Comments on: On the Spot: Wishes

By: MetalJim

MetalJim — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:02:48 +0000

Umm, ok, I did look it up… no “wish” rituals and no polymorph spells yet in the 4e rules. Things with really complicated rules issues and special cases have no place in the new “lean and mean” 4th edition. I’m sure that we will get some kind of “wish” guidelines at a later date, but none for now.

And really, 4th ed is much less stat intense than 3.5 edition - fewer skills, etc., although a high level PC will have a lot of special powers, daily abilities, and feats to list on a sheet. Monster stat blocks in 4e are much more lean than the 3.5 versions.

By: The Emperor

The Emperor — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:24:16 +0000

Desert of desolation is a good series of modules. I ran it in my Mystara campaign many many years ago. I believe I set it in the Sind desert. Regardless, I don't remember how it ended.

On the wishes, what a nice story, and well thought out. I think you may find Dim-Door at 3x day for a PC as the most unbalancing of them. Especially at this party level 6-7 ish. Dim-Door was always a top 3 spell (4th level is it..) right up there with Polymorph.

Tell us how it works out a few months later.

By: KarasDjun

KarasDjun — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:04:51 +0000

Strangely enough, the NPC paladin is no longer staying in the party, so his immunity to undead fear is not a problem. Also, the druid is more or less useless against energy draining undead as much as they will be against him! The magic resistance will not avail the magic-user against a high-level undead spellcaster as the MR in 1st edition is based upon spells cast by an 11th level wizard. Thus, an 18th level lich wizard would reduce the MR by 7 x 5%; she would only have a 15% chance to resist the spells! On the other hand, she is basically immune to magic cast by a 1st level magic-user apprentice. I’m certain that the dimension door spell is not too unbalancing since you can only go where you can see directly or by stated direction and distance (maximum of 30 ft. per caster level). The continual tongues spell effect on the cleric is really cool and should help them immensely in the future. I intend on using undead again - they are, after all, the perfect dungeon creature - no need to eat, sleep, or breathe, can exist in stasis for centuries, are silent, can;t be detected using infravision, etc. That halfling’s eternally full lunchbag may cause me no end of grief though…. :)

I’m very happy for 4th edition users, not having to contend with level-draining effects. Of course, I don’t have to confuse my players with the plethora of stats they would need in such an edition. All my characters’ stats fit nicely on 3×5 index cards. Of course, in 4th edition, I’m sure they couldn’t just wish for such permanent effects either, if the wish spell even still exists as a 9th level ritual!

By: MetalJim

MetalJim — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:11:06 +0000

Funny thing about fourth edition D&D - a 4th ed character wouldn't NEED to spend a wish asking for immunity to level drain effects, because those effects no longer exist in the game.

It also goes against the 4th ed philosophy to have characters spending entire combats huddled in the corner because of one failed fear save.

Given how these wishes have changed the party, will they continue to face undead threats in the future? A Lich-type monster is going to be much less effective than it might have been before the party got its wishes. However, the party is not, overall, that much more effective against other types of monsters, such as giants or dragons.

If you don't give the party undead enemies to face, they will end up feeling like you are conspiring to make their wishes meaningless, but encounters against undead will have to be rebalanced because this party would clearly outperform another party of similar level.

By: Hunter Rose

Hunter Rose — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:49:37 +0000

I'm currently running the Expedition to Castle Ravenloft to my group. For the "shakedown" adventure leading into it, I chose to run The Ghosts of Aniel which pits the part against ethereal menances as they investigate the disappearance of an entire Elf village.

spoilers A Wizard who resides at the village was in possession of a magical gem that still possessed two wishes. A greedy apprentice killed the wizard and stole the gem. A villager shot the apprentice in the back as he tried to escape. With his dying breath, the apprentice wishes that the entire village would soon follow him. Thus, they became ghosts within the week.

Now, the party is _supposed to _ locate the gem and use the final wish to restore the village. However, the player of good conscious was out that evening and the dwarf cleric decided to keep the wish and move on.

The hook between this adventure and Expedition was a messenger who slipped away from Strahd's Vistani patrols to deliver a message to the (now deceased) wizard, imploring him to bring his "treasure" and rid Barovia of Strahd once and for all. "We fear nothing less will stop him this time!"

To their credit, despite many near-death experiences and the death of a beloved NPC (Strahd's bride to be!) the party has not yet decided what to do with the wish. I would have thought one of them would have used it by now, that dwarf has a mean streak and an axe to grind... :D