Wish & Divine Intervention in 5e Dungeons & Dragons - Web DM

We WISH we had gone over WISH in our CLERIC show... Don't forget to subscribe, comment & share. New episodes every Wednesday.
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Hosted by Jonathan Pruitt & Jim Davis
Produced, Directed & Edited by Travis Boles
Music by
John Branch -branchoutguita...
Web DM Theme by
Kyle Newmaster - kylenewmaster.com
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New to 5th Edition D&D? Check out this playlist - • Web DM
Intro To 5th Edition - • 5th Edition Dungeons &...
Backgrounds, Feats & Spellcasters - • Backgrounds, Feats & S...
Inside Editions - • Inside Editions - Web DM
Getting Started in 5th Edition - • Getting Started In 5th...
Character Creation Part One - • Character Creation Par...
Character Creation Part Two - • Character Creation Par...
Campaigning “On Rails” - • Is Your D&D Campaign "...
Treasure - • Treasure: How Much Is ...
Player Styles - • Different Player Style...
Killing Characters - • Killing Characters Res...
Barbarians & Bards - • Barbarians & Bards - W...
Druids,Fighters, Monks, Rangers & Rogues - • Druids, Fighters, Monk...
Sorcerers, Warlocks, Clerics, Paladins & Wizards - • Sorcerers, Warlocks, C...
Beholders - • Beholders - A Classic ...
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[@WebDM]

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[@justinharris7181]

Web DM Do you guys remember the throne of the God's? How would you implement that? How would you creat that artifact for 5e?

[@ryanduddleson1806]

“I’ll make a wish that can’t backfire. I wish for a turkey sandwich, on rye bread, with lettuce and mustard and-and I don’t want any zombie turkeys, I don’t want to turn into a turkey myself, and I don’t want any other weird surprises. You got it? . . . Hey! Hmmm, mmm, not bad, nice hot mustard, good bread, the turkey’s a little dry . . . the turkey’s a little dry! Oh foul accursed thing! What demon from the depths of hell created thee?” - Homer Simpson

[@11thj]

We had a player wish that Strahd would disappear, permanent invisible Strahd

[@Andrewc87563]

Better than the wishing PC going blind!

[@11thj]

Merciful Dm.

[@JPruinc]

*slow clap*

[@thecamelchannel1467]

11thj Why not just use Power Word Kill?

[@Andrewc87563]

The Camel Channel Can't spell very well.

[@CitanulsPumpkin]

So a few years back I'm standing in a small gaming store, flipping through a binder of magic cards. There were like 12 people sitting around the large gaming table that took up a third of the store's main room. One guy was talking about a game he had played with another group. One of the other players in his party got his hands on a ring of 3 wishes. They used the first 2 and were saving their last for an emergency. Their party was in a dungeon when they were attacked by a half dozen giant, flying, flaming, skulls. Two or three people went down and the player with the ring knew what he had to do to save the day. All the other players screamed "NO!"as he said "I wish all the skulls in the room would disappear."

[@inigmianstudios2771]

The players skulls dissapeared didnt they

[@oldschoolprince4714]

CitanulsPumpkin tell us the end of your tale, Darn you!!

[@JimCullen]

I like the way you differentiate a _wish_ from wishes granted by a genie or devil. I see the _wish_ spell as very literal. A genie as being warping your wish deliberately just to f-- with you. And a devil as twisting your wish for his own gain. Three different outcomes from three different ways of getting a wish.

[@JPruinc]

Always consider the source...

[@snowman9631]

A wish granted by a being that grants it in favor of the party should always go well for them and exactly how they wanted it, unless they are retarded.

[@awesomechainsaw]

Additionally a wish spell from a God should always result in the best possible outcome. Even if it’s not what the players intended or if it hurts them.

[@chachated]

Just a few sessions ago our group got some wishes and I jokingly wished to grow up to be big and strong to which my DM replied "Granted!". Now I'm permanently one size category larger which makes me a 12 foot 1800 lb Dragonborn Paladin. It has opened us up to some new battle dynamics and quite a bit of hindrance. Overall I have to say I am enjoying this wish.

[@jacksonl.2201]

Find a creature in the Huge size category and ride it as a mount.

