My Player got some wishes bestowed.

[Magemakeboom]

Here's the situation, one of my players has received 2 wishes. I'd like some suggestions.

Wish 1 was to be able to defend against dragons, and Wish 2 was to be able to protect those around them.
The player was extremely vague. While I'd like to give them some positives, I'd like the wishes to have a negative side as well.

Things I have considered - Bonus on saves, automatic distant teleportation when in the presence of dragons, continuous shield other effect, take an AC hit to give it to another.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[Bronk]

Here's the situation, one of my players has received 2 wishes. I'd like some suggestions.

Wish 1 was to be able to defend against dragons, and Wish 2 was to be able to protect those around them.
The player was extremely vague. While I'd like to give them some positives, I'd like the wishes to have a negative side as well.

Things I have considered - Bonus on saves, automatic distant teleportation when in the presence of dragons, continuous shield other effect, take an AC hit to give it to another.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

It seems like these could have been safe wishes, but they ended up being worded in an extremely open ended way.

Safe but weak:
Wish 1: a ring of force wall
Wish 2: a wand of 'protection from energy'

Normal strength but flawed:
Wish 1: a reflective shield of energy resistance
Wish 2: alters the shield from wish 1 so that all physical, spell, and breath attacks from teammates are funneled to the shield wielder (like a hopped up shield of arrow catching). This is still useful, but will make the wielder jump through more hoops to avoid the damage. Or maybe grants a mass 'shield other' spell (Glory of the Martyr), so your damage racks up while helping the team.

Cool wishes:
Wish 1: Ring of Universal Energy Immunity (granted pre-epic)
Wish 2: Granted ability to switch places with a teammate, or force a reroll of an attack or save, or give everyone evasion if they're close by.

Cool but flawed:
Wish 1: Ring of Universal Energy Immunity, but it's cursed to make you vibrate on the ground, alerting dragons that your'e there via tremorsense.
Wish 2: Ability that makes everyone in the party the subject of a 'Door to Great Evil' spell, so that instead of being whisked away to safety, you're instead sent to yet another battle... just not with a dragon this time. I'd make everyone appear together though, because DMing multiple simultaneous separate battles would be tiring.

[Mordaedil]

Very vaguely stated, would suggest to me that the spell does the best it can and simply replicates a few existing spells.

I recommend a wide-area coverage "Hide from Dragons" and "Shield" for these wishes, with duration for the caster-level associated with your wish spell.

Wishes don't generally do more than the equal of a level 8 spell. Just make it convenient enough for the situation as it is called for.

[Goaty14]

If you're an Evil DM that tries to screw over his players, I recommend the following:
Wish 1: A buckler appearing equipped on the character. Gives +1 AC vs dragons, never leave home without it!
Wish 2: A massive tower shield (like, gargantuan size). Setting down the "portable wall" between your enemy and your allies protects them.

[Falontani]

Since he wished to "I wish to be able to defend from Dragons" and not "I wish to be defended from Dragons" I would give the player a shield. Character doesn't know what the shield does, and if identified the shield would grant Energy Resistance (up to how powerful you want it to be anywhere from 5-immunity) but only against creatures of the dragon type (so a dracolich would get by the shield's enchantment) (The trick would be that the identification would have to beat the wish's CL in order to know that the shield only functions against dragons.

Since he said, "I wish to be able to protect those around me." and not "I wish to protect those around me." I would give them the shield other spell cast upon all nearby creatures. He never specified allies, so make it an aura with a range. This is well within the range of possibilities for a Greater Bestow Curse spell which is level 8, so within wish's ability.


EDIT I just remembered the spell Contingent Energy Resistance. When exposed to an energy type it grants resistance 10 to the energy type, but it is exclusive with itself, so you can't get fire resistance 10 and cold resistance 10 at the same time. This may be a good spell to base the shield off of, that way it grants the energy resistance, and then will continue to provide energy resistance for a time, however I would keep the clause about only working when a dragon uses energy against them.

[Nifft]

The Dragonborn template-race-thing from Races of the Dragon gives you bonuses against dragons, including defense against frightful presence. Turning someone into a Dragonborn would be within the scope of what a wish could do.


Gaining an anti-dragon class feature might also be relevant. Don't have it replace anything, just give it in addition to everything else the PC has. The nice thing here is you have a library of benefits to draw from. This one from Dragon Magic seems like a weak benefit, but one which does apply in good faith to dragon-stabbers:

UNCANNY BRAVERY

Many barbarian tribes revere dragons, while others see them as akin to natural disasters. Regardless, some barbarians learn to steel themselves against the bloodcurdling fear that these great beasts can create in weak-minded targets.

This ability also benefits rogues who try to plunder dragon hoards. Although they hope to complete the task without awakening the dragon, only the truly stupid fail to plan for such a possibility.

Class: Barbarian or rogue. Level: 5th (barbarian) or 8th (rogue).
Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain improved uncanny dodge.

