# Best use of Wish?



## Shanti

Tonight my level 11 Sorceress received a Talisman of Reluctant Wishes just before we completed the Tower of Magic in the Ruins of Greyhawk campaign.    She succeeded the DC check, so I've still got a few hours left to figure out what to wish for before the talisman turns to a 10k gp diamond (meaning I have until next week), but I'm stumped as to what to wish for.   

I'm thinking some kind of beneficial item would be good.  I was considering some kind of permanency effect, where I could cast the spell (assuming I would teleport to town and buy a scroll of whatever spell I didn't have) and use the wish to perform the permanency.  One of my fellow gamers suggested that a +1 to an ability score would be nice, since I'll be getting another +1 at level 12, and it's a nice straight forward effect that can't be twisted by the DM lol...I'm a bit of a newbie so I'm wide open to suggestions!  Thanks in advance!


----------



## moritheil

Welcome to the boards!

Obtaining an inherent bonus is a standard use of a wish that is not open to misinterpretation (unless your DM is old-school or feeling particularly mean.)  It should be safe and reasonable.  However, it is usually best to get multiple inherent bonuses at once, since they do not stack.  You may be better off wishing for an item within the limit (see the Wish spell text.)


----------



## roguerouge

Bah! Ability scores! Items! This is not the stuff of player glory! Go for the gusto! Dream big! Risk failure! 

You have a whole week to write up an extremely precise wish. 

Some brainstorming questions:
What plot hook would your character like to resolve?

What one thing would make this character happy? Not powerful, not better in combat: happy.

What went horribly wrong recently? How could you fix it without changing the past?

What will your character's life be like when they retire? How could you make that retirement more satisfying?

What is one utterly selfless thing that you could do with this wish, something that benefits someone other than you?

What wish would make you AND your DM happy?


----------



## Allegro

Perhaps I’ve played nethack to much, but I’d love to try to wish for the genocide effect.  “I wish all orcs be killed”.  I know this is completely outside the scope of the wish spell but… it would be fun to try.

How about wishing for the level of a spell be reduced?  “I wish Wall of Force was a 4th level spell when I cast it.”


----------



## Nail

Wishes are crucial to the game after level 17 or so.....to get inherent bonuses to your ability scores.   The trick is to get 5 wishes at once, so you can get the max +5 inherent bonus.  Figure out a way to "save" your wish (wish for a _wish_ scroll?) until you can get 5 of 'em.


----------



## Blackrat

Allegro said:
			
		

> Perhaps I’ve played nethack to much, but I’d love to try to wish for the genocide effect.  “I wish all orcs be killed”.  I know this is completely outside the scope of the wish spell but… it would be fun to try.



As long as you're not orc yourself. I still remember that mistake I made in nethack...


----------



## Folly

Allegro said:
			
		

> Perhaps I’ve played nethack to much, but I’d love to try to wish for the genocide effect.  “I wish all orcs be killed”.  I know this is completely outside the scope of the wish spell but… it would be fun to try.



Talk about alignment shifting actions.



			
				Allegro said:
			
		

> How about wishing for the level of a spell be reduced?  “I wish Wall of Force was a 4th level spell when I cast it.”




As a DM, I would think this to be well outside the scope of a wish. Especially because as you get more wishes it would only get worse.


----------



## azhrei_fje

"I wish that whenever I reached into my empty pouch to retrieve payment for something, that the exact amount needed would be there."

Your DM will likely limit it to 25,000 gp as per the spell description, but still -- you're not carrying around 25,000 gp worth of weight, are you?


----------



## roguerouge

If you want to put it entirely in your DM's hands, there's always: "I wish that I made the best wish possible."


----------



## Ambrus

Nail said:
			
		

> Figure out a way to "save" your wish (wish for a _wish_ scroll?) until you can get 5 of 'em.



One method I once thought of for saving or stacking wishes, so to speak, was to wish "that the next wish I make comes true in the way I imagine." Repeat that wish for the following three wishes (once you get them) and then use your fifth wish (again once you get it) to wish "that my (relevant ability score) be permanently and inherently increased as much as is possible."

Don't know if most/any DMs would allow it, though it's an interesting idea I think.


----------



## Nifft

My favorite wish "storage device" would be a candle of invocation, because _gate_ is often just as good as _wish_.

Cheers, -- N


----------



## Nail

Nifft said:
			
		

> My favorite wish "storage device" would be a candle of invocation, because _gate_ is often just as good as _wish_.



Way back in 3.0e I used Gate for nearly unlimited wishes.  Boy howdy was that fun.  

Hasn't that been corrected in 3.5e?  I was under the impression that it had.


----------



## Nifft

Nail said:
			
		

> Way back in 3.0e I used Gate for nearly unlimited wishes.  Boy howdy was that fun.
> 
> Hasn't that been corrected in 3.5e?  I was under the impression that it had.



 *shrug*

For every round of errata, there are two new source books with editing mistakes (or even outright broken mechanics).

I'll bet at least one infinite loop still survives.

Cheers, -- N


----------



## HeavenShallBurn

Nifft said:
			
		

> I'll bet at least one infinite loop still survives.-- N



Yep, there's even an infinite spell loop, but it only works at level 20 with a specific build.


----------



## Nifft

HeavenShallBurn said:
			
		

> Yep, there's even an infinite spell loop, but it only works at level 20 with a specific build.



 Are you sure?

ISTR a fun loop in Eberron with action points used in place of staff charges, and a spell that gives 1 free action point each round.