[@seymourfields3613]

I can see "I wish the BBEG was dead" simply making him undead lmao

[@megatroymega]

Don't forget that some creatures need wish to keep them dead like naga and revenant. Wish is also a requirement for bringing people back to life after certain types of death. Wish removes natural born lycantropy and cures vampirism. Wish can transform Slaads back into original person if created by blue slaad's claws.

[@lem0nion]

I love how just casual and awkward yet comfortable they are between takes XD

[@JPruinc]

We do have fun.

[@primecheese1199]

When I DM'ned once, my party wished that a dragon was killed... The dragon was killed but by an even stronger dragon

[@teagan_p_999]

That's the way to do it. I'll probably end up doing something similar, when my players get to that power level.

[@meirwaxman350]

I would turn the dragon into a dracolich.

[@Oguzalp97]

Or you would make it so that the dragon was killed long ago by a different party

[@DyrgeAfterDark]

I wish we weren't falling to our deaths. DM: ok everyone aboard the airship is now on the elemental plane of air

[@MyJC19]

actually, you could interpret that as you already fell to your deaths.

[@christianturley1701]

That's also true

[@Nurk0m0rath]

I'm also waiting for the "I wish for the bad guy to drop dead right now" triggering the next black plague. Big bad may drop dead, but the aftermath of his death becomes even more horrific than his life and now the players have to race to cure the plague, which keeps spreading faster than they can fight it. And in the end when it's discovered they're the cause of the plague, they become enemy #1 for the whole continent and now human empires, orc tribes, and good and evil dragons are all joining forces to punish the players.

[@Calvert1212]

You all explode in midair

[@Kaizerworks]

Gravity is inverted, you fly into space

[@TrickyTrickyFox]

Aw, a lovely spell! One time, one of my cleric players "wished" for his mighty... Kelemvor was it or something to help him out in a very difficult boss fight. And he landed on the 33% chance instantly. Welp, I summoned an angel for him (Inglamesh or smth, was a name on the fly), who took away his ability to cast wishes in the future, BUT once a month from there on he had a spell "Summon Inglamesh" for 2 hours. It was pretty much a PC-barbarian with wings and a flaming +3 battleaxe in the end and gave party a fun rundown of their adventure every time they summoned him. Was fun for both parties - me and my players without the need of restriction. It's not like you CAN'T give your player, who took the risk and failed - somehting in return: most fun in DnD comes from those risks in the first place :)

[@chrisanderson6950]

My favourite Wish treatment in a game I played... Mage "I wish you to raise my stats" Efreet "Raze your stats?" Mage "Yes" Efreet "As you wish" Followed by mage collapsing under the weight of his clothes, developing terrible boils and odour and being feebleminded

[@Loalrikowki]

And why you always ask for them to elevate your stats. Homophones are dangerous.

[@TheFatalcrest]

Chris Anderson xD that's a fantastic and EVIL thing to do

[@Arkhansyd]

Normaly I'd be outraged at a thing like this but...that makes my inner DM happy X'D Efreets are BASTARDS and PC's should know better.

[@roamingthereal4060]

Personally, I can't stand behind you focusing on the wording of "raise" when stats is "Out Of Character" terminology. Either it's OOC and you're an asshole. Or it's IC and the Efreet destroys his paperwork.

[@DaDunge]

Yeha my plan if one of my players wish to be level 20 is to place them on top of a high building.

[@FuelDropforthewin]

I tend to view Wish as a plot device more than a spell.

[@jeremystalnaker4659]

I wished to permanently acquire and be able to cast True Polymorph as a sorcerer spell. The DM made me forget wish as part of an equal exchange, but I got my favorite spell.

[@darthvaderreviews6926]

I personally see the whole screwing people over with a wish thing like this: It depends on what the player wants, both out of the campaign and out of the wish. If a player is wishing for something truly campaign-breaking I'd say punishing them for that is totally reasonable, but if they're asking for something more inocuous or just something you feel like they've earned across the course of the campaign (Or if it'd be a good thing for the campaign) I say give them exactly what they want.

[@JPruinc]

It's totally scenario dependent. One should consider the nature of the source of the wish, whether item, creature, spell. How would the weave of magic feel about being asked to alter reality so fundamentally? Would it care?

