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Wishes
May 10, 2021 14:17:32 GMT -5
Post by GRWelsh on May 10, 2021 14:17:32 GMT -5
I was wondering if you guys had advice on how to adjudicate wishes. How do you handle it if a player wishes for a powerful magic item, such as a paladin wishing for a Holy Avenger or a magic-user wishing for a fully charged Staff of Power? What if they wish for a million gold pieces, or the most valuable gemstone on Oerth, or an artifact or a relic? Do you simply have it appear in their possession, no problem? What if they wish an enemy dead, or powerless, or their captive and in chains? Wish is the last thing I want to nerf in the game, as I think it should be awesome and versatile and more powerful than any other single spell -- yet even it should have limits. I was thinking a general principle for wishing might be that selfless wishes with the intent to help others are more likely to work as intended, even when sloppily worded, but selfish wishes are increasingly likely to have their intent twisted the greedier and more power hungry they are. So, wishing a dead party member back to life is simple, wish granted. Wishing the party out of danger and safely back to town or wishing everyone in the party is healed up -- those are fine, no problem. But what about wishing multiple characters back to life at one time? Or wishing a certain combat didn't happen? Or wishing they could start the adventure all over again?
I've always handled wishing for more wishes as putting one into a time loop. If you wish for more wishes you go back in time right before you made your wish. That's kind of easy and obvious, but what if a character wishes for a specific number like ten wishes? "I wish this was a Ring of Ten Wishes, instead of a Ring of Three Wishes." Or, "I wish I had the power to grant wishes." Or, "I wish to be as strong as a storm giant, permanently, but otherwise unchanged."
I was thinking of "The Monkey's Paw" and what a great story that was, and how cleverly it turned the concept of getting what you wish for as potentially horrific. I don't think every player character's wish should be screwed with in such a horrible way, but I like tying this concept to selfish, greedy and power hungry characters... It just seems so appropriate.
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Wishes
May 10, 2021 15:34:01 GMT -5
Post by Scott on May 10, 2021 15:34:01 GMT -5
Wishes I can remember have been used for bringing back the dead, or getting the party out of hopeless, impending TPK situations. I would say not all wishes are made equally, and a D&D wish is normally not like an Aladdin wish. I would compare what was granting the wish against what reality needed too be changed and what other magic might have to be considered to grant it. If it was a spell, or something that is storing wish spells, it would follow the guidelines of the wish spell. If it was some supernatural being, it would depend on how powerful the being was. How much magic would be needed to create the item wished for? How much magic is protecting it? I would never let a wish be used to get one of those items, maybe help finding one. Nobody has ever tried wishing for more wishes. I'm sure they know they'd regret it if they tried that with me. I would probably let a wish spell turn a normal sword into a magical sword, +1 or +2. Maybe +3 if the wish was from a very high caster. No special abilities. Generally, I would consider a wish a reservoir of magic potential. How much depends on what's granting it. A wish spell won't be able to do more than other 9th level spells, it's the same amount of magic that the caster has more control over.
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Post by geneweigel on May 10, 2021 20:43:04 GMT -5
In regards to using spells as a guide, the more powerful than a 9th level permanent spell then the more temporary the power.
There was a wish guide in a polyhedron issue by Kim Mohan I believe. I don't have access to any of my stuff though so I can't tell. It just touched on known limits.
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GT
Wizard
Duke of Indiana, Knight Commander
Posts: 2,032
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Wishes
Jun 27, 2021 9:34:39 GMT -5
Post by GT on Jun 27, 2021 9:34:39 GMT -5
Sorry to take awhile seeing this... Here's my personal guide: PH, pg. 94: The Wish spell should be clarified by the following conditions: --The wish must be directed so as to achieve a single, specific end. --The caster may not wish another creature dead (see spell description!). --The caster may not alter an historical event; the past may not be changed although a current result might be altered. --The caster may not counter the edict of a deity. --The effect of a wish may not exceed the power limitations of a 9th level M-U spell or 7th level Cleric spell. --A wish is objective, impartial and consistent, and uses the most direct means to achieve a result. As an example of possible limitations, if one wished for 1,000 to 5,000 gold pieces, said coins might appear directly in front of them [overuse of wishes of this nature might bring deital attention…]. If they wished for 10,000 to 100,000 gold pieces, they might come into possession of a map or be transported to a dungeon complex where that much currency resides (guarded by traps and monsters, most likely!). If they were to wish for 10,000,000 gold pieces, then they might be transported to Tiamat’s hoard and face the dragon queen and her five consorts in Hell! A wish for more wealth than this might result in being transported to the surface of a planet with molten precious metals on the surface (instant death). A Wish cannot bestow immortality; nor can it bring back one who has died from old age [although their spirit/soul might be accessed] (see: DMG, pg. 15). A Wish to increase an ability score is limited to one point for one ability score per wish up to a value of 14. Any wish used to increase an ability score one point from 14 up to 16 does so at 50% per wish (my personal rule). Any wish used to increase an ability score above 16 (including each power increment above18 for Strength) does so at 10% per wish (see: DMG, pg.11; & Polyherdon #17). Thus, to raise Strength of 14 up to 15 requires two wishes; to go from an Intelligence of 17 to 18 requires ten wishes. Note that the “character” (as opposed to the player) will be wishing to be raised in ability in a specific trait: i.e., “I wish that my intellect was increased” or “I wish that my physical strength was greater”. A wish used to increase hit points will bestow one point per level of the character up to their allowed maximum, which may not be exceeded. Thus, a 10th level fighter who wished for greater hit points (from a Ring of Wishes, for example) would get a maximum of ten points; this occurring with each wish up to the point where their class maximum for their current level was reached. Again the “character” would be wishing for something like “increased physical durability”. The DM must be careful to separate the perceived character ‘milieu’ from the player ‘meta’. Wishes are very powerful castings (believed to draw upon a Demi-Plane of Probability, akin to the Demi-Plane of Time), and should remain limited in availability. In all of Oerik, there are perhaps ten magic practitioners capable of using a wish spell (incl. Basiliv, Bigby, Mordenkainen, Otto, and Tenser), maybe four liches, and a quasi-deity or two. Only four or five rings with wishes are currently in active play. Also, remember that casting the Wish spell (not using one already stored in an item) ages the magic-user 3 years (DMG, pg. 13). I would allow a wish meant to subtract aging to restore as if an elixir of youth (i.e. 2 – 5 years), making it unprofitable for such usage by an actual caster [So, if Mordenkainen cast a Wish and then used a second Wish to reverse aging, he would age a base 6 years, and then regain a random 2 – 5 years!].
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