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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mlund" data-source="post: 6886467" data-attributes="member: 50304">The literary tradition around wishes generally revolve around the moral of a story. Wishes end badly when they are expressions of vices or foolishness. In a darker genre you'll see the genuine Cursed Wish like that granted by a fiend or the Monkey's Paw. Even in those situations, though, the audience sees obvious visual cues given to the tragic character who is too foolish to heed any warning. In fact, these stories are usually most effective because there's a companion of some sort that warns the wisher and goes unheeded.If you pull the rug out from under someone without following the applicable trope / literary conceit you'll generally create cognitive dissonance.So it is always best to either keep things simple or play the trope straight. Humble, selfless, or at least benign wishes provide genuine benefits. "Greedy," foolish, or Cursed wishes come with some sort of a warning and it persisted upon leave the subject with complications. In general, ruthless behavior should generate Cursed Wishes while heroic rewards and spoils should be played straight.</blockquote>