Wish spell used to become half dragon...

[Artoomis]

I'd allow it, BUT:

First, I'd explain to the player that such a wish is beyond the normal power of a wish, and thus carries great risk of unintended consequences. I would absolutely not tell the player what those would be.

Second, upon making the wish I might give the player a further warning by having the character get a mental warning of "Are you SURE?" After that, well, the player has been well and truly warned that this may not be the best idea.

If the player still wants the character to be half-dragon, I'd allow it, but at -3 levels (or 4 with wings). This keeps the player the same effective level as the rest of the party. this is what happens when you get greedy!!

I would let the player choose which levels are lost, if multi-classed, primarily to lessen the blow of the lost levels.

Any whining would have to be taken to the complaint department. The complaint department is closed on every day with an "a" in it.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I'd allow it, and even give the player a choice:

Front half, or back half.

 

[Gumby]

^^^^^^^Exactly. Or perhaps right down the middle. Or perhaps half-dragon, half-guppy.

 

[enworldatemylogin]

Another option you might consider is have the Wish fulfill the requirements for the Dragon Disciple prestige class. Then as he levels up let him take those as levels.

 

[Otterscrubber]

Would you allow a character to use a wish spell to immediately gain 3 levels? I thought not, but what about this:

Allow the pc's wish to be fulfilled, but only after he has gained enough xp's to balance the ecl of the template (+3)? In other words, instead of gaining 3 new character levels, he keeps accumulating xp until he has enough to pay for the template, at which time he becomes a half-dragon. You could even play it up, having his body change over time, giving him some abilities at certain points. His wish will be fulfilled, but not immediately. Another option is to allow the character to immediately lose his last 3 character levels and gain the full template right away.

Of course, if he has to spend xp's for the template, he may not be interested, but that's his choice.

I like this idea a lot, the wish just makes it possible and effectively an interesting multi-classing option. But this idea will preserve balance with other party members and also put a cap on abusing this. And it's certainly within the description of a wish to achieve this, both thematically and RAW. IMHO at least.......

Or perhaps it leads to certain quests or actions that must be performed for the character to "level" up in their new form, leading to interesting plot hooks.