What can you WISH for?

[Centaur]

If you can get an Inherant Bonus of +1 to an ability, or a 15,000 gp Item from the casting of a wish spell, what else can you get? The Current Wish spell seems weak to me based on previous editions of D&D.

1. Could a Wish Spell Grant a New Feat
2. How about a bonus to a skill (+5 or +10) etc.
3. How about raise the maximum Ranks allowed for one skill (+10).
4. Grant Spell Knowledge, allow a wizard to record one or more spells into his book instantly.
5. What if you have an exceptionaly low atribute (like a 5 Charisma). Could you have a wish that would allow you to just roll 3D6 for a new Charisma as you, "Rediscover yourself" so to speak.
6. Could a wish change your race. (ie. could a 1/2 elf become a full elf, or a Orc Become Human)
7. Could a Wish restore lost Youth (lower physical Age)
8. How about extend someones life beyond the point at which they would otherwise die. (Not nessecarily immortality as this seems to be omitted by the description already).
9. Restore a magical item of greater than 15,000 gp that has been broken or destroyed.
10. Grant Wealth. Possibly no more than 10,000gp or maybe more.
11. give someone an Ex, Su or Sp ability of some sort. (eg. Dark vision, etc.)
12. Can anyone think of anything else.

Thoughts?

 

[Treebore]

The only one I wouldn't allow is number 5. I also allow for them to wish for up to 50,000 gold and magic items. Of course the last magic item wished for was a staff of the magi in a 2e game and he came to become painfully aware it was rightfully Manshoon's staff. But it was fun.

 

[Cyberzombie]

The Current Wish spell seems weak to me based on previous editions of D&D.

I'd just like to say that this is the first edition that I'd be willing to actually cast a wish spell under most DMs. Most of them liked to exclusively grant Monkey's Paw wishes, so I avoided the spell like the plague. (Look up the Edgar Allen Poe short story of the same name, in case you haven't met the reference before.)

1. Could a Wish Spell Grant a New Feat

That would not seem too out of line. Maybe limit it to 5 feats, since wishes can only give a +5 inherent bonus on a stat.

2. How about a bonus to a skill (+5 or +10) etc.

That's pretty powerful. Maybe the equivalent of Skill Focus -- an inherent +3 bonus.

3. How about raise the maximum Ranks allowed for one skill (+10).

That's even more powerful. But I'd grant a +2 max Ranks bonus, or allow one skill to always be a class skill. I've seen feats that grant similar powers, so that doesn't seem out of line.

4. Grant Spell Knowledge, allow a wizard to record one or more spells into his book instantly.

This I'd be very generous on. The 3.0 prices to scribe spells were ridiculous, and, while 3.5 is better, it's still not very reasonable. Especially with all the Forgotten Realms wizards who know every spell in the book. Hmm. Maybe one spell of every spell level he has access to. That wouldn't seem unreasonable.

5. What if you have an exceptionaly low atribute (like a 5 Charisma). Could you have a wish that would allow you to just roll 3D6 for a new Charisma as you, "Rediscover yourself" so to speak.

Rolling 3d6, no mods, no re-rolls, might be fair. Yeah, you could get really lucky, but most likely you'll end up with a 9-12 score, which isn't going to break game balance. If I was the DM, though, I'd darn sure be rolling the dice myself.

6. Could a wish change your race. (ie. could a 1/2 elf become a full elf, or a Orc Become Human)

No problem, unless you have some ability/class/whatever based on your race.

7. Could a Wish restore lost Youth (lower physical Age)

If you look at the official WotC rules, NOTHING really stops aging for a PC character, ever. Why, I don't know -- it's not a game balance issue. Few campaigns I've ever been in even last a year of game time, so it is a total non-issue. But I'd allow this. I'd have the character's effective age be reduced by 1/2 their adulthood age, rounded up. The human adulthood age is 15, so their effective age would be reduced by 8 years. An elf's adulthood age is 110, though, so their effective age is reduced by 55 years. Yes, this does make this sort of wish best for elves, but they have to get *some* sort of advantage in 3e.

8. How about extend someones life beyond the point at which they would otherwise die. (Not nessecarily immortality as this seems to be omitted by the description already).

