D&D 5E (2014) I need to increase my strength with a wish, what should i say?

[Oirelando]

My dm is a totally fair person, but he does love ruining wishes if he spots a chance to. My current best idea is "i wish to be physically stronger" but i feel like that could increase my dextarity or constitution.

 

[Thateous]

Does he ruin even the most basic of requests? You could be a little more specific as in, "I wish my strength rivaled [insert strong creaure here].

It's kind of anti fun to just ruin wishes for the hell of it. Asking for more str isn't an outrageous request.

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[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[5Shilling]

I'd would be careful of referencing a monster ("I wish for the strength of a giant" - *poof* now you are a giant).

Maybe "I wish to be twice as strong as I am now".

The rules say that wish can reliably duplicate any spell (of 8th level or lower). So maybe just push that a little further and ask "I wish I was permanently under the effect of an Enhance Ability spell, to increase my strength".

That doesn't increase your strength ability for combat purposes though. Maybe wish for a girdle of ogre strength, or a self-refilling strength potion.

 

[DEFCON 1]

As one of my friends pointed out... if he ever played with a DM who would get so grammatically picky that they'd screw over players who received Wishes that that self-same DM granted to the group... he'd take his character and go immediately to find the equivalent of an attorney. Then spend the next month in-game working with that attorney to draft up the language of the Wish such that all screw-over "loopholes" would be covered and closed. And if the DM really wanted to put the campaign on hold for a month while the PC went to do this... all just because the DM thinks it's funny to be a grammar nazi... then that'd be his choice. But my friend would have no problems taking his magic ring (or whatever it was that granted the Wish) and going home for however long it would take to draft the non-screwable Wish up.

As he pointed out... inanimate magic objects or spells granting Wishes should never be that nitpicky, because the mages who created these items wouldn't have been (unless they were intentionally creating Cursed items). An efreet offering Wishes to people and then playing with them? Sure... in that case let the buyer beware. But just standard high-powered magic would never intentionally not do what the caster wanted it to do because the mage was they themselves creating the magic to DO what the caster wants. And magic in itself has no knowledge, soul, or desire to not complete tasks it was created for.

 

[delericho]

I'd just speak to the DM directly - "I want to use the wish to increase my Strength by 1 point".

Also, don't play with jerks. If the DM thinks it's funny to screw over a player for making a reasonable request with a wish that he gave you, that's a warning sign. It's probably not a deal-breaker itself, but it would lead me to think about whether to continue.

 

[ccs]

As one of my friends pointed out... if he ever played with a DM who would get so grammatically picky that they'd screw over players who received Wishes that that self-same DM granted to the group... he'd take his character and go immediately to find the equivalent of an attorney. Then spend the next month in-game working with that attorney to draft up the language of the Wish such that all screw-over "loopholes" would be covered and closed. And if the DM really wanted to put the campaign on hold for a month while the PC went to do this... all just because the DM thinks it's funny to be a grammar nazi... then that'd be his choice. But my friend would have no problems taking his magic ring (or whatever it was that granted the Wish) and going home for however long it would take to draft the non-screwable Wish up.

As he pointed out... inanimate magic objects or spells granting Wishes should never be that nitpicky, because the mages who created these items wouldn't have been (unless they were intentionally creating Cursed items). An efreet offering Wishes to people and then playing with them? Sure... in that case let the buyer beware. But just standard high-powered magic would never intentionally not do what the caster wanted it to do because the mage was they themselves creating the magic to DO what the caster wants. And magic in itself has no knowledge, soul, or desire to not complete tasks it was created for.

Your friends' an idiot. That hypothetical wish lawyer he finds? Guess what? It's played by the same hypothetical DM that's screwing with the wish. Wanna bet how that lawyering turns out for him?

 

[ccs]

My dm is a totally fair person, but he does love ruining wishes if he spots a chance to. My current best idea is "i wish to be physically stronger" but i feel like that could increase my dextarity or constitution.

If that's the worst twisting of your wish that occurs, smile & take it.

Do you have to word the wish "in character"? Or can you word it using game mechanic jargon? If the latter, just wish your Str bonus is now x.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

If your DM is prone to messing with wish requests, I'm not sure I'd hazard the wish at all. Wishing for gauntlets of ogre power or a girdle of giant strength might be safer, with the caveat that they be created here and now, rather than taken from someone else.

I get the fun of twisting wish requests when they’re something absurd, like “I wish for the power to slay anything I touch.” But basic requests that would just be a point or two of strength, that shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[Sunseeker]

I think there's always some fun to be had with Wish spells, even if you give them exactly what they want.

"I wish I were stronger." is a bad wish because it's too open ended. Stronger than what? How much stronger?
"I wish I were stronger than an orc." Is also a bad wish, again, which orc?
"I wish I were as strong as the average orc." Okay, that's better, if your DM is reasonable enough to take the MM Orc as an average, then they could put you 1 or more points above that. Seems reasonable.
"I wish I were as strong as a dragon." Again, which type? Which size?

Personally, I always play with wishes a little bit. I give them what they want, but make something the group is going to have fun with as well.

One person wanted to speak better (in a game with stronger language rules) so I gave him a magical top hat. His character now speaks the King's English (silly British accent and all).

There's a happy medium wish wish spells where a person can get more-or-less what they want, and still have fun with imperfect results.

I personally don't think I'd complain if, after wishing to be as strong as a Storm Giant, I was turned into a Storm Giant.