Benefit: You are immune to the frightful presence of dragons. You gain a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against all other forms of fear.



A feat like Slayer of Dragons [Ceremony] from Dragon Magic might be valid for the 2nd wish. It's not a strong feat, though.

[ExLibrisMortis]

These are reasonable wishes that don't deserve to be twisted.

Permanency + magic circle against dragons would be quite reasonable (that spell doesn't exist yet, but it will). Make it a nice 30' radius, immunity to Frightful Presence, +4 to AC/saves against dragons, and Evasion against breath weapons.

[Lapak]

These are reasonable wishes that don't deserve to be twisted.

Permanency + magic circle against dragons would be quite reasonable (that spell doesn't exist yet, but it will). Make it a nice 30' radius, immunity to Frightful Presence, +4 to AC/saves against dragons, and Evasion against breath weapons.I am honestly in this camp. These wishes are pretty reasonable and within a wish's power to grant.

If you insisted on a negative effect, I would not go with the things suggested above that make the wisher more likely to die. It would depend on the setting, probably, but it would almost certainly be a social consequence if there are dragons in the setting you might want to interact with. An Permanent Antipathy-style effect, say, which makes it so that dragons refuse to interact with you but just throw up their claws, say "I can't even right now" and leave you alone. That would let you protect yourself and others but could be broken with a save if you push the issue (like trying to use your obnoxious anti-dragon field to push one off its hoard) so it's not absolute.

[PunBlake]

These are reasonable wishes that don't deserve to be twisted.

Permanency + magic circle against dragons would be quite reasonable (that spell doesn't exist yet, but it will). Make it a nice 30' radius, immunity to Frightful Presence, +4 to AC/saves against dragons, and Evasion against breath weapons.

I would use Antidragon Aura (SpC).

The second wish is so vague that it could be literally anything. It's a purely Good wish, so I don't know that it deserves to be twisted. I would make the effect weak instead unless I was feeling generous.
A low-level spell-like or psi-like ability usable at will (Shield Other? Some other spell/power?) or an eternal wand of a spell like Shield of Faith Mass or Otiluke's Resilient Sphere are my first thoughts...
If you're feeling generous, a Runestaff of Abjuration (MIC) or a cheaper custom Runestaff/Domain Staff with some protection-themed spells seems appropriate.

Side note: Knowing the nature of the character making the wish may help us come up with more appropriate results. What race and class are they?

[Yogibear41]

A a general rule 1 wish can do 1 thing so whatever you decide it should follow that principle imo. Secondly those are terrible wishes, if the player is new you should be lenient if they are experienced they should be punished for making a bad wish.

[Mehangel]

These are reasonable wishes that don't deserve to be twisted.

I agree, there is little reason for these wishes to be twisted. If you want to give them magic items (worth no more than 10,000gp each) fine, but the player shouldn't be punished because they did not explicitly wish for X or Y safe option.

[Nifft]

Now I want to figure out ways to twist the wishes in ways that are (at least somewhat) positive.

[Magemakeboom]

These are all great comments and have given me some ideas to reflect upon.
In response to generating some negative effects, maybe I should have phrased it better. My main goal was to generate effects that would be useful... but I wanted them to have a drawback. Something that would be greatly beneficial but would be tax the pc if overused. In old comic book fashion, A blessing and a curse so to speak.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Wish #1: Three times per day, you can cast antidragon aura (thanks, PunBlake!). Additional castings deal 1 point of Constitution burn.
Wish #2: Two times per day, you can cast mass sanctuary. Additional castings deal 2 points of Constitution burn.

(Ability burn is ability damage that can't be healed magically, only through rest.)

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Now I want to figure out ways to twist the wishes in ways that are (at least somewhat) positive.How about some cursed items that are nonetheless extremely useful? Dust of sneezing and choking is one good example. It could easily one-shot a dragon.

But that's boring. Why give out standard cursed items when we could come up with our own?

A pair of red dragon-leather gauntlets with claws in the fingertips that, upon magical inspection, appear to be +1 bane (dragon) bladed gauntlets, but when donned, they fuse permanently with the wearer and turn him into a corrupted version of a dragonborn of Bahamut (with red dragon traits instead of goodly dragon ones, and the type of dragonborn is chosen randomly). Your appearance changes to that of a half-red dragon, growing a long, sinuous tail, and you radiate the [Chaotic] and [Evil] energy equivalent to a wyrm red dragon, but aren't harmed or corrupted otherwise. You do, however, receive major penalties whenever you interact with someone who hates dragons -- evil dragons, especially. -5 penalty to all Cha-based checks against those who hate or especially fear dragons (so, most everyone), doubled for those who hate evil ones, on top of any normal penalties they may have in that situation. The claws still act as they appeared to before donning, but they bestow a negative level due to being worn by a creature they are bane to. Can only be removed by bathing in holy water distilled from willingly-donated Good dragon blood while dispel evil or a more powerful but similar effect is cast.

