D&D 5E Wish: additional 9th level slot

[FrogReaver]

I would not make a ruling until I saw the exact wording of the player making the Wish. And then I would remember that this wish is coming from a spell, not from a genie or something, so I would take the wording as literally as I could and not try to distort it or manipulate it the way a genie would, or the way some of the replies here are doing.

Assume my wording is the exact wording.

 

[FarBeyondC]

What would be your ruling if a Wizard wished to have an additional 9th level slot?

They'd get the epic boon of high magic, assuming they passed the percentile roll I'd make them do (based on how difficult I felt getting said boon a more normal way would be).

 

[Zardnaar]

Probably grant it but you only get to use it once then it disappears.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Assume my wording is the exact wording.

Spell slot is a mechanical, out-of-character term, so I would need that wording to be changed for it to work. If it was worded in-game and in-character as something like "I Wish I could cast an extra 9th level spell every day", I would allow it, but specifically for an extra 9th level spell and not just an extra spell slot. If you were trying to get that extra slot so you could use it to up-cast a lower level spell, maybe something like "I Wish I had the power of an extra 9th level spell to use every day." That wording could give you the ability to use it for anything a spell slot can be used for. But most importantly, you need those qualifiers in there of "extra" and "daily" to avoid the dick answers some people have given you.

 

[Lanefan]

"I wish that now and forever I could cast spells each day in quantity as if I had trained* twice more than I actually have."

Might not get you an extra 9th-level slot right away but it'll get you two levels worth of extra slots, whatever they may be.

* - or levelled-up, or bumped, or whatever in-character term your PCs use to indicate they've picked up a new rack of abilities.

 

[jgsugden]

Note that this is an epic boon, something in the DMG that is granted by the Gods (usually) as a reward for a major quest.

If the PC was 20th level had just achieved a major quest, it would work as they desired it to work.

If the PC were under 20 (or had not completed a major quest recently), I'd seek to limit the benefit. The method of limiting it would be based upon the total facts and circumstances.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

What would be your ruling if a Wizard wished to have an additional 9th level slot?

I'd rule depending on the general behaviour of the player.

Analysis: the players expand a temporary ressource (spell slot), an especially weak one since such an undertaking could be done during downtime, to get a permanent increase in power, potentially imbalancing the group. That's generally bad, but the check and balance is provided since there is the potential loss of the permanent ressource of casting Wish.

Case 1 (general case) : I'd go "by the rules". Even if the player isn't wording his wish like a lawyer-proof contract, the PC casting the spell most probably has top human intelligence and knowledge of how the spell works in the world, with a thesis-long theoretical background... So in general, I am not a fan of "twist the wording until the player hate you". I'd warn its a "non standard" effect, incurring the 33% chance of losing the Wish spell, but not try to impose this penalty ON TOP of being a dick. That would allow the player to get 4 or 5 9th level slot before losing the ability to cast Wish... At the very end of a campaign, does it matter this much? I'd correct any imbalance by giving a few more artefacts useful for the other members of the group and up the level of the opposition accordingly, but I wouldn't be a hostile. We're speaking "endgame" anyway.

I'd discuss the wording of the wish with the player however, to differentiate between the slot and the ability to cast a second 9th level spell each day, but not to screw the player. If it was somehow fitting, a side quest of recovering the notes of an old mage describing how to achieve this effect through Wish without risking more than the stress would be OK.


Case 2 (least likely) : the player has an history of using Wish in a creative way and is making an habit leaning toward becoming gamebreaking OR the player has found a way to circumvent the statistical limitation, either by Wishing "to be immune to wish stress without any detrimental effect to him including but not limited to loss of spellcasting ability, alteration to his personnality or physical form and reduction of fighting ability" or partnering with another spellcaster Wishing for their friend to regain the ability to cast the Wish spell after losing it due to stress (with the same proviso). The check and balance removed, allowing it would make the player spend the next 3 months doubling his 9th level spell slots through repeated casting of Wish... That's not a desired nor reasonable outcome. Then, I'd try to find a way to make the spell backfire, probably along the line of "You've exceeded the limit imposed by the God of Magic when teaching mortals their first spells, when limitation were imposed on the ability to alter the multiverse in exchange of being sheltered from its most eldritch beasts... Now that you have walked outside the sanctionned path, they noticed you..." (next adventure plots : how to get pardon? How to pass unnoticed from these creatures? How to ascend to godhood to be on an equal level with these creature? With so much magic in his head, he's bound to make some activate unwillingly as reality is constantly warped around him... At some point the PC could even Wish for losing his excessive ability)

 

[MarkB]

Gaining an additional 9th level spell slot is effectively forcing your mind to be able to contain and channel twice as much godly-level magic as it normally could. I'd have that come at the cost of some serious mental trauma. I'd probably give the player a choice between options such as a permanent 2-point reduction in Intelligence, an incurable form of insanity, or automatic Wild Magic surges on every spell cast using an 8th-level or higher slot.

 

[Fanaelialae]

Regarding the twisting of wishes, my view on it is that there is nothing wrong with it provided the possibility is clearly telegraphed (as opposed to a "gotcha").

 

[Ashrym]

It sound to me like the sort of wish that should be twisted. Maybe he gains an addition 9th-level slot, but can't regain it.

That was my first thought.