a hostile manner/with a direct command to take an action you don't wish to take.
Otherwise, this really gives a pretty overwhelming advantage to the person initiating the combat, in terms of them initiating combat on their own terms, all the while being able to seize the initiative while you're explaining that you're about to fight them. I.e. the burden of "hostile explanation" should be on the person initiating the PVP interaction, not the recipient of a threat or command.
But, I've never seen this situation clearly adjudicated; I'd love some clarity on what is required in a response if someone else initiates an encounter with a reasonably clear intent to do you harm.