Outside of my game, my players continuously bombard me with questions about the wish spell, a lot of which I don't know how to answer. They usually are "can you wish for this" or "can you wish for that". I just ignore them now, but when they get to a high enough level that one of them can cast it, how do I judge whether a wish can be done or not?
Remember that 'something' grants the wish so what is possible is limited by the power that grants the wish either in capability or by decision. At least that's the way I have always seen it played. Wishes have to be thought about in depth prior to uttering them. One thing I strongly suggest is: Have the player write down exactly what their character says when making their wish. This will allow you to parse that wish however you will before deciding on the results. Some characters leave openings you could fly a plane through.
Usually, the more selfish the wish, the more exacting and penalty accruing the results of the wish are. As a player or DM, my characters are usually too scared to make a wish due to the capriciousness of the gods when having to do something for a specific mortal. If it's a cleric/paladin/follower of a god making a wish somehow given to them by their god, then there is a much higher chance of getting exactly what they want. Not totally though. A god usually appreciates it when their followers put in enough thought when thinking about them, let alone conversing with them. If some paladin uttered some wish off the cuff that was pretty loose, the god might just put a stinger in the result to remind the paladin to make sure they put in the effort if there ever is a next time. If the wish is the 9th level wizard type spell, that is effectively requiring an outer planar being to grant some random a wish. It's not like said being gives two coppers for whomever is making a wish and likely has things they would rather be spending their power and time on. The character better be damn specific and careful.
The closer to normal a wish is "I wish I possessed a frost brand katana", the easier it is to grant... but if you parse that request there out... if the wish grantor was particularly pissed at the interruption, they might just find it easier to make the character become the intellect in a new frost brand katana artifact. Wishes are quite powerful and can do some amazing things (bring back to life a character turned into a vampire or just flat disintegrated), but I never want my players to get complacent about them, even if they reach the power levels required to make them directly.
As to the "judge whether a wish can be done or not", really that's up to you. I'd suggest thinking closely about any wish and ask yourself: "Will this break anything in the campaign plans?" and "If it won't break, but will cause issues with my current plans, can I work around them to incorporate this addition/change?" If the answer to the first is no, or yes with the second being a yes, then grant the wish in whatever manner you see fit. Try not to get tooooo power trippy over this though, Wish is effectively an endgame level power event. If the character has gained that in some manner and spends the effort, gold, etc. necessary, try and do right by the player and the story.
The description in the PHB is mostly clear on the obvious abilities of wish (i.e., the fool-proof wish requests: any 8th level spell or lower without components and the spell automatically succeeds, or wishing for one of the 5 listed wish scenarios). With the less obvious ones, I think dcmckinney1 summed it up pretty much perfectly in that last paragraph.
If your players are still pestering you about what they can or can't wish for (rather than just making an actual use of the spell in game) perhaps just remind them of this line from the spell description itself: "The DM has great latitude in ruling what occurs in such an instance; the greater the wish, the greater the likelihood that something goes wrong." (emphasis mine) Expecting more than that in an answer from the DM borders on your players just metagaming.
Man, I always forget about the existence of the "foolproof" wish option in these discussions. That's a great point.
Honestly, I would guess that lots and lots and lots of things that players might want to do with Wish is covered by at least *some* level 8 spell. But that doesn't cover players deliberately pushing the boundaries.
Not like it ever comes up; Level 17 is pretty far to get to!
Replicating the effect of a level 8 or lower spell from any list.
This is a really powerful tool in its own right. You have to consider that what is being cast is the Level 9 wish spell, which means regardless of the effect chosen to dispel/counterspell it is considered a level 9 spell. Also, the aspects of casting are that of the Wish spell: it is an action and it only requires a verbal component. Take the Simulacrum spell for example: 1,500 gp material component and 12 hours casting time! But with Wish, - one action and one free verbal component later and voila, a successfully created simulacrum replete with all your level 1-8 spell slots, basically doubling all your remaining magic for the day. And the next day, you can do it again. Congrats, for the cost of a 9th level spell slot and 1 action you now have 8 1st level slots, 6 2nd, 3rd, and 4,th level slots 4 or 6 5th level slots, 4 6th level slots, 2 or 4 7th level slots and 2 8th level slots. Oh, and basically the ability to use 2 concentration spells simultaneously.
