D&D 5E My Bard Player just broke the game - and I love it!

[Stalker0]

So I mentioned in a previous post that my players got to try out the Deck of Many Things. This wound up sending them to an Extradimensional hell prison.

While there, the Bard met a wishing imp (for those not familiar, its an old school monster that grants you wishes....but they are always insanely twisted, aka the monkey's paw concept). So the bard made a wish to become the most powerful bard in the land.

But the catch. The bard had received the Vizier card from the deck of many things, which basically gives you the intelligence and wisdom to solve any single problem or know any single thing. So the bard asked to know what exact language he needed to get what he wanted without terrible consequences. Aka....the language of a perfect wish.

I sat there dumbfounded for a moment, and then decided....you win! We decided to make him a super powerful bard and retire him from the campaign.


My player won dnd through a brilliant move, and I thought it was awesome!

 

[Lanefan]

Too bad you retired him right away - a super-powerful Bard might have come in quite handy in their attempts to get home from hell...

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Evil DM Helmet Donned...


DM: "Hmmm....good idea. ... ... Ok. You get the knowledge in your brain. Make an Int Save, please, DC 14"
..
Option 1: "You failed? Ok. You are pretty sure it will take you a LONG time to recite it..."
..
Option 2: "You succeeded? Ok. You are pretty sure it will take you approximately 193.225 years of recital, at 10 hours a day, uninterrupted by any other words."
..
DM: "So...do you start the recital of the Perfect Wish? Or are you just gonna cut the time down and wing it?"
..


^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Stalker0]

Too bad you retired him right away - a super-powerful Bard might have come in quite handy in their attempts to get home from hell...

So I gave him a "delayed" wish, he is still him for the adventure, but the wish will give him the juice when they get back home. To allow for a "graceful exit".

 

[Ace]

Hiya!

Evil DM Helmet Donned...


DM: "Hmmm....good idea. ... ... Ok. You get the knowledge in your brain. Make an Int Save, please, DC 14"
..
Option 1: "You failed? Ok. You are pretty sure it will take you a LONG time to recite it..."
..
Option 2: "You succeeded? Ok. You are pretty sure it will take you approximately 193.225 years of recital, at 10 hours a day, uninterrupted by any other words."
..
DM: "So...do you start the recital of the Perfect Wish? Or are you just gonna cut the time down and wing it?"
..


^_^

Paul L. Ming

Different strokes I guess. I'd probably walk from the table after that since it comes on as "Jerk DM"

Let the player have his fun. He earned it.

YMMV of course and if your players are fine with it? Good on all of you.

Also I usually don't crock wishes except in rare cases. Otherwise players just don't bother with them and if that was your goal, just don't include them. The way is figure it if you include wishes , Decks of Many Things or any stuff like that you want Chaos. Let it roll/

 

[toucanbuzz]

...and retire him from the campaign.

Makes for a great story and sounds like the player was good with retirement of the overpowered character, so no need for DM intervention. Everyone wins.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Different strokes I guess. I'd probably walk from the table after that since it comes on as "Jerk DM"

Let the player have his fun. He earned it.

YMMV of course and if your players are fine with it? Good on all if you.

Also I usually don't crock wishes except in rare cases. Otherwise players just don't bother with them and if that was your goal, just don't include them. The way is figure it if you include wishes , Decks of Many Things or any stuff like that you want Chaos. Let it roll/

Oh, hey, don't get me wrong. I have rarely 'screwed' a player characters wish. But the OP did say that the specific Wish the PC got was one of the "be careful what you wish for / monkey paw type" of wish (re: it's out to mess with the wishers intentions).

My general 'rule' on Wishes is simple: What is the PLAYERS intention? I could give a rats butt what the CHARACTERS intention is. When we are talking 're-write reality as we know it', we have moved past "in game roleplaying" and firmly into "actual people sitting around the table". So that's what I go by.

If the Player is trying to "win" or otherwise "cheat/cheeze/mess-with" the overall integrity of the campaign as a whole...then yeah, I'm gonna find a loop hole or otherwise make the wish "not quite as expected". But if the goal of the Player is to do something "cool" or "in character and with respect to the other Players and me", then I'm certain to pretty much let the wish go.

As an example of a 'good wish', go watch Dorkness Rising. The fighter girl, Daphne, uses a Wish in a way that is in keeping with her character and would be a 'good thing' for everyone in the campaign. The examples she gets from the others on how she should use the Wish range from "ok..." to "ok...but..." to "..hehe...are you SURE...?"

"I wish that I could have any magic item I want at any time, permanently, by simply thinking about it" <--- I'm gonna find a way to mess with it.
"I wish everyone in the party was at full health and cured of any disease, spell compulsion and poison" <--- Not a problem. Granted.

Basically, the more "altruistic and egalitarian" the wish is, the more it's likely to be granted free and clear. The more "selfish and power-mad" the wish is, the more likely it is to be screwy.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Ace]

Hiya!

Oh, hey, don't get me wrong. I have rarely 'screwed' a player characters wish. But the OP did say that the specific Wish the PC got was one of the "be careful what you wish for / monkey paw type" of wish (re: it's out to mess with the wishers intentions).

My general 'rule' on Wishes is simple: What is the PLAYERS intention? I could give a rats butt what the CHARACTERS intention is. When we are talking 're-write reality as we know it', we have moved past "in game roleplaying" and firmly into "actual people sitting around the table". So that's what I go by.

If the Player is trying to "win" or otherwise "cheat/cheeze/mess-with" the overall integrity of the campaign as a whole...then yeah, I'm gonna find a loop hole or otherwise make the wish "not quite as expected". But if the goal of the Player is to do something "cool" or "in character and with respect to the other Players and me", then I'm certain to pretty much let the wish go.

As an example of a 'good wish', go watch Dorkness Rising. The fighter girl, Daphne, uses a Wish in a way that is in keeping with her character and would be a 'good thing' for everyone in the campaign. The examples she gets from the others on how she should use the Wish range from "ok..." to "ok...but..." to "..hehe...are you SURE...?"

"I wish that I could have any magic item I want at any time, permanently, by simply thinking about it" <--- I'm gonna find a way to mess with it.
"I wish everyone in the party was at full health and cured of any disease, spell compulsion and poison" <--- Not a problem. Granted.

Basically, the more "altruistic and egalitarian" the wish is, the more it's likely to be granted free and clear. The more "selfish and power-mad" the wish is, the more likely it is to be screwy.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

I can respect your POV here

IME campaign integrity never survives the inclusion of players.

That said if I can't trust my players not to make the game less fun for everyone else with a wish, they don't get one so in a way we are on the same page.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

The bard was retired from the campaign permanently?

it sounds like the TABLE won.

 

[Mistwell]

Oh that Bard should be in charge of the nation the player's are based out of from now on. Let him make special NPC appearances.