Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site lanl-a.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!gummo!whuxle!pyuxll!eisx!npoiv!npois!hogpc!houti!ariel!vax135!floyd!cmcl2!lanl-a!bb From: bb@lanl-a.UUCP Newsgroups: net.games.frp Subject: Re: interesting uses of wishes Message-ID: <2468@lanl-a.UUCP> Date: Fri, 7-Oct-83 12:42:54 EDT Article-I.D.: lanl-a.2468 Posted: Fri Oct 7 12:42:54 1983 Date-Received: Sun, 9-Oct-83 07:46:34 EDT References: ihuxe.360, <1015@pur-ee.UUCP> Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory Lines: 81 ihuxe!rainbows wishes are very interesting. My reponse as a DM would be quite a bit different than Tom's. 1. Wishing that a magic sword never break. Tom's main objection to this wish is that is sets a precedent and makes it harder for the DM to get rid of magic items. This wish really isn't all that bad -- if I decided it would be good for the game it is easy enough to get any item out of a character's hands and rendered useless in any number of ways. For a cold sword I suggest melting or heating it or hammering it into a lump. A wish that an item become indestructible is more powerful and a bit more risky. I don't really mess with fumble/critical hit stuff and most of my character's items are lost through carelessness, theft, or they run out of charges, or they fail saving throws for other types of punishment like acid, etc. Nothing in that wish said anything about H2SO4! 2. Wishing for two rings to become one. I would not allow this wish to work by itself. Two rings in one isn't so objectionable, but such a ring would have to be fashioned separatly from the other two and I would require at least 3 wishes and a permancency spell (or another wish) to create such a ring. Given the super expensive/mithril/diamond ring, use 1 wish to place the magic of each lesser ring in the main ring (2 wishes total) 1 wish to wish that each ring function acts independently of the other (or else the +3 would only work when invisible), and a permanency spell to make the whole thing stick together, though a wish would be better, it's stronger magic. Of course, there would still be a good chance of failure. The two rings used to create the third would be irretrivably lost unless several more wishes were expended. The above procedure can be attempted with any number of rings/magic effects. This shows what level you have to be to create a staff of the Arch-Magi, or to make a Ring of Elemental Control. Each wish ages one 1 year or more, so it's not at all free, though I allow characters to wish themselves to be younger with little penalty (no one recognizes them). 3. Wishing for skill/level advancement I would let a person wish to go up 1 level permenently once and only once. A wish for a specific skill/ability not currently available to a character because of level, not class, restrictions I would also grant under most circumstances. Thus a wish for a 1st level ranger to cast spells I would grant -- he would be able to cast 1 1st level druid spell/day just as if he/she were 9th level. No more spell levels would be gained till 10th. Now, finding a druid willing to instruct such a ranger, well, that's another story. A fighter wishing to cast magic spells would be turned into a spell caster permenently or just suffer damage from making a wish to hard for the magic in the ring/spell to grant. Thus a monk wishing for the Quivering Palm would get it, but there are numerous ways to restrict the scope of such a wish. Wishes are VERY powerful, and DM's must be confident and clever when dealing with wishes. Advise them to seek sage advice about what isn't and is possible with such a wish, or else be prepared for some dire consequences. Your players must understand about the balance of the campaign and if they are good, they will try their best to get the most out of their wishes without causing you any headaches. I like to have my players find rings and such of wishes and not tell them what they've got until one of them says "Boy, I wish I had some of that wine we drank last week" or when hurting badly "OH, I wish I were dead." (Hasn't happened yet, but the MU in my party has a wish ring he doesn't know about -- only 1 wish on it.) I always like to encourage my players to be clever so I often have to be cleverer then they to continue to make the game exciting for them and me. Wishes call for ultimate cleverness on the part of the DM. b2 ...ucbvax!{lbl-csam, purdue, cmcl2}!lanl-a!bb ps. About the wish of a dwarven FTR to be a unpinned HUM FTR. Well sure, you're now a 110 year old human fighter standing next to the monster. Oh my, you don't have any clothes on! Seriously, the best sort of wish for combat situations is a teleport wish (either you or the monster) or the old favorite (I wish that this monster drop dead -- most monsters won't get much of a ST if any)