D&D General Wishing Away The Adventure

[Mort]

Yes.
There's a player I've been gaming with since the 90s who hilariously, predictably finds any way to avoid the adventure.
Recent example...
GM: "There's a monster coming."
Player: "This looks dangerous. I'm going to Teleport back to town!"
GM: "So ... uh ... what are you going to do for the rest of the night?"
Player: "I'll just sit here and watch you guys play. At least my character is safe."
GM: "So ... it's kind of a part of the social contract that you are playing with everyone else. This is a team game."
Player: "Well, next time I'll bring them with me on the Teleport."

There's little that can be done if a player insists on being a jerk. And running away at the start of any trouble, when the rest of the party is in danger, is the PLAYER being a jerk, regardless of what he says his character would do.

 

[Micah Sweet]

But there's a BIG downside to trying a more powerful wish (in 5e). 25% chance of losing your spellcasting ability. How often is the caster willing to court that?

And if it's from an item? Well, that's on the DM for giving it to the party.

It's from an item. Never been in a game with a PC who had wish.

 

[Mort]

Inspired by the High Level Adventures thread, but focused on a particular thing.

There seems to be a concern that high level PCs, or even lower level ones in possession of a wish, would use a wish to just not go on the adventure. If the quest is that they retrieve the Sword of Awesome from the Tomb of Badness, they will just wish the sword into their hand. Or otherwise use powerful magic to circumvent play.

Has anyone ever actually done this, or seen it in play? Is it a valid concern? Why would players choose to avoid playing?

I remember a guy back in college who would simply insist on doing his own thing - whether it coincided with what the party was doing or not. We finished the campaign and then simply didn't invite him back when we started a new one.

 

[darjr]

At a an Epic event at a local convention I was playing the wandering monster, an high CR Red Dragon, that could call down siege weapons, and I arrived at a tier 4 table, eight people six level 20s. They were suffering pretty bad. I let ‘em have it, at that tier why not, they can take it. All but one player went down. Most of them dead dead dead.

That one player had wish.

I can’t remember the details of the wish but the DM granted it and they were all back on their feet. Then she rolled and her character could never cast wish again.

 

[Reynard]

I remember a guy back in college who would simply insist on doing his own thing - whether it coincided with what the party was doing or not. We finished the campaign and then simply didn't invite him back when we started a new one.

That sounds like a bad experience but I am not sure how it is related to the subject.

 

[Mort]

It's from an item. Never been in a game with a PC who had wish.

I've never had that come up (wish from an Item), I just don't give those out!

But if I did. I would handle it something like this:

A player with no spellcasting ability could use the wish BUT only with the "standard" options allowed. A spell caster could use the full powered version if the chose - but they would be subject to the 25% chance of permanent spell loss.

Again though, hasn't actually come up.

 

[Shiroiken]

I've endured a lot of wish shenanigans over the decades, but I've only met one player* who would try to use wish to try and avoid an entire adventure. Generally players try to use wish, teleport, and other powerful abilities to bypass specific challenges or to gain an undeserved advantage. The best method is to twist the wish into something less pleasant, or to simply cancel the wish (an outside agent prevents it using other means, or the universe simply doesn't allow it). In the case of the sword, the PC is teleported by themselves directly to the location of the mcguffin, and has to solo the BBEG guarding it (teleporting away leaves the mcguffin behind).


*This same player also attempted to destroy any plot mcguffin the players came across and murder any useful NPC. He viewed his job as a player was to ruin any potential plans the DM might attempt. The few times he GMed, however, he demanded we directly follow the railroad he laid before us. Needless to say, we do not associate with this player any more.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I've never had that come up (wish from an Item), I just don't give those out!

But if I did. I would handle it something like this:

A player with no spellcasting ability could use the wish BUT only with the "standard" options allowed. A spell caster could use the full powered version if the chose - but they would be subject to the 25% chance of permanent spell loss.

Again though, hasn't actually come up.

Yeah, the balance issue really doesn't matter to me. If they wish for something crazy, the consequences are handled narratively, and the players know that going in. "All magic comes with a price".

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

If the quest is that they retrieve the Sword of Awesome from the Tomb of Badness, they will just wish the sword into their hand.

I really try not to be the kind of DM that is out to twist every Wish spell to ruin. But something so blatantly sidestepping the adventure like that, well, the conversation would go something like the following:

DM: To confirm, you are wishing that the Sword of Awesome appears in your hand, right?
PC: Heck yeah!
DM: Okay, your hand disappears from the end of your arm in a fountain of blood. Even now, your severed hand grips the Sword of Awesome in the Tomb of Badness.

 

[Mort]

That sounds like a bad experience but I am not sure how it is related to the subject.

I was responding to @Retreater who has a player who will do stuff like teleport away at the sign of ANY danger. The point being, that's a player issue not a system issue.

As to your OP. High level play has to take into account broad strokes of what the players might do, but can't take into account everything. Sometimes players will surprise you. My answer is, generally, let them and roll with it.

But as to the actual scenario of wishing away the adventure? If it IS a possibility remind the player of the possible cost - great the fighter has the Sword of Awesomeness, but the wizard has no spells - EVER. And sometimes, rarely, it simply won't work - like if their trying to interfere directly with the will of a god - wish is big, it's not THAT big.