bb@lanl-a.UUCP (10/01/83)
The 9th level MU wish spell is the most powerful magic spell
that a human can cast. The rules about what is or is not legal
a legal wish are vague, limits are suggested rather than set down
as law. Let's see what the DM's on the net allow and don't allow
their players to wish for. (Of course, I am speaking of AD&D, but
there is little reason to limit this question to one RPG system.)
A partial list of things I think are OK to wish for include:
Hit Point restoration for the entire party.
Resurrection of one or two characters
Characteristic Increases : I usually give them 1d3 points, and
don't use the + .1 if > 16 rule given in the DMG. Wishes are such
rare things I have never had a PC that even wanted to use a wish
for such a purpose, other things being more pressing (like escape).
(that's not quite true, my PC's have used wishes to bring up
their lowest scores, never their highest)
Escape -- Actually I would be inclined to grant any wish that
could be accomplished by a lower level spell cast at 18th level.
Thus a wish is just as good as a permanency spell when manufactoring
an item.
+1 level increase -- or even more if the player had levels drained.
hit point increases -- up to allowable maximum given class and CON.
permanent spell memorization -- I once wished that I had my 1st
level spells permanently memorized. I instantly became very
formidible and the DM and I (are you out there Mishi?) had to
work out limits -- like only 7/day for any spell. If a player
wished that when I was DMing, I would give him a 50% chance for
each spell to be permanently memorized. If the roll fails for
a spell, it can't be memorized at all any more. If a player
wished for one permanently memorized spell I would be inclined
to grant that, though with use limits, like 10 - level of spell
uses per day. Another limit might be to restrict the number of
other spells of the same level a MU can memorize. (Thus wishing for
a permanent wish spell would mean only 1 wish spell/day, no other
9th level spells allowed at all -- not really a bargain, except
no memorization time. If the player wasn't 18th level then he/she
would lose lots of lower level spell capability)
Items -- I never give the players items, but if they wish for one
it may turn up eventually, often when least expected and not needed.
Maps have been known to turn up the PC's backpack which weren't there
before.
Let's hear about some creative wishing and its results, and
what guidelines others use when a PC gets a wish. Later I
will write about wish ring manufacturing and the different
levels of wish power I sometimes use to explain why someting
won't work. I tell my players that wish rings are different
or can be different, than the wish spell. Usually after they
wish. I always enjoy creative wishing and am more inclined
to grant a clever wish that takes my ideas about the power
and nature of wishes into account.
b2 ...ucbvax!lbl-csam!lanl-a!bb Bryan Bingham