rainbow@ihuxe.UUCP (10/11/83)
There seem to be two logical ways for a DM to run wishes. The first way is for the DM to ask the player what his intent/purpose for the wish is. The DM asks any questions he desires until he's confident he knows exactly what effect the player wants. Then the player words the wish. Now the DM makes his decision on the wish(obviously dependent on the reasonableness of the wish). After all, a wish brings into being what the person wills for(assuming a reasonable wording and effect), not some random permutation assigned to the player's words that suit the warped mind of the DM. The second way has the player wording the wish with no clarifications given to the DM. A wish stands or falls by the words alone(reasonableness is taken into consideration here also). The powers that grant the wish have no idea what the player's actual desires are. So the DM acting for the powers assigns some meaning to the words and then these are carried out. After all, a wish brings into being exactly what is asked for, and if the words are ambiguous in any way, watchout because anything can happen. Now to the poll. I'm very curious as to which method is more popular. From the other articles in this news group, I get the feeling wording is everything, but we'll see. Please mail responses to me and I'll post a summary. Comments are welcome. Refer to the methods as number 1 and number 2(1=will 2=wording). Question 1: As a DM, would you run wishes more similar to method 1 or 2? Q2: As a player, which method would you prefer your DM use? Q3: As a player, which method is usually implemented by your DM's? Q4: Which method do you think should be used(from an unbiased viewpoint)? Q5: Which method do you think Gygax had in mind for a wish?
robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) (10/14/83)
Didn't GYGAX intend the DM to control the greediness of wishers by trying to "crock" wishes, according to their precise wording, in direct proportion to their unreasonabless? When a wish is cast, I want to understand it, and grant it usefully if it is "reasonable" (see below). Unreasonable greedy wishes tend to full of loopholes in their wording, and can be crushed or toned down by a thoughtful DM. A poorly worded reasonable wish can be granted in a very unexpected, but still useful (and often humorous) way. To judge reasonability, remember that: (1) The wish shouldn't unbalance the campaign. (2) the wish shouldn't unbalance future campaigns that the same character may go into, perhaps with other DM's.