NPCs and Circles testing

[MadJay]

I've got an NPC -Vanessa, who's the new love/power interest of a PC - Edmund. She came about as a result of a failed circles roll.
Edmund has managed to persuade/seduce Vanessa into not publicly announcing their union - but He's been running to-and-fro for a day or two now - with only a few words and a scribbled note... :)
I want Vanessa to spy on Edmund, see what he's up to.
My thought is to do it all in the open, announce this intent at the table, use Vanessa's circle stat, negotiate the stakes with Edmund's player and roll the dice - am I on track?
My madness is I thought the chance of failure is just a good a complication as success would be.

[MadJay]

Methinks I found my Answer (http://burningwheel.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5350&highlight=link+tests) while killing time at work.
Stop me if you've heard this...Players have intent NPCs/PCs do not.
As GM, I intend to spy on Edmund(PC) using a NPCs circles to find someone who can tell me what he(Edmund) is up to. I negotiate this out with Edmund's Player to set stakes and roll.

What I would love is a way to make this a player test - it just hasn't come to me yet.
Any Ideas?

[jhkim]

Methinks I found my Answer (http://burningwheel.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5350&highlight=link+tests) while killing time at work.
Stop me if you've heard this...Players have intent NPCs/PCs do not.
As GM, I intend to spy on Edmund(PC) using a NPCs circles to find someone who can tell me what he(Edmund) is up to. I negotiate this out with Edmund's Player to set stakes and roll.

What I would love is a way to make this a player test - it just hasn't come to me yet.
Any Ideas?
Her roll isn't a player test -- but you could make the player roll to see if he realizes she is spying on him. This is covered on p115 -- he rolls against Obstacle of 10 minus the opponent's obstacle for the initial spying Circles test.

[MadJay]

Yes - that's good. I very much want to avoid the GM fiat in this case. I'm even considering bribary - is that "legal"? To offer the player a fate point for "Saying Yes" to the NPC spying and learning what the character is up to?

[Berandor]

Instinct: "Trust Vanessa" – then even by the book!