I'd use the effective age option, myself. Extended old age is not really all that cool. Regaining youth is.

9. Restore a magical item of greater than 15,000 gp that has been broken or destroyed.

If you have all the parts, or journey to the place where it was destroyed, sure. As long as it isn't an artifact; those are beyond such mortal magic.

10. Grant Wealth. Possibly no more than 10,000gp or maybe more.

If someone asked for wealth beyond the 10,000 gp, I would mess their world up. Probably by teleporting in the money from some VERY powerful creature's horde. Like a great wyrm red dragon.

11. give someone an Ex, Su or Sp ability of some sort. (eg. Dark vision, etc.)

I'd decide on a case-by-case basis. Darkvision is cool and all, but I wouldn't hesitate to say yes to granting it. If they asked for something really powerful, though, like dragon breath, they'd be regretting it...

So there's my thoughts. Take them as you will.

 

[Centaur]

That's even more powerful. But I'd grant a +2 max Ranks bonus, or allow one skill to always be a class skill. I've seen feats that grant similar powers, so that doesn't seem out of line.

Actually I stole this from the SG-1 D20 game. They have a feat in that game that allows you to become an "Expert" in a given skill and therefore gain a +10 to the maximum number of ranks allowed for that skill. You still need to actualy buy those ranks, but your maximum is now higher... Does anyone else think this is unbalanced?

 

[fuindordm]

If you can get an Inherant Bonus of +1 to an ability, or a 15,000 gp Item from the casting of a wish spell, what else can you get? The Current Wish spell seems weak to me based on previous editions of D&D.

1. Could a Wish Spell Grant a New Feat
2. How about a bonus to a skill (+5 or +10) etc.
3. How about raise the maximum Ranks allowed for one skill (+10).
4. Grant Spell Knowledge, allow a wizard to record one or more spells into his book instantly.
5. What if you have an exceptionaly low atribute (like a 5 Charisma). Could you have a wish that would allow you to just roll 3D6 for a new Charisma as you, "Rediscover yourself" so to speak.
6. Could a wish change your race. (ie. could a 1/2 elf become a full elf, or a Orc Become Human)
7. Could a Wish restore lost Youth (lower physical Age)
8. How about extend someones life beyond the point at which they would otherwise die. (Not nessecarily immortality as this seems to be omitted by the description already).
9. Restore a magical item of greater than 15,000 gp that has been broken or destroyed.
10. Grant Wealth. Possibly no more than 10,000gp or maybe more.
11. give someone an Ex, Su or Sp ability of some sort. (eg. Dark vision, etc.)
12. Can anyone think of anything else.

Thoughts?

I'd say yes to a feat or any change to skills roughly equivalent to a feat.

I'd allow a single wish to grant +2 to any stat currently granting a penalty,
but still limit the inherent bonus to +5 total.

I'd allow a permanent change to another humanoid race (can Wish do this
by simulating Polymorph any Object?)

I'd allow it to extend youth but not life.

On the subject of Ex,Su, Sp abilities, I'd have the Wish spell simulate
low-level arcane spell + permanency. For 1st or 2nd level spells, I'd
probably make it truly permanent (dispel magic could suppress it but
not remove the effect altogether).

As for other things, I would allow wishes to effect more drastic changes
on a character as long as they were rather chaotic and out of the player's
control. For example:

Reroll all hit dice.
Reroll all stats (or all physical stats, or all mental stats).
Generate a wild psionic talent but risk insanity.

--Ben

 

[FireLance]

If you can get an Inherant Bonus of +1 to an ability, or a 15,000 gp Item from the casting of a wish spell, what else can you get?

Actually, in 3.5e, I think a Wish can create a non-magical item worth 25,000 gp, and can also create a magic item or add to the powers of a magic item. No gp limit is mentioned for creating or adding to the powers of a magic item, so I'd use the same 25,000 gp. This is also in line with the standard 1 xp = 5 gp conversion.

1. Could a Wish Spell Grant a New Feat

Like Cyberzombie, I'd limit it to 5 feats, and each additional feat needs an additional consecutive Wish (2 consecutive Wishes for the 2nd feat, 3 consecutive Wishes for the 3rd feat and so on).

