Limits of Wish?

[noparlpf]

I was just rereading Wish. It limits the cost of "a nonmagical item" to "up to 25.000 gp in value." However, the next bullet point simply says "Create a magic item, or add to the powers of an existing magic item." (PHB page 302) Does that mean that for 5.000 XP I can get, say, a +9000 longsword? (Just because the longsword is a generic weapon and the first thing I thought of.) That would have a gp value of 162.000.000.315, I think. (For weapons it's [bonus squared]x2.000, right?) According to the errata I just downloaded, they never edited this oversight. How does the Playground usually handle this?

[Telonius]

I was just rereading Wish. It limits the cost of "a nonmagical item" to "up to 25.000 gp in value." However, the next bullet point simply says "Create a magic item, or add to the powers of an existing magic item." (PHB page 302) Does that mean that for 5.000 XP I can get, say, a +9000 longsword? (Just because the longsword is a generic weapon and the first thing I thought of.) That would have a gp value of 162.000.000.315, I think. (For weapons it's x2.000, right?) According to the errata I just downloaded, they never edited this oversight. How does the Playground usually handle this?

From the spell:
XP Cost

The minimum XP cost for casting wish is 5,000 XP. When a wish duplicates a spell that has an XP cost, you must pay 5,000 XP or that cost, whichever is more. When a wish creates or improves a magic item, [B]you must pay twice the normal XP cost for crafting or improving the item, plus an additional 5,000 XP.

[noparlpf]

Right. I stopped in surprise after reading the line I quoted. So a +9000 longsword would cost 5.000 + 6.480.000.000 = lots of XP.

[Jeraa]

That is why you find something that has wish as a spell-like ability:


A spell-like ability has no verbal, somatic, or material component, nor does it require a focus or have an XP cost. The user activates it mentally. Armor never affects a spell-like ability’s use, even if the ability resembles an arcane spell with a somatic component.

Personally, I just limit magical item creation to 25,000gp as well.

[noparlpf]

Which was the feat that makes one of your spells a spell-like ability? Innate Spell or something like that?
Never mind, that uses a spell slot eight levels higher and still requires XP costs.
Well, if you can Wish, you can probably get something else to Wish for you if you can't find a way to get yourself Wish as a SLA.

[Othesemo]

Which was the feat that makes one of your spells a spell-like ability? Innate Spell or something like that?
Never mind, that uses a spell slot eight levels higher and still requires XP costs.
Well, if you can Wish, you can probably get something else to Wish for you if you can't find a way to get yourself Wish as a SLA.

That's quite possible, actually. Be an Urpriest and look at a Balor. The example in complete divine specifically mentions that you can do that, although you're limited to using it once per year.

[Calanon]

That's quite possible, actually. Be an Urpriest and look at a Balor. The example in complete divine specifically mentions that you can do that, although you're limited to using it once per year.

While were on the subject of doing just this^
How should i react if one of my players hunts a Balor down as an Ur-Priest and steals its wish and wishes for Immortality? is there even an Immortal template? or what?

[The Glyphstone]

Use your imagination:smallbiggrin:. Immortality is not on the ''safe list'. If you want to be nice, he now has Timeless Body like a monk or druid. If you want to be evil, he's now under the effects of the Imprisonment spell.

[Othesemo]

While were on the subject of doing just this^
How should i react if one of my players hunts a Balor down as an Ur-Priest and steals its wish and wishes for Immortality? is there even an Immortal template? or what?

The Player's Handbook addresses exactly this. It states that if a wish exceeds wish's power, than the wish will do its best to resolve said wish. For example, if you ask to be immortal, you might be teleported to an extra dimensional space in which time doesn't exist, and thus would prevent you from dying. If you wish for a staff of the archmagi, you might be teleported to the current wielder's parlor.

If you're interested, D&D wiki does present a (LA +1) template called 'immortal,' although I doubt that that's what you're asking about. It functions like immortality in the LotR series- immunity to disease and aging, vulnerability to daggers through the appendix.

[sreservoir]

Use your imagination:smallbiggrin:. Immortality is not on the ''safe list'. If you want to be nice, he now has Timeless Body like a monk or druid. If you want to be evil, he's now under the effects of the Imprisonment spell.

I don't know, BoVD's Eternity of Torture sounds like a better spell for this sort of thing.

[Claudius Maximus]

I usually rule that it takes the path of least resistance to accomplish its goal. So Eternity of Torture would be out since it's much more complicated than just planeshifting you or something (not to mention it's beyond what a wish could normally do anyway, exceeding the spell level parameters).

[Telonius]

Yeah, wishing for immortality is just begging the DM to mess with you.

It's times like that when I remember there is a difference between eternal life and eternal youth.

Trapping him on a featureless, timeless demiplane (with no means of Plane Shifting out) would work, too.

[Claudius Maximus]

It's times like that when I remember there is a difference between eternal life and eternal youth.

Yeah, you could give him the old Sibyl of Cumae treatment. After a while he'll only be able to whisper softly and preface modernist poems.

[Calanon]

Oh i have a better idea... I can just turn him to stone :smallbiggrin:
He technically lives forever (i guess...) and as an added bonus he doesn't age!

[Chained Birds]

I would give him immortality but put a price deemed by 1 of the PHB Gods.
*rolls*
Okay, you've got the immortality granted by Nerul. In order to preserve your undying, youthful body, you must personally drain the blood from at least 13 individuals whose powers (aka ECL) are greater than or equal to your own before the beginning of each New Year. The blood draining must be their cause of death and must be performed by a scythe with magical properties (A +1 enchantment or better).

Depending on the PC, this could either be devastating or succeed in giving the PC a direction in life (or should I say unlife).

It can be really interesting if you include all Gods when determining the wishs' downside(s), but that would require quite a bit of knowledge.

[Alleran]

Speaking of Wish, how would you guys rule a player who wants to use multiple Wishes to "shore up" the power for a mega-wish? As in, they use one or two Wishes with the wording that is something along the lines of powering up a later Wish that they plan to make, then want to make their third Wish something that has the power of all three put together? Would you decree that it still has a chance to mess up, has a chance to mess up even more because of all the extra "power" in it, is more stable because of all the extra power...?

[Othesemo]

Speaking of Wish, how would you guys rule a player who wants to use multiple Wishes to "shore up" the power for a mega-wish? As in, they use one or two Wishes with the wording that is something along the lines of powering up a later Wish that they plan to make, then want to make their third Wish something that has the power of all three put together? Would you decree that it still has a chance to mess up, has a chance to mess up even more because of all the extra "power" in it, is more stable because of all the extra power...?

I'd rule that unless they can make the semantics of what they say impervious to misinterpretation, it'd go wrong. And I happen to have the salient divine ability of 'Find Possible Misinterpretation,' no save permitted.

[Tanuki Tales]

For the Immortality bit:

I'd give 'em the whole deal. Cant' die, can't permanently be hurt, yadda yadda.


And that's when Mr. PC says Hello to the Iron Buttmonkey trope. :smalltongue:

[ClothedInVelvet]

Yeah, you could give him the old Sibyl of Cumae treatment. After a while he'll only be able to whisper softly and preface modernist poems.

My thought exactly. Never ask for eternal life without also asking for eternal youth.

"I have seen with my own eyes the Sibyl hanging in a jar, and when the boys asked her "What do you want?" She answered, 'I want to die.'"