When was that one closed?

Cheers, -- N


----------



## Nail

Nifft said:
			
		

> For every round of errata, there are two new source books with editing mistakes (or even outright broken mechanics).



True 'nuff.


----------



## HeavenShallBurn

Nifft said:
			
		

> Are you sure?



About the one I know of yes.


			
				Nifft said:
			
		

> ISTR a fun loop in Eberron with action points used in place of staff charges, and a spell that gives 1 free action point each round....When was that one closed?



Might not have been I never really kept up with Eberron beyond adopting the artificer and porting a couple of cultures from the CS, oh and Sharn.

I was talking about the "White Sands" build.  It only started working once you hit lvl20 because it relied on a 9th level spell, arcane thesis, and sanctum spell.  But it produced a chain of spell absorbing effects that could be siphoned off to provide enough spell levels to both hold the ongoing effects up and spam other spells endlessly.  Inventive, I even used it for a BBEG at one point, but not really effective for a PC.

Your action point trick looks like a much better option, but since I never used action points or kept up with Eberron much it slipped past me.  Though I will say forget druids and clerics or even the majority of CO board builds, the artificer is the most broken class in the game.  I love it.


----------



## Folly

There is always the Planar Shepard PrC from eberron. Choose the plan of fire and then wildshape into an Efreeti with all of their spell-likes and supernaturals. Thanks to the polymorph errata you no longer gain the type, making you an eligible target for the wishes. Each time you wildshape you gain 3 more wishes.


----------



## skelso

roguerouge said:
			
		

> Bah! Ability scores! Items! This is not the stuff of player glory! Go for the gusto! Dream big! Risk failure!
> 
> You have a whole week to write up an extremely precise wish.
> 
> Some brainstorming questions:
> What plot hook would your character like to resolve?
> 
> What one thing would make this character happy? Not powerful, not better in combat: happy.
> 
> What went horribly wrong recently? How could you fix it without changing the past?
> 
> What will your character's life be like when they retire? How could you make that retirement more satisfying?
> 
> What is one utterly selfless thing that you could do with this wish, something that benefits someone other than you?
> 
> What wish would make you AND your DM happy?




This.

Are you playing the game to have fun, or do you prefer to just play with the numbers?


----------



## darthkilmor

In one game, I think this was a wish, or some similar "whatever you want" kind of thing, I wished to have a tiny little fun-loving (illusionary/incorporeal/whatever you wanna call it)demon on my shoulder, basically that looked like the BSD-style demon. Would hide under my helmet, or have different outfits/hats on, thumb his nose at ppl, and in general act as comic relief. It was great. Sort of like a free-willed permanent image-type thing that was always on my shoulders.

You could always wish for something weird, 
like the ability to talk to insects, or 
always knowing exactly what time it is and what direction & distance the closest open pub is, or 
be immune to the negative effects of alcohol, or 
always leave wet troglodyte-prints wherever you walk, or
to pull one card from the deck of many things(not so weird), or 
a permanent floating throne to ride with a little joystick to direct its movement, or
anyone addressing you will meow soon after saying your name(and not realize it), or
the ability once a day to summon your future self and make two knowledge checks about something, or
your corpse will always be under the effects of gentle repose, or
a mug of ale that always refills itself, or
a magic hat that always appears as something different whenever someone looks at it(ie, wide-brimmed cowboy hat one second and then next time they look at you its a fedora, then maybe a beret, that kind of thing), or
something equally silly.


----------



## roguerouge

The ability to give really good gifts. Think of what hooks a DM could get out of that!


----------



## Nifft

HeavenShallBurn said:
			
		

> About the one I know of yes.



 For some inexplicable reason, when you wrote "even", I read it as "only". 

Sorry, -- N


----------



## Haffrung Helleyes

*wish*

in a 1E game a long long time ago, I acquired a wish and wished that I could acquire the abilities of permanent magic items as innate powers by grinding them up and eating them.  It was pretty cool!  Of course, I still had to acquire the magic items, but once I ate them , no one could take them away.

Ken


----------



## Haffrung Helleyes

*oh*

And the funniest use of wish (Divine Intervention in a RuneQuest game, actually) I ever saw was way back around 1982, when the Waha Runelord, played by a somewhat hick-ish player, wanted to use Divine Intervention to turn all the bad guys in a fight 'into Dog SH&T and Stones'.  

We laughed about that for years.

Ken


----------



## Razerwatch

1


----------



## Razerwatch

I don't know if i am being dumb but couldn't making all your spells work like cantrips as in not needing spells slots be cool you can just spell after spell not caring about how many you make


----------



## aco175

Welcome to the boards, thanks for resurrecting a 12 year old thread.  I was just going through the thread and noticing all the people that are no longer on the boards for several years.  

I wonder how much wishes have changed since 3e.  May be more the DM not trying to twist them or more so whom/what is granting them.  I tend to play a wish by if someone is forced to grant them like a dao or djinn, or more friendly with coming from your god for example.


----------



## DrunkonDuty

Wishing that spiders have wings and can fly.


----------



## Yenrak

One of my players wished that his character could never be captured, imprisoned, or held against his will. It was a very cool power that we had a lot of fun with in future games. It was basically a permanent get out of jail free card. But, of course, it didn't free other party members, didn't pardon him for his alleged crimes, and caused a lot of problems when enemies figured out that he couldn't be taken prisoner.


----------



## ccs

I'd WISH that thread necromancy wasn't a thing....


----------

