Wish

[Halivar]

No can do. Wish is a 9th level spell, and it can only duplicate 8th level spell or lower. Thus, wishing for more wishes is out of the question. Its magic item creation limit is 25,000 gp, so no item that grants wishes can be created.

Traditionally, the wish is granted by a deity. If he wishes for more wishes, have a deity of Law smack him down for his greed and arrogance.

 

[I'm A Banana]

wow u guys are so much better at all this analysis of it. I have alot t learn. I was always a player and never a dm so yea. I was thinking of letting him have the nymph stuff but not the other stuff and jsut say it is over the power limit of the wish spell. Just so I am clear.

It's a solid plan. Sounds like your group is a little wahoo on the power scale with half-dragons and half-celestials, so making your scout a half-druid-nymph-halfling-thing doesn't sound out of the realm of the other players.

But sort of more generally speaking, since you're new at DMing, I'd be a little cautious with all the options and powerful character you have bouncing around in your game. Keep a close eye on them -- make sure they're being challenged, and don't be afraid to say "no" from time to time. Have fun, and come on back if you've got any other questions!

 

[TKDB]

No can do. Wish is a 9th level spell, and it can only duplicate 8th level spell or lower. Thus, wishing for more wishes is out of the question. Its magic item creation limit is 25,000 gp, so no item that grants wishes can be created.

Actually, that's the limit for nonmagical item creation. Magic items have no stated cap, but instead eat an amount of XP equal to 5000 + 2x the normal XP cost to craft the item.

So if you're casting the spell you *could* wish for a Ring of Three Wishes...if you feel like burning 36836 XP. Of course, if you have this option this means you could probably just cast Wish yourself three times, which would most likely be the more economical option. Unless your DM is extremely generous and lets the Wishes from the ring have an unlimited XP budget and you want some REALLY XP-heavy wishes...

You could hypothetically use a scroll of Wish to wish for a wish-granting item if the scroll's created invested enough XP into it, but a standard scroll of Wish has only 5000 XP, which isn't sufficient to wish for any magic item (since the minimum XP cost to wish for a magic item is 5002 XP). So in this scenario, assuming the PC is able to make the multiple high-DC UMD checks necessary to use the scroll in the first place (or can rely on a friendly wizard to do it for him and make the requisite CL check), the DM could simply veto the wish outright or subject it to the "perverted intent" clause for exceeding the limits of the Wish.

 

[delericho]

I don't know what I hate more - DMs who use wish as an excuse to screw over PCs, or players who try to abuse wishes.

Ok guys

I have level 4 Scout that now has a wish scroll.

His idea is as follows (keep in mind he is a very experienced player & DM) I however am not so i need some help.

Okay, first up, go get your PHB and turn to the description of wish. There's a list of things that the spell can do (emulating spells, creating items, etc). Trust me, you want to stick tightly within the limits there. Especially since this is a low-level PC using a scroll, rather than a high-level caster casting the spell.

Wish for a ring of three wishes that has all three wishes fully available.

If wish is used to create an item, the caster must spend twice the normal XP cost (15,918 x 2), plus a further 5,000. The scroll of wish pays that 5,000 for you (it's expended in creating the scroll), but the PC will need to supply the 31,836 XP. Presumably, he doesn't have that XP available (especially since he can't spend XP if it would cause him to lose a level). Therefore, the spell fails with no effect.

If you're feeling kind, let him choose a different wish.

Wish 1: Wish for all the special attributes and abilities of a Nymph without becoming a nymph.

I would handle this in one of two ways:

1) Hit the PC with the most powerful polymprph-like effect to turn him into a Nymph. If the player objects, simply note that this is as close as the scroll was able to achieve - perhaps a more powerful wish-giver can do better? (If you're feeling kind, add a permanency effect, and allow the PC to dismiss it at will... but be sure to note that once he dismisses it, it's gone.)

2) Alternately, give them all the powers of the nymph... but not the ability to turn them off. That's well within the "doing so may be dangerous" clause of the spell description. When the player objects, note that his character hasn't had the decades of experience of being a young nymph required to gain control over these abilities.

Of course, option #2 effectively makes the character unplayable, as he'll be forever attacking the rest of the party with his killer abilities. Shame.

