Wishin' is fo' suckahs...

[Snowy]

when I have some one powerful enough to cast wish I think I'll listen to what they say then come up with a good and reasonable attempt to fulfill it in line with the power of the level of the spell and the XP cost.

If I really feel the need to create a bizarre circumstance to kill them or humiliate the characters I can, I'm the DM, seems like a cack and petty way to mess up someones class abilities. If I through some strange circumstamce slip into a hating the players characters mode of thught and it becomes me against them I'll win, I'll say "Rocks fall and you all die" and it'll be over, I wont even need to wait for them to cast wish :\ .

If the wish is granted by a supremely powerful and vengeful demon that they have coerced into service then He/She/It will do as little as they can to help them pervertign the intent of the wish as much as He/She/It can.

On the other hand by the demons ranting and anger and the story up to that point the players will probably realise that something might go wrong, it wont be a ring that, you know (huh huh) has this like demon in it (huh huh) and like you wish (huh huh) and it goes wrong in like this really really implausably bad way (huh huh) and no you can't recognise the ring cos it changes shape and your spells don't work cos its like totally powerful like, man.

 

[Whimsical]

Yes. And so is the hand of your God, which the spell ripped off to bring Stormbringer to you. Opps!

Oh, dude! You missed the joke!

Big Dumb Fighter: "I wish to have the Stormbringer sword in my hand."

Stormbringer appears and impales itself into the BDF's hand!

BDF: "AAAAAAGH......"

BDF's soul: "AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaa...."

Stormbringer: "Mmmm. Toasty!" *BURP*

 

[Jack Simth]

You can't go too easy with wishes - it's possible for a Wizard with a summoner's kit of spells (Planar Binding, Dimensional Anchor, Magic Circle Against X, Dismissal (just in case)) to get three at 11th (Sorceror 12th... and the Sorceror would have an easier time of it (high Charisma)), at no XP cost, daily, as Noble Dijinn are non-unique (their numbers are listed statistically - 1% of all Dijinni), have 10 HD (subject to Planar Binding), Chaotic Good to boot (and thus unlikely to want you dead for a few minutes of inconvienience (unlike Efreet, who are Evil)).

Really though, the method of interperting a big wish (e.g., those that don't fall under the "standard" clauses) really ought to depend on the way it came about - a Wizard casting it himself (and paying the XP) deserves to get something that won't bite him too hard, nor be completely useless (e.g., making the army fall asleep is good, although it's likely to fall under the "partial Fullfillment" clause - perhaps just the closest several wakeful soldiers - twice your caster level, say - which would be all the watchmen cast at night - who get a save vs. a 9th level spell). Someone coercing wishes out of an Evil Efreet ought to get screwed over, while someone getting a wish from a Noble Dijinn ought not to be treated too harshly (useless interpertations sure - Harmful interpertations no). Wishes used to summon things (e.g., a lawyer) are subject to whatever it is you happen to summon - you pull up a critter with fully open alignment (e.g., a high-level human fighter), roll for alignment - d10, 1=reroll, 2 = LG, 3 = NG, 4 = CG, 5 = LN, et cetera) as it isn't easy to tell from a distance (needs a second spell in addition to the summoning). A Wish gained from a non-intelligent item either holds the alignment of the creator for wish interpertation purposes, or is handled mechanically (least-effort literal, may not fully succeed anyway - defeat the army? You are now 80-years hence - held safely in extraplanar stasis until the last member of that army died - who happened to be a human, of old age, fortunately for you).

 

[Ferret]

How about I wish I could defeat the army.

Twist that one.

 

[Endur]

The issue with Wish is the 1e vs. 3e issue. The original 1e Wish spell was unlimited in power, but the GM was encouraged to twist the result. The 3e Wish spell is very limited in power, and also has an exp cost, so it really does not need GM twisting.

 

[Jack Simth]

How about I wish I could defeat the army.

Twist that one.

You find yourself polymorphed into a virulent foot-fungus via Polymorph Any Object, scatter about, and eat the feet of the army (they have now been de-feeted). Unfortunately, in your scattered state, when the polymorph wears off, you find the assorted cells of your body scattered reasonably evenly over five square miles.

How's that for twisted?

 

[boredgremlin]

The way i handle wish is really simple. There is no wish spell. Period. It is too powerfull in my opinion to be in the hands of PC's. The XP cost is not high enough to balance it out. The limited wish is now 9th level and i am slightly more generous with its affects. The full blown wish is only available through gods, powerfull genies, or powerfull demons and angels. Who can only cast it for other people. It solves most of these wish problems perfectly. Wish is stupid when you take into account epic levels. 9th level spells are now no where near the most powerfull magic in the game. Why would anyone spend all that time developing epic spells when wish is ultra powerful? They wouldnt. If you dont use epic levels maybe it works for your game. But i do and it doesnt make any sense in that context.

 

[NimrodvanHall]

(how) should this wish be perverted?:

The Archmage casts Wish from quite some distance (say in his tower)
"I wish that during the next Staff meeting of general Meneer DeBaas Of the army of DeKoning confusion erupts like that caused by the arcane spell of the 4rth circle "confusion".

 

[Jack Simth]

If I wanted to be mean, you didn't specify where the confusion erupts....

Otherwise... let's see.... the infinite range and contingent timing probably eat up the equivalent of four levels of enhancements ... well, more, but I'd probably let it slide. The next time they do something that could be considered a "staff meeting" a confusion spell of your caster level is centered in the area of the "staff meeting" with the standard 15-ft radius. For 1 round/level, everyone who failed their will save (vs. your 9th level spell) has a 20% chance of running directly away from wherever you happen to be at the time (potentially giving away your location), a 10% chance of running directly towards wherever you happen to be at the time (again, potentially giving away your location), a 10% chance of acting normally (either trying to put a stop to the fight or getting away), a 30% chance of babbling, and a 30% chance of attacking whoever happens to be nearest (which, if that one also failed his save, will produce a fight that lasts until either the spell ends or one of the two dies as the automatic attacking clause kicks in). Much chaos. Of course, that will likely simply deprive the army of it's weakest generals, leaving the rest that much more angry with you... or that much more frightened of you. Of course, if the "staff meeting" happened to be the general talking with one of his subordinates, well, he's down one subordinate.

 

[NimrodvanHall]

If I wanted to be mean, you didn't specify where the confusion erupts....

My bad, i should have remembred that staf meeting in English, is not the same as in dutch, in dutch a "staff vergadering" (staff meeting) is a discussion of tactical planns of an armies leaders, not just the happenstance of the happenstance of mr general comming whithin conversation range with one of his underlings.