2. How about a bonus to a skill (+5 or +10) etc.

I'd price it like a slotless magic item. Most skill-enhancing items give a +5 competence bonus to a skill for 2,500 gp. By the magic item pricing guidelines, a +10 competence bonus costs 10,000 gp (although, perhaps for balance reasons, the only two skills I can find that core-rule magic items grant a +10 bonus to are Climb and Swim). Double the cost for a slotless item and you get 20,000 gp. This is within the gp limit for the creation of magic items, but use with caution (note balance warning above). I would also be wary of allowing a Wish to grant other types of bonuses (e.g. insight, luck, etc.) due to runaway stacking problems.

3. How about raise the maximum Ranks allowed for one skill (+10).

Again, I would be wary of balance, especially in combination with magic granting a high competence bonus.

4. Grant Spell Knowledge, allow a wizard to record one or more spells into his book instantly.

Within the gp limit of the Wish spell, I would not have a problem with this.

5. What if you have an exceptionaly low atribute (like a 5 Charisma). Could you have a wish that would allow you to just roll 3D6 for a new Charisma as you, "Rediscover yourself" so to speak.

I would prefer to use the inherent bonus mechanic to improve ability scores. This option seems to give an unfair advantage to characters who have deliberately chosen to have low ability scores.

6. Could a wish change your race. (ie. could a 1/2 elf become a full elf, or a Orc Become Human)

I would have to problem with this. In fact, any race with the same or lower LA should be possible, but the character loses the racial adjustments and abilities of his old race and gains those of his new one.

7. Could a Wish restore lost Youth (lower physical Age)

I'd allow it. A single Wish would remove the penalties of Middle Age. After that, two consecutive Wishes are needed to remove the penalties of Old age. After that, another three consecutive Wishes (six Wishes in all) are needed to remove the penalties of Venerable age.

8. How about extend someones life beyond the point at which they would otherwise die. (Not nessecarily immortality as this seems to be omitted by the description already).

By the general spirit of the D&D rules, where even a druid's or monk's Timeless Body is no protection against simply running out of life, I'd say not.

9. Restore a magical item of greater than 15,000 gp that has been broken or destroyed.

Given that a character with the relevant item creation feat can repair a magic item at half the cost in time, materials and xp, I'd allow a Wish to repair an item of up to 50,000 gp (twice the gp limit). More expensive items will require the expenditure of multiple Wishes.

10. Grant Wealth. Possibly no more than 10,000gp or maybe more.

Up to 25,000 gp in whatever form desired, e.g. coins, gems, art objects, etc.

11. give someone an Ex, Su or Sp ability of some sort. (eg. Dark vision, etc.)

I'd price it like a slotless magic item, as with the skill bonus (point 2).

12. Can anyone think of anything else.

I would also allow a Wish to modify certain aspects of your character. In game terms, you can exchange a level in one class for a level in another class, swap out a feat that you have for another that you qualify for, or re-allocate your skill points. At the DM's option, gaining levels in a divine spellcasting class or a class that requires the patronage of a deity may require the concurrence of the deity.

 

[Cyberzombie]

Actually I stole this from the SG-1 D20 game. They have a feat in that game that allows you to become an "Expert" in a given skill and therefore gain a +10 to the maximum number of ranks allowed for that skill. You still need to actualy buy those ranks, but your maximum is now higher... Does anyone else think this is unbalanced?

Hmm. That does make me look on that a little more favourably. I trust AEG a fair amount on their game design skills. So I would ammend this to allow +5 max ranks. Not more, though.

I would prefer to use the inherent bonus mechanic to improve ability scores. This option seems to give an unfair advantage to characters who have deliberately chosen to have low ability scores.

I think you're making a major conceptual error here. If someone has a 5 ability score, they did NOT use point buy, and thus did not choose their ability scores. They got what they got. If the campaign used point buy for ability scores then, no, I wouldn't allow this. However, this is clearly an option for those that have rolled their scores, so choosing doesn't enter into it. It just lets you try luck again, which could give you an even worse result.