Wish 2: Wish for a Scroll of Gate spell.

Wish 3: Wish for 3 wish scrolls.

Again, these fall under the "creating magic items" rule - the PC would need to spend a significant amount of XP to create the items. Since he probably doesn't have the XP to spend, he's SOL.

(On the other hand, wishing for a single casting of gate is fine.)

 

[pemerton]

3 PC are playing a half-dragon templates that are all hatch-mates (Cleric, Cleric, Knight).

1 is playing a half celestial searching for his celestial mother (Rogue/Wizard w/goals to be a slayer of domiel)

1 scout(lvl 4) CN so far wants nymph abilitities.

Half-dragon and half-celestial look pretty strong to me! I would say that the D Door, swim, Wild Empathy and Unearthly Grace would be comparable in balance. I think the Druid spells and the stunning gaze could break the game, though, so would be disinclined to hand those out.

Also, CN is a bit of a warning sign. You said that this player is very experienced - well, at least back in the 2nd ed AD&D days there was a tendency for people to play CN when they wanted to be crazy and disruptive. I don't know if that's still a factor in current 3E play, but it might help you get a handle on where this player is coming from.

I would still strongly advice an out-of-character conversation about what the player is really trying to achieve for the PC, and for the game overall.

 

[Dandu]

Half-dragon and half-celestial look pretty strong to me!

Crippling LA.

 

[pemerton]

Crippling LA.

For a cleric, I guess - don't know so much about Knights.

For a fighter, woudn't the half-dragon STR boost, the AC boost, and to a lesser extent the CON boost and the INT boost (to skills) make up for the level gap? Or does the loss of iterative attacks and feats hit too hard? (Though the breath weapon might make up for one lost feat, mightn't it?)

Half-celestial looks not too bad for a cleric to me: STR boost to make up for lost BAB, WIS boost to help with spells and spell DCs, bonus spells from the cleric list, damage reduction to make up for lower hp, and SR as well. But I'm probably underestimating the cost of lost top-level spells.

Anyway, the picture I'm getting of the OP's campaign is one in which level adjustment may not be playing out in the most orthodox fashion!

 

[Dandu]

For a cleric, I guess - don't know so much about Knights.

For a fighter, woudn't the half-dragon STR boost, the AC boost, and to a lesser extent the CON boost and the INT boost (to skills) make up for the level gap? Or does the loss of iterative attacks and feats hit too hard? (Though the breath weapon might make up for one lost feat, mightn't it?)

In addition to what you mentioned, a Half Dragon has 4 levels less of hit points. That's a lot less hit points; assuming thee Fighter has a Con of 16, that's an average of 34 hit points.

Also, the breath weapon is usable once per day and does not scale with level. It wouldn't make a very good feat.

Best way to be a Half Dragon is through Dragon Disciple, where you pay off the LA through levels in the restige class.

Half-celestial looks not too bad for a cleric to me: STR boost to make up for lost BAB, WIS boost to help with spells and spell DCs, bonus spells from the cleric list, damage reduction to make up for lower hp, and SR as well. But I'm probably underestimating the cost of lost top-level spells.

the Half Celestial has DR/Magic. This is worth diddly and does not offset the lost hit points. Spell Resistance is not terribly good, as it also interferes with beneficial spells unless you take a standard action to lower it, which is not something you want to do in combat. The stat boosts and bonus spells are not enough to make up for lost spell levels, especially considering that you get bonus spells from being a higher level caster.

Simple exercise: List the spells you have access to as a 5th level cleric. Now list the spells you have access to as a 9th level cleric.

 

[pemerton]

Simple exercise: List the spells you have access to as a 5th level cleric. Now list the spells you have access to as a 9th level cleric.

I'm looking at the OP's campaign description and thinking I should be comparing my spells as a 1st level cleric to those of a 5th level cleric! Where your point still holds, but maybe not quite as strongly.

 

[Ashtagon]

Let him know immediately that if he wishes for one of the "ordinary" things specifically approved by the wish, he gets to make the standard chance of success. If he tries to wish for something outside those limits, make sure he knows that it will almost certainly get twisted. If he still wants to go ahead, so be it.

And yeah, he's going to fail his UMD check anyway.