Normally you cannot combine Glyph of Warding and Demiplane because the demiplane door is only open an hour and it takes an hour and 6 seconds to cast the glyph. However! Wish means you can basically cast an 8th level glyph as an action, and without material components. So, you can now store an 8th level spell ina glyph in your demiplane - fill the room with loads, one everyday. WHy? Because either you end up with an instant-kill-a-tarrasque trap or an instant-become-a-freakin'-god buff room.
And of course this also means you can bring people back with Resurrection without needing diamonds and so on. You can copy the effect from any spell list, so if you're jealous of the paladin's mount using one day to give yourself a mount like a gryphon or pegasus with Find Greater Steed solves that problem.
Just the basic use of wish is powerful and fun so if you really wanted to you can just limit it to this.This basic use is a auto-success and as-intended-outcome use of Wish. And while it leads to some powerful things, it's not that broken. Should you limit it to this? No! Encourage them to cast wish non-basic: it's a gift to the DM!
Non-Basic wish casting: be it casting it as a spell or from an item, carries the 1 in 3 chance of never being able to cast it again and it can cause detrimental effects to the caster without even yet thinking about the wish itself. I will suggest if you enforce the "never again" thing, then let them chance their choice of spell from wish to some other 9th level spell because honestly it's really fluffing mean. Personally I would not enforce it as some permanent thing, just make it be like 13 days. Clerics get an auto-success Divine Intervention that is almost as powerful and they can cast it with no negative consequence once every 7 days. But's that's me and it's because I see Wish for the wonderful DM treat it is.
Everyone's reactions always seem to steer right to "twist the wish" - I say don't. At least not in any big way. Every now and again let them have the instant-win : you can always come up with something else and they'll realise that instant-wins are nifty for clutch moments and boring for everything else. When they give you a wish, try to see how this could create a new adventure for them. The mages wishes for a Staff of the Magi? Give them one. But there were only 4 in the world so roll a die: on a 1 they get it, on a 2 or above well, now the owner is coming to take it back and they're so not happy about the theft. They wish for a millions of gold? They have it. And deal with people wanting to steal it. They want to be gods? Make them gods. And now they're new gods facing hundreds of other gods who are as powerful or more so who are now very interested in these new gods and may even challenge them. Whose to say even gods cannot be threatened by something? If they keep it small, it's small and not a concern but if its big it's going to change things and that brings new challenges. And, you can present enemies and places and items immune to the effects of wish. They're reaching level 20, the level of demigods, so naturally they can start facing enemies with some incredible protections - actual demigods and such may be unaffected by the changes of the "lesser reality" of the planes. Some creatures could even be immune to magic: or perhaps think of a "Wisheater" - a creature not only immune to external effects of wish but when used in a non-basic way directly upon it? It gains more power and is a monster that becomes aware of those powerful wielders of the wish and seeks them to out to consume them and devour that power.
A wish is a gift for each time it gives you something to play with, something that can spark new stories and adventures. Sloppy worded wishes can lead to disastrous or hilarious results and well-worded wishes can bring new challenges and successes that may have hidden costs. Never fear the wish: a player with Wish is the DM's greatest toy.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Just remember that any use of wish other than duplicating the effect of a spell has dramatic drawbacks.
The stress of casting this spell to produce any effect other than duplicating another spell weakens you. After enduring that stress, each time you cast a spell until you finish a long rest, you take 1d10 necrotic damage per level of that spell. This damage can't be reduced or prevented in any way. In addition, your Strength drops to 3, if it isn't 3 or lower already, for 2d4 days. For each of those days that you spend resting and doing nothing more than light activity, your remaining recovery time decreases by 2 days. Finally, there is a 33 percent chance that you are unable to cast wish ever again if you suffer this stress.
Not like it ever comes up; Level 17 is pretty far to get to!
Just wait till your low level party gets a Deck of Many Things. Or a God gives their cleric a Wish. :D
Because Wish is so open to DM interpretation, and the long history of Wish as a monkey's paw, it makes sense your players would be trying to figure out how you feel and would adjudicate this spell. My suggestion is to figure out in general how Wish will work for you in your game. Are you going to try and make the best possible outcome happen? The most hysterical? The most twisted? Once you know what kind of flavor you want your outcomes to have then you can be ready to decide how to make a Wish happen!
