When it comes to wishes, how much bullshit do you allow? For me I generally disallow world-changing stuff. As in if you just want cash, a magic item or a permanent feature cured (For instance, a half-elf wanted to be a pure-blooded elf) that's fine. Complicated shit like wishing an enemy army away is just a nightmare to handle.
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I play D&D, so Wish is an actual spell with actual rules and limits. Specifically in 5e there's a list of things that you can "safely" wish for with no risk of blowback. Anything beyond that safe wish list is possible but the DM is more or less specifically instructed to corrupt it, particularly if it would derail the campaign.
So for example one of the "safe" wishes is up to 25,000 gp worth of treasure. if a PC wished for 25,001 gp worth of treasure, I'd allow it but make the last 1 gp come from the hoard of a dao genie, who is furious at its loss and will want it back plus interest, for example. Corrupted wish leads to further adventure.
If the PCs with for something that basically lets them sidesep the entire campaign then I get mean, as per Wish's instructions. Wishing for a powerful enemy to be dead might, for example, transport the PC to the far future long after said enemy has passed away - functionally removing the PC from the campaign, while leaving the powerful enemy alive in the present. Some beings like gods might also just straight-up no-sell the Wish while simultaneously being aware of the attempt. Wishing Tiamat dead not only plain won't work, but she's aware of the fact that you tried and is liable to be pissed at your arrogance.
For what it's worth, the most interesting wishes I've seen were:
>Fix the fricked-up face of a King's daughter (Age of Worms)
>Give a sword-spirit a body so that one PC could romance her (Her actual wielder wasn't happy)
>To go back into a haunted house's past and change things (the PC making that wish was instantly retired)
>To contact the Gods to warn them of an invasion from Hell (Legit since there was a barrier preventing communication with the divine)
>Half-elf wanted to be pure elf (It worked)
>I play D&D, so
It's not like that in every edition, though. The good editions of D&D have loose rules regarding wish.
You can wish for anything that gives a sizeable advantage, but doesn't remove the problem completely or fundamentally alter the setting or the premise of the campaign.
For example, if you want an item or money, anything is fair game except the MacGuffin you're racing the BBEG for. You can, however, teleport the party directly to the dungeon housing the MacGuffin and get a head-start on finding it.
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I disagree with the conclusion.
There are still some wishes an unthinking genie would be safe with. Anything where there is a clear path of probability and you just need some good luck to make it happen.
Like the coinflip example.
I go with the original Arabian interpretation of genies - they are powerful spirits with strange abilities, but their wishes are ultimately granted not by some reality warping power, but by their own might and magic. They can refuse on ground of it not being doable, they can get angry or they can interpret the wishes to their best ability.
>I want to kill a red dragon of the mountain
>Take the ring of fire protection and bow of tundra from my armory and good luck.
>I want to be rich!
>There, sack of gold and ring that lets you speak with animals. These should make you rich.
>I need to prove my legitimacy as a heir!
>Fine, I'll go with you. Some illusions and nice entrance should give you what you need.
>Go frick yourself!
>No, you go frick yourself you insolent wretch (breaks the character in half and literally shoves their head in their ass)
This. Wishes are favors. What they're capable of and how badly they backfire depend on who is granting them. Wishes from genies mostly result in whatever is easiest for the genie to do. You're most likely to get treasure because it gets you out of their hair fast, they're not likely to go out of their way to harm you, but they're prone to sloppy work. Wishes from fiends are a terrible idea, and even the most modest wishes will backfire. Wishes from fey are prone to the faithful execution of a misunderstanding. Wishes from celestials are the best, but they may refuse selfish wishes or use them as an unpleasant teaching opportunity.
Fun part of wishes as favors is that you can have them granted my more unorthodox creatures as well. Dragons and elven archmages could be responsible for granting your wish as well.
I allow everything, with the caveat that it always backfires and makes whomever wished it to suffer and hate what they wished for.
>I wish I was rich
>finds a fortune of stolen money, is hunted down by a mob enforcer
>I wish I had a goddess as my wife
>see Oh My Goddess as to why this is a fricking stupid thing to wish for
>I wish I was immortal
>immortal does not mean invincible
>Oh My Goddess
I never saw this. What's the gist, why is it bad?
Just because the goddess has to stay with you doesn't mean the rest of the pantheon is okay with it. Nor does it put an end to divine politics and related messes.
Ah divine drama. As if a Katty office mate wasn't bad enough, give her the power to manipulate weather and you are in for a really bad time.
Yep. Although they (not the one that called it stupid) were probably thinking of a specific messed up plot twist where the guy's ability to feel lust for her was removed. However that's not a guarantee. Divine drama however is a guarantee.
Spiders can fly already, it's called ballooning. They shoot threads of web in the air and hitch a ride on the wind. It's really cool when you look outside the window and spot one
Maybe the fourth rule is "No redundant wishes."
Maybe the Genie just isn't very knowledgeable about spiders.
>For instance, a half-elf wanted to be a pure-blooded elf
OK you're a Drow now HUEHUEHUE
>wishes
>how much bullshit do you allow?
Full bullshit. Wishes are what they are, and if a GM cannot deal with them, they should not engineer a universe within which they exist.
That being said, my desire to frick the player over is going to be directly proportional to how bulshitty we're talking.
>When it comes to wishes, how much bullshit do you allow?
the spell summons a genie powerful enough that can grant a single wish, a Noble Djinn. The spell does not make the caster capable of wishing things, he must summon the genie.
https://www.completecompendium.com/appendix/genie/
the wish granted is as powerful as any SINGLE spell of 9th level and below or some combination of spells 8th level and lower, but not something greater.
Idiotic, irrational, infinite loops and infinite-something wishes simply do not work as the genie tells the PC that this is not possible "so wish for something else and do not waste my time mortal," so things work fine.
>infinite loops and infinite-something wishes simply do not work
What an absolute homosexual. Rules lawyering wishes is an age old tradition.