Need help with wording of a wish

[ThirdWizard]

Whether you were joking or not, I'm pretty sure it actually happened...

EDIT:

As an example. A player wishes: "I wish I were immortal."

In Campaign #1: Nothing happens, he loses 5000 xp.
In Campaign #2: The wish is successful. He stops aging.
In Campaign #3: He is turned to stone.

How is a player going to make a wish for if he has no idea what the outcome will be the second he goes off the codified list? These are wildly different results and all of them are quite possible depending on the current DM. I guess the player should just never make that wish, but it seems kinda boring to stick to the list because you don't want to run the risk of wasting 5,000 xp.

 

[Mark]

Whether you were joking or not, I'm pretty sure it actually happened...

EDIT:

As an example. A player wishes: "I wish I were immortal."

In Campaign #1: Nothing happens, he loses 5000 xp.
In Campaign #2: The wish is successful. He stops aging.
In Campaign #3: He is turned to stone.

How is a player going to make a wish for if he has no idea what the outcome will be the second he goes off the codified list? These are wildly different results and all of them are quite possible depending on the current DM. I guess the player should just never make that wish, but it seems kinda boring to stick to the list because you don't want to run the risk of wasting 5,000 xp.

That's just the way it is. Some actions are risky. It's meant to be nebulous. Get over it.

You may try to use a wish to produce greater effects than these, but doing so is dangerous. (The wish may pervert your intent into a literal but undesirable fulfillment or only a partial fulfillment.)

 

[ThirdWizard]

Of course, then it becomes much like a Deck of Many Things. An interesting oddity, but nothing to be seriously considered.

Also, it gives players who know the DM personally an edge over those that don't.

 

[Mark]

Of course, then it becomes much like a Deck of Many Things. An interesting oddity, but nothing to be seriously considered.

It's not like randomly picking a card from a deck at all. It really seems to be all or nothing with you. Either it is completely defined to the last detail or you say it must be akin to a total roll of the dice.

Also, it gives players who know the DM personally an edge over those that don't.

Maybe. It might also be that a DM who knows his players might be more prone to have some fun with them if he knows they are up for it, while he might be less likely to enjoy himself if he thought a new player was a stick in the mud.

 

[ThirdWizard]

It's not like randomly picking a card from a deck at all. It really seems to be all or nothing with you. Either it is completely defined to the last detail or you say it must be akin to a total roll of the dice.

I havn't seen wishes occur much at all. I havn't seen a wish cast in two years. Before that it was probably at least a year. So, my oppinions are going to be based on this experience. If a wish were something that occured more often, then I could see being less open about what's going to happen. But as it is my players would otherwise have no idea about wishes if I didn't comment on them. That's pretty random.

Maybe. It might also be that a DM who knows his players might be more prone to have some fun with them if he knows they are up for it, while he might be less likely to enjoy himself if he thought a new player was a stick in the mud.

Who's seeing it in black and white now? You're either up for some fun or a stick in the mud, eh?

 

[Mark]

I havn't seen wishes occur much at all. I havn't seen a wish cast in two years. Before that it was probably at least a year. So, my oppinions are going to be based on this experience. If a wish were something that occured more often, then I could see being less open about what's going to happen. But as it is my players would otherwise have no idea about wishes if I didn't comment on them. That's pretty random.

There you go again. Of course they'd have some idea. It's one of the longest spell descriptions in the book. It gives all kinds of ideas about how the spell can safely be used. It even gives fair warning about pushing the spell beyond its limits, and that is when the randomness can occur. I suppose the problem is that it allows you to push it and take your chances in the first place. If it said nothing at all about what might happen if someone tries to overstep, I guess you'd be fine with it and we'd not be having this back and forth. But, it's a game and they like to throw a little potential randomness into it, at the discretion of the DM. Big deal.

Who's seeing it in black and white now? You're either up for some fun or a stick in the mud, eh?

Yes. That's it. Exactly.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Yes. That's it. Exactly.

It's hard to tell, but you don't sound like you're enjoying this exchange.

I guess its time to decide to disagree and move on.

 

[Mark]

It's hard to tell, but you don't sound like you're enjoying this exchange.

I guess its time to decide to disagree and move on.

*shrug* Doesn't make a difference to me. Still, the part I think you miss, that you simply don't get, is the portion you skipped from my previous post. It fairly well sums it up, IMO. There's some DM discretion built into the game that you'd seemingly want filtered out. I'd suggest CRPGs might be a way to go if that's the case.

 

[ThirdWizard]

*shrug* Doesn't make a difference to me. Still, the part I think you miss, that you simply don't get, is the portion you skipped from my previous post. It fairly well sums it up, IMO. There's some DM discretion built into the game that you'd seemingly want filtered out. I'd suggest CRPGs might be a way to go if that's the case.

I just get that from character interaction, exploration of the multiverse, and other unknown things that happen throughout any and every gaming session, not the spells that the PCs cast or DM fiat.

 

[Mark]

I just get that from character interaction, exploration of the multiverse, and other unknown things that happen throughout any and every gaming session, not the spells that the PCs cast

Player character interaction only, or are NPC interactions allowed to be DM-discretionary?

How is "exploration of the multiverse" a thing under DM discretion? The players choose where to go.

What unknown things are you talking about? Do fires always spread by design, or can they spread randomly or at the DM's discretion? What of magical fires that are started by a spell?

There's just no way around the fact that some spell effects will have a certain amount of DM discretion built in, if you're playing D&D.

or DM fiat.

Nice tack on. You're more of a player who has been screwed by some DMs (or a DM) than a DM who feels this way, aren't you? That's really what this is about, isn't it? Because I could understand what you've been saying, if it's being said from that perspective, even though I'd still disagree.