[@joshuarichardson6529]

The way I see it, all power comes at a cost. If the PC wishes for a million gold, then I put the location in their head of a chest buried in the desert that holds a million gold worth of treasure. But it was buried by a gang of thieves who will want the treasure back and will hound the party until they either get it back or are killed. This gives them their wish, but I get a story hook out of the deal. If they wish for something small, like a holy avenger sword or mithril armor, then I'll probably just create it out of magic. Small wish, a small amount of power. In past additions of D&D, an expensive gemstone was required to cast the spell, so it's equivalent exchange (or close enough). If they want a lot of power, like immortality or invulnerability, then I'll make sure they have drawbacks to their wish. They want skin as hard as stone, sure thing, but that means they move at a snail's pace and have their Dex reduced by 10. They want to live forever, sure thing, but they then watch their loved ones all die of old age, as they go on, becoming more and more decrepit and weak with each passing year. The more power you wish for, the more the monkey's paw makes you regret it.

[@peteosmussen9423]

I used to run a campaign long ago and tied a wish to the character's alignment aura. Their alignment would warp the wish depending on what the wisher would want. If a Paladin wanted a million gold, he would get it...donated to a children's orphanage. If the Chaotic Neutral Assassin wanted the love and admiration of an entire town worth of females, he would get it, but they would be compelled to out of fear and the men of the town wouldn't be happy about it. Chalk it up to the gods of various alignments not wanting such powerful magic to be used by mortals in their sphere of influence that furthers the goals of the other spheres.

[@darthvaderreviews6926]

Pete Osmussen Actually... That's really cleverly done, I never thought about doing anything like that. That's a really good trick to keep in mind, thanks!

[@Sh1tDisturber]

Great thing about D&D is that things that would be considered game-breaking in most cases might not be in here. A good example is if your wish was "I wish to be Impervious to all manor of damage" that means anything that uses a die or states inflicted dmg would no longer effect you. From sickness to magical attacks , to cantrips, to having a mountain fall on you, you're coming out completely unscathed, but are still susceptible to all manor of other means of disposal from being polymorphed into a legless chicken or turned to stone, thrown into the void, put to sleep till you die, Magically aged until you die. so not entirely game-breaking, just much harder to deal with. A fun game-breaker would be to Wish for omniscience then pull up a Chair next to the DM

[@FuelDropforthewin]

"I wish that we landed safely" Using wish to cast Feather Fall.

[@demonblood8841]

i wished for a web dm video and here it is :)

[@Cerebus1000]

But then it turns out every video you end up watching is a new Wed DM video... Which actually sounds really awesome!

[@JPruinc]

I'm humbled that we are the beneficiaries of your innate ability to cast Wish (1/week).

[@General12th]

I'm trying to imagine a creature that can cast Wish as a racial spell-like ability at-will. Could *anything* pose a challenge to them?

[@ClassMRule]

"Can you use a wish to undue a wish?" Sure you can, it's called Counterwish, you cast it as a reaction.

[@MadSwedishGamer]

Just use Wish to cast Counterspell.

[@Awsompick]

"I wish i was higher level". Me "okay... you are one hundred twenty feet above the ground on a floating disc."

[@MadSwedishGamer]

Or not on a floating disc.

[@politikh]

I wish I could play with you guys. You sound like such a group of hardcore, involved, yet mellow and casual players, it is all a game of D&D (or any RPG for that matter) should be! Keep being awesome and keep making more vids, I am learning A LOT from you guys, especially on how to become a better DM and player.

[@JPruinc]

Glad we are helping out! And yes, we are pretty mellow. Never forget...it's just a game. So have fun with it.

[@LordSephleon]