Then give your players a Wish, even if they're too low level to have one, and let the magic happen.
I'd echo Oboe's sentiment - a lot of times, players asking you how a given Wish would work are trying to figure out if you're one of those ******* DMs who makes it their personal mission to make sure that every single casting of the Wish spell in their game is one the caster regrets, or someone who's willing to work with them.
SIDE NOTE: here's a hint, ******* DMs - just ban the frickin' spell. Don't be That Guy who lets your players take one of the coolest, most well-known abilities in the game after slogging through a minimum of seventeen levels of play only to gleefully stab them in the back EVERY SINGLE TIME they try and cast the spell. If you hate Wish and see it as nothing more than a game-ruining nuisance, tell your players from the very start: "Wish is banned at my table. The spell is a damn hassle and I'm not dealing with it. Keep that in mind if you want to play a wizard, sorcerer, or bard - you won't get to cast Wish even if you get to the level for it."
Simply lay out on the table for everyone to know how Wish works in your game. My own rule for it is very simple. If your Wish is one that will improve the game and generate fun for the people at the table, you'll probably have it granted. You may have to make the roll anyways and risk losing your spell, but you'll get what you're looking for. If your wish is one that will aggravate me as a DM or leech the fun from the game, I'll say "are you sure you want to Wish for that? You get the sense it might not work the way you're hoping it will." If you pull the trigger anyways, then you were explicitly warned and you have no complaints coming when you get Jerk Genie'd and your Wish backfires.
Clear communication with your players on this issue will save you a ton of headache. if they then continue to pester you for specific rulings, the answer should be "level up, try it, and find out - you don't know right now."
my old group used to make you record the wish with the DM. you could prepare however you liked but the Dm would hit record and say go. almost always it ended badly. sometimes it was a quick decision but most of the time it would cliff hang the game for the night or he would take a break to hear the recording and think about it. in the end its DM choice really what happens.
I will say it got to the point nobody really wanted to use it for fear of a missed word.
I'm flat out banning that spell in my group. It is the only spell that I feel causes to many problems. The game should be fun and the wish spell causes problems and sometimes arguments that are not needed.
That plus if someone wished that a dead player was returned to life before they died. I won't have to have that player return to life in front of them with a sword in their heart just to die again. Hehe. Yes I can be that evil. Hence why it's banned.
Outside of my game, my players continuously bombard me with questions about the wish spell, a lot of which I don't know how to answer. They usually are "can you wish for this" or "can you wish for that". I just ignore them now, but when they get to a high enough level that one of them can cast it, how do I judge whether a wish can be done or not?
Remember that 'something' grants the wish so what is possible is limited by the power that grants the wish either in capability or by decision. At least that's the way I have always seen it played. Wishes have to be thought about in depth prior to uttering them. One thing I strongly suggest is: Have the player write down exactly what their character says when making their wish. This will allow you to parse that wish however you will before deciding on the results. Some characters leave openings you could fly a plane through.
Usually, the more selfish the wish, the more exacting and penalty accruing the results of the wish are. As a player or DM, my characters are usually too scared to make a wish due to the capriciousness of the gods when having to do something for a specific mortal. If it's a cleric/paladin/follower of a god making a wish somehow given to them by their god, then there is a much higher chance of getting exactly what they want. Not totally though. A god usually appreciates it when their followers put in enough thought when thinking about them, let alone conversing with them. If some paladin uttered some wish off the cuff that was pretty loose, the god might just put a stinger in the result to remind the paladin to make sure they put in the effort if there ever is a next time. If the wish is the 9th level wizard type spell, that is effectively requiring an outer planar being to grant some random a wish. It's not like said being gives two coppers for whomever is making a wish and likely has things they would rather be spending their power and time on. The character better be damn specific and careful.
The closer to normal a wish is "I wish I possessed a frost brand katana", the easier it is to grant... but if you parse that request there out... if the wish grantor was particularly pissed at the interruption, they might just find it easier to make the character become the intellect in a new frost brand katana artifact. Wishes are quite powerful and can do some amazing things (bring back to life a character turned into a vampire or just flat disintegrated), but I never want my players to get complacent about them, even if they reach the power levels required to make them directly.