A +1 red dragonscale platemail with dragony helmet and masterwork armor spikes (though it has no armor check penalty, as it is as light and unencumbering as a mithril chain shirt). It's not metal and grants a good amount of energy resistance to all non-enemies within 40', but only against effects produced by dragons -- spells, SLAs, breath effects, etc. It retains those effects when worn, but once the armor absorbs the damage from a dragon's breath weapon for the first time, it permanently adheres itself to the wearer and becomes part of his body, appearing to cover his whole body in sharp, heavy-duty dragon scales. His skin is now covered in red dragon scales, which shred any clothes he attempts to wear, leaving him essentially naked, though mechanically he is still wearing light armor that can be further magically enhanced but cannot be removed. He can still wear other items, but no vests, armors, psychoactive skins, or concealing clothing (though hats are fine). Can only be removed via a purification ritual involving a number of dragons of various alignments and a more involved ritual casting of remove curse.

Both armor and gauntlets (and helmet) must be worn together, or they can't be worn at all.

Can the curses be cleansed to make a far more powerful set of items? Of course! But it'll take a lot of time and effort. Might want to talk to a priest of Bahamut about them; they mysteriously disappeared from his god's personal hoard, after all.

[edit] Hell, make it a full set; the helmet is another piece, just like the equipment sets in the MIC. Perhaps it's a constant protection from good all alignments effect, double strength against dragons? And it radiates out to the full 40' noted above? And it gives the wearer the desire to hoard whenever possible (though being an adventurer, this does pretty much nothing of note). Maybe it gives the wearer an instinctive attraction to dragons. Dragons within line of sight must make a Will save or be smitten with him? That could get...awkward.

[tiercel]

Here's the situation, one of my players has received 2 wishes. I'd like some suggestions.

Wish 1 was to be able to defend against dragons, and Wish 2 was to be able to protect those around them.
The player was extremely vague. While I'd like to give them some positives, I'd like the wishes to have a negative side as well.

What was the in-game source of the wishes? (For that matter, did the source of the wishes have any XP to expend on the wishes' effects?)

If the in-game source is something like a friendly Archon or minion of the Good-aligned gods who is all "CONGRATULATIONS, HERO" then any twists on these wishes should be mostly positive (but within the stated guidelines of the Wish spell).

If the in-game source is something like a trapped Efreet or wheeling-dealing Devil, then these wishes *should* be Monkey-Pawed (but within the stated guidelines of the Wish spell).

If the in-game source is basically neutral (like a scroll or item of Wish), then the wishes should be granted as literally as possible (e.g. most closely related allowable spell effect) within the stated guidelines of the Wish spell.

The most obvious possible downside of these admittedly vaguely-worded wishes should be that Wish very certainly does not have to be permanent. If the effect you choose is at the high end of what Wish can accomplish, that effect need only happen once, when the PC really needs it. If the effect is lower in power, there might be more uses available.

At the very least, the PC should get a strong positive effect without any downside at least once for each of these wishes - and then if you feel like "you can invoke this again, if you are willing to spend a spell slot/hp/stat point/XP" so that the additional uses have a cost, then you aren't so much penalizing the Wish as simply applying a cost for getting more than a single boon! See, for example, what ExLibrisMortis posted above (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23391390&postcount=14). (Permanently having (Sp) per day -- as opposed to a "free" fixed number of charges, like a Touchstone site -- already seems pretty strong vis-a-vis the stated guidelines for Wish but are the sort of thing I'd certainly consider -- how strong would depend on the source, for instance.)

[Doctor Awkward]

Here's the situation, one of my players has received 2 wishes. I'd like some suggestions.

Wish 1 was to be able to defend against dragons, and Wish 2 was to be able to protect those around them.
The player was extremely vague. While I'd like to give them some positives, I'd like the wishes to have a negative side as well.

Things I have considered - Bonus on saves, automatic distant teleportation when in the presence of dragons, continuous shield other effect, take an AC hit to give it to another.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Wish 1: The character gains innate spell resistance and/or improved evasion.

Wish 2: The character is now an intelligent (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/intelligentItems.htm) Daern's Instant Fortress (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#instantFortress).

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Now I want to figure out ways to twist the wishes in ways that are (at least somewhat) positive.
Wish 1: grant evasion (or improved evasion) but only vs spells, breath weapons and SLA's of dragons.
Wish 2: transposition at will 2 or 3 times a day, switch via teleport with an ally. Upside is obvious, downside is the ally now has to deal with whatever they are now adjacent to.

[TheYell]

Give him a belt of adamantine links shaped like dragons. Upon command, he can change into an adult dragon of choice for a week. He can go toe to toe with dragons, but he can't enter Medium spaces for a week. Peasants fear him. Casters want his body parts for spell components. True dragons resent the heck out of him. Lots of potential complications you can invent.

While in dragon form, he can protect his companions by taking on the damage of anybody within 30 feet into his own body as bloody wounds.

I agree the wishes should depend somewhat on the source of who granted them in the first place.