Wish: The Rules Lawyer's Wet Dream. :) In the 20+ years that I've been in the hobby, I've never *really* had to deal with a Wish. My longtime players feared using them in my games because 1) my very first couple of tabletop games took place in Al-Qadim, where there are genies, genies everywhere, and 2) Ravenloft is my absolute favorite setting, where the Dark Powers corrupt all magic, even one as mighty as Wish. I don't mind players taking time to carefully craft the wording of a wish should it be one that they can take in comfort (I mean, what youth - or even a young adventurer - DOESN'T think about what they would do if they had a Wish?). However, if a player ends up using the wish in a rather stressful moment, then I definitely would only give them so much time to think about it (since, you know, time might actually be of the essence). My thing with Wish: I only consider wish granted by items (such as a Luckblade) and the actual spell to be literal (and only in an area that doesn't corrupt magic like Ravenloft does). However, when granted by beings, I consider that only Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral, and True Neutral beings would also be literal in the granting of the wish. All other alignments (including Neutral Good and Chaotic Good, who may even outright deny such a wish should they feel it might have extremely harmful effects on a large scale and/or the longterm) generally may refuse, twist, alter, pervert, or otherwise influence the final effect of the wish based on their own personal moral and ethical views. While I understand the reasoning for the 33% chance to never be able to cast Wish again, it should also be at the careful consideration of the DM and not just "The rules say so." I personally would only ever enforce that 33% chance for those who just used a wish for reality-bending reasons on a massive scale (geographically, temporally, or otherwise in a way that would completely change a campaign setting or plane(s) of existence).

[@snowman9631]

LordSephleon I would say that a being granting the wish has control over it completely, mortals casting it are tempting fate by trying to harness the power of wish and the bigger they go and the worse it can be, but a celestial being casting the wish for the PC's, it will happen exactly how they want it to cause this godly being is granting it, unless they were forced to, and any evil creatures will do their best to ruin it.

[@teagan_p_999]

Well, if a celestial being is granting it, they can certainly do as they like with it, but it seems to me that if the players earned that wish somehow, as long as it's not evil, they'll grant it according to intent, unless the player(s) coerced the wish out of the being, then it'll do it's best to screw with the wish, if it has to grant it. I've been reading up on the wish spell, after being told by my 3rd-level wizard that when he gets to 17th, he's wishing away the end-villain, and I'm scheming for consequences, I think I've got them now, but the logical course seems like the more reality altering a wish is, the more likely that things will go wrong. I'm thinking some sort of table, maybe a spellcasting check, if someone goes too far beyond what the book restricts.

[@onegenericman]

I had a player petition a demon to destroy a town his character was slighted with a wish. The demon was set up to curse a player summoning him but being a chaotic evil demon he was amused and gave it without cost. The player ended up being haunted by the king of the town that was destroyed. His other wish from another campaign was for a ham sandwich (he was out of rations)

[@aureliomanalo]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/roXLmWOwaq9psM0

[@Anxuta]

For our Rise of Tiamat campaign, I had the players meet Bel and being the pit fiend he is, he granted them wishes to stop Tiamat from leaving hell.

[@maxnummarc]

i gave a ring of three wishes to the lvl1 party and first thing they wished is fire ball to the wall.... and they never use it again

[@ShadowMage]

If my half elf wizard had access to a wish, he would wish to regain the memories that he had lost when he appeared on the shores of Faerun.

[@TF2BluSoldier]

My buddy and his party were once getting pretty messed up by an ancient red dragon. He casted wish. "I wish there were no red dragons!" As of that moment, everyone in the world, from then on, saw everything in greyscale.

[@1MrBurkhart]

This is funny, but honestly what a waste of a spell you spend your entire class career working towards. I get why dms fear it, but players deserve the spells they earn.

[@Exisist5151]

Yeah this wish would mess with the people who control time if you interpret it literally because you are effecting many creatures by erasing them from existence & you are effecting all of those creatures throughout history & altering the course of history with that wish. Like I get what you mean this is the culmination of that player’s career, but even deities aren’t able to change the past.

[@clonetf141]

you guys are in the exact same fight, but this time youre fighting a greatwyrm gold dragon that has turned insane

[@minnion2871]

Alternatively the dragon's scales change color.... Maybe it turning into a different type of dragon.... (Alternatively given the wish was in the past tense, the DM responds: History warps and changes, and now you remember that up until about a week ago there was no such thing as a Red Dragon....)

[@VirgilAllenMoore]

Simulacrum to create a copy of yourself using a 7th level spell lot, then command the Simulacrum of yourself (that has Wish and a 9th level spell slot) to cast the wish spell at your desire. Even if they can never cast it again, they are a Simulacrum, not you. It says "you" in the Wish description, referring to the caster of the spell, if the Simulacrum is the caster, as in this case, it would pertain to them, not you. Also, since the Simulacrum can't regain spell slots, it doesn't matter to them. And you can cast Simulacrum again to destroy it and create another one that is considered another copy of yourself that at that point can still cast the Wish spell. Does that work for infinite Wish reliability