As to the "judge whether a wish can be done or not", really that's up to you. I'd suggest thinking closely about any wish and ask yourself: "Will this break anything in the campaign plans?" and "If it won't break, but will cause issues with my current plans, can I work around them to incorporate this addition/change?" If the answer to the first is no, or yes with the second being a yes, then grant the wish in whatever manner you see fit. Try not to get tooooo power trippy over this though, Wish is effectively an endgame level power event. If the character has gained that in some manner and spends the effort, gold, etc. necessary, try and do right by the player and the story.
The description in the PHB is mostly clear on the obvious abilities of wish (i.e., the fool-proof wish requests: any 8th level spell or lower without components and the spell automatically succeeds, or wishing for one of the 5 listed wish scenarios). With the less obvious ones, I think dcmckinney1 summed it up pretty much perfectly in that last paragraph.
If your players are still pestering you about what they can or can't wish for (rather than just making an actual use of the spell in game) perhaps just remind them of this line from the spell description itself: "The DM has great latitude in ruling what occurs in such an instance; the greater the wish, the greater the likelihood that something goes wrong." (emphasis mine) Expecting more than that in an answer from the DM borders on your players just metagaming.
Man, I always forget about the existence of the "foolproof" wish option in these discussions. That's a great point.
Honestly, I would guess that lots and lots and lots of things that players might want to do with Wish is covered by at least *some* level 8 spell. But that doesn't cover players deliberately pushing the boundaries.
Not like it ever comes up; Level 17 is pretty far to get to!
Basic Use of Wish:
Replicating the effect of a level 8 or lower spell from any list.
This is a really powerful tool in its own right. You have to consider that what is being cast is the Level 9 wish spell, which means regardless of the effect chosen to dispel/counterspell it is considered a level 9 spell. Also, the aspects of casting are that of the Wish spell: it is an action and it only requires a verbal component. Take the Simulacrum spell for example: 1,500 gp material component and 12 hours casting time! But with Wish, - one action and one free verbal component later and voila, a successfully created simulacrum replete with all your level 1-8 spell slots, basically doubling all your remaining magic for the day. And the next day, you can do it again. Congrats, for the cost of a 9th level spell slot and 1 action you now have 8 1st level slots, 6 2nd, 3rd, and 4,th level slots 4 or 6 5th level slots, 4 6th level slots, 2 or 4 7th level slots and 2 8th level slots. Oh, and basically the ability to use 2 concentration spells simultaneously.
Normally you cannot combine Glyph of Warding and Demiplane because the demiplane door is only open an hour and it takes an hour and 6 seconds to cast the glyph. However! Wish means you can basically cast an 8th level glyph as an action, and without material components. So, you can now store an 8th level spell ina glyph in your demiplane - fill the room with loads, one everyday. WHy? Because either you end up with an instant-kill-a-tarrasque trap or an instant-become-a-freakin'-god buff room.
And of course this also means you can bring people back with Resurrection without needing diamonds and so on. You can copy the effect from any spell list, so if you're jealous of the paladin's mount using one day to give yourself a mount like a gryphon or pegasus with Find Greater Steed solves that problem.
Just the basic use of wish is powerful and fun so if you really wanted to you can just limit it to this.This basic use is a auto-success and as-intended-outcome use of Wish. And while it leads to some powerful things, it's not that broken. Should you limit it to this? No! Encourage them to cast wish non-basic: it's a gift to the DM!
Non-Basic wish casting: be it casting it as a spell or from an item, carries the 1 in 3 chance of never being able to cast it again and it can cause detrimental effects to the caster without even yet thinking about the wish itself. I will suggest if you enforce the "never again" thing, then let them chance their choice of spell from wish to some other 9th level spell because honestly it's really fluffing mean. Personally I would not enforce it as some permanent thing, just make it be like 13 days. Clerics get an auto-success Divine Intervention that is almost as powerful and they can cast it with no negative consequence once every 7 days. But's that's me and it's because I see Wish for the wonderful DM treat it is.
Everyone's reactions always seem to steer right to "twist the wish" - I say don't. At least not in any big way. Every now and again let them have the instant-win : you can always come up with something else and they'll realise that instant-wins are nifty for clutch moments and boring for everything else. When they give you a wish, try to see how this could create a new adventure for them. The mages wishes for a Staff of the Magi? Give them one. But there were only 4 in the world so roll a die: on a 1 they get it, on a 2 or above well, now the owner is coming to take it back and they're so not happy about the theft. They wish for a millions of gold? They have it. And deal with people wanting to steal it. They want to be gods? Make them gods. And now they're new gods facing hundreds of other gods who are as powerful or more so who are now very interested in these new gods and may even challenge them. Whose to say even gods cannot be threatened by something? If they keep it small, it's small and not a concern but if its big it's going to change things and that brings new challenges. And, you can present enemies and places and items immune to the effects of wish. They're reaching level 20, the level of demigods, so naturally they can start facing enemies with some incredible protections - actual demigods and such may be unaffected by the changes of the "lesser reality" of the planes. Some creatures could even be immune to magic: or perhaps think of a "Wisheater" - a creature not only immune to external effects of wish but when used in a non-basic way directly upon it? It gains more power and is a monster that becomes aware of those powerful wielders of the wish and seeks them to out to consume them and devour that power.
A wish is a gift for each time it gives you something to play with, something that can spark new stories and adventures. Sloppy worded wishes can lead to disastrous or hilarious results and well-worded wishes can bring new challenges and successes that may have hidden costs. Never fear the wish: a player with Wish is the DM's greatest toy.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Just remember that any use of wish other than duplicating the effect of a spell has dramatic drawbacks.
Just wait till your low level party gets a Deck of Many Things. Or a God gives their cleric a Wish. :D
Because Wish is so open to DM interpretation, and the long history of Wish as a monkey's paw, it makes sense your players would be trying to figure out how you feel and would adjudicate this spell. My suggestion is to figure out in general how Wish will work for you in your game. Are you going to try and make the best possible outcome happen? The most hysterical? The most twisted? Once you know what kind of flavor you want your outcomes to have then you can be ready to decide how to make a Wish happen!
Then give your players a Wish, even if they're too low level to have one, and let the magic happen.
Find me on Twitter: @OboeLauren
I'd echo Oboe's sentiment - a lot of times, players asking you how a given Wish would work are trying to figure out if you're one of those ******* DMs who makes it their personal mission to make sure that every single casting of the Wish spell in their game is one the caster regrets, or someone who's willing to work with them.
SIDE NOTE: here's a hint, ******* DMs - just ban the frickin' spell. Don't be That Guy who lets your players take one of the coolest, most well-known abilities in the game after slogging through a minimum of seventeen levels of play only to gleefully stab them in the back EVERY SINGLE TIME they try and cast the spell. If you hate Wish and see it as nothing more than a game-ruining nuisance, tell your players from the very start: "Wish is banned at my table. The spell is a damn hassle and I'm not dealing with it. Keep that in mind if you want to play a wizard, sorcerer, or bard - you won't get to cast Wish even if you get to the level for it."
Simply lay out on the table for everyone to know how Wish works in your game. My own rule for it is very simple. If your Wish is one that will improve the game and generate fun for the people at the table, you'll probably have it granted. You may have to make the roll anyways and risk losing your spell, but you'll get what you're looking for. If your wish is one that will aggravate me as a DM or leech the fun from the game, I'll say "are you sure you want to Wish for that? You get the sense it might not work the way you're hoping it will." If you pull the trigger anyways, then you were explicitly warned and you have no complaints coming when you get Jerk Genie'd and your Wish backfires.
Clear communication with your players on this issue will save you a ton of headache. if they then continue to pester you for specific rulings, the answer should be "level up, try it, and find out - you don't know right now."
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my old group used to make you record the wish with the DM. you could prepare however you liked but the Dm would hit record and say go. almost always it ended badly. sometimes it was a quick decision but most of the time it would cliff hang the game for the night or he would take a break to hear the recording and think about it. in the end its DM choice really what happens.
I will say it got to the point nobody really wanted to use it for fear of a missed word.
I'm flat out banning that spell in my group. It is the only spell that I feel causes to many problems. The game should be fun and the wish spell causes problems and sometimes arguments that are not needed.
That plus if someone wished that a dead player was returned to life before they died. I won't have to have that player return to life in front of them with a sword in their heart just to die again. Hehe. Yes I can be that evil. Hence why it's banned.
Just ban the ability to wish for anything, and keep it's basic use:
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