tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post7065146034609242919..comments2024-03-23T05:46:31.832-07:00Comments on Power Score: Wishes in Dungeons & DragonsSeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-45234125667272639312016-04-02T00:53:45.220-07:002016-04-02T00:53:45.220-07:00There is no reason not to turn a wish on it's ...There is no reason not to turn a wish on it's ear, but I've never told anybody that they cannot wish for anything in particular.<br /><br />First of all, wishes should not be meta, but you absolutely should allow a player to wish for whatever they want; including meta things. If a player wishes to to be "very strong" for instance, there is no reason not to turn them into a material that is very strong. Something like this has to be the result, because the world does not know what your metadata is, but your character obviously just said it. The words mean something, just not the same thing that you, as "the player" think they mean.<br /><br />You can get very creative with this.<br /><br />Also, a player wishing to be healed should get just that. Full restoration. Anything short of the power of another spell is boring and stupid. You want or need to turn it on it's ear for some reason? Great. Their injuries are transfered to the people around them, they suck the life out of the land and animals, or their being is tanted even though they seem to be restored.<br /><br /><br />Your campaign isn't ruined just because it's side tracked. That's just when it's getting fun. Your PCs make a wish that puts them into some crazy adventure for a while? Cool. Your badguy has a field day while he's unopposed and they come back to some consequences and maybe a more severe, or maybe even more interesting and fun challenge to face than what you originally anticipated.<br /><br />You want to wish for a castle? Cool, I have castles. They're named Ravenloft, Never, and Tyr- Tyr comes with a whole city around it, and a whole lot of very evil people.<br /><br />You want a sword that can kill a demon prince? I hear Solars are technically capable of it. Maybe this Dijinn knows how to spirit one away from a Solar champion?<br />MAYBE that Solar isn't gonna be too happy about losing his sword, or maybe, you get said Solar killed while he is disarmed. Maybe you make a power vaccum in the planes and maybe now, you have some really big shoes to fill?<br /><br />Maybe, this is your game, and MAYBE, you can do whatever you want with it, whenever you want?<br /><br />One half-cocked wish can give you fifty hours or more of play material. And when the power levels have gotten so goofy that they can't be contained? Nuke the entire galaxy and when your players come to in a small farming hamlet on a stream, when suddenly, they hear a scream from just over the hill...<br /><br />Cheers. =)Themanatthebackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01278868026366974580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-40447405905649979012016-01-11T17:23:34.252-08:002016-01-11T17:23:34.252-08:00Terry Ervin: I never liked the whole "DM scre...Terry Ervin: I never liked the whole "DM screwing the players over on a wish" thing. It just felt kind of like a cop out. I guess it's one thing if the players are getting a wish from an evil efreet, but if the wish is the result of a major quest or an end-of campaign reward, I think the wish should just be granted as long as it doesn't ruin your setting.<br />Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-83908415211543399322016-01-05T19:09:10.264-08:002016-01-05T19:09:10.264-08:00I thought it was odd too, having a wish but being ...I thought it was odd too, having a wish but being so limiting in it. Whenever I've run a game, wishes are very very rare, and the source of the wish did have an impact. Players would spend a lot of time thinking and researching and preparing exact wording of the wish in an attempt to avoid adverse outcomes.Terry W. Ervin IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13561009802388207515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-10232392765862371242015-02-07T10:53:33.572-08:002015-02-07T10:53:33.572-08:005E wish seems a lot like a watered down 3.5E wish....5E wish seems a lot like a watered down 3.5E wish...Bronkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03037864167096222349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-65229492455358174902014-11-25T23:25:45.692-08:002014-11-25T23:25:45.692-08:00Bronk: You are completely right! I shou;d have had...Bronk: You are completely right! I shou;d have had the PC turn into a genie... that would have been so awesome.<br /><br />Wishes aren't in 4e, as far as I know. The game was very tightly codified and there wasn't room for anything game-breaking. Once the DMG comes out I will update this article to include the 5e Wish spell.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-56174686085280114832014-11-25T11:55:52.844-08:002014-11-25T11:55:52.844-08:00Pretty neat! In 3.5, the book Savage Species had a...Pretty neat! In 3.5, the book Savage Species had a section on using Wish to become a new race for good, with an additional spellcraft skill check to determine if you got all the new creatures special abilities. In this case, your player could have wished to be a genie...Bronkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03037864167096222349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-12211910775398433232014-09-30T05:34:54.952-07:002014-09-30T05:34:54.952-07:00Cool article! It's interesting to see the wis...Cool article! It's interesting to see the wish rules for older editions... the 1/10th of a stat point rule almost made sense back then, since stats had an upper limit, but you would think a potential wisher would just find a way around it, like becoming a monster that already had the right stats. <br /><br />How are wishes handled in 4th and 5th edition though?Bronkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03037864167096222349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-56158435846501553882014-07-22T21:28:47.539-07:002014-07-22T21:28:47.539-07:00Faoladh: That is definitely a good way to go. Wish...Faoladh: That is definitely a good way to go. Wish is so open-ended and potentially unbalancing that you definitely need to have some kind of angle or vision of how it works in your game to make it work without feeling too limiting.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-49430035001303772972014-07-21T16:56:49.057-07:002014-07-21T16:56:49.057-07:00One of the things that I don't like about D&am...One of the things that I don't like about D&D is the way that it chose to handle Wishes. To my way of thinking, a Wish is a command to a particular entity to fulfill a request, which it must do to the best of its ability and powers. So, you wish for treasure, and the entity goes and steals it from wherever. If you wish for higher stats, it doesn't know what to do (unless it has magic that would allow it to do so), and tells you as much.faoladhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03691952430041394614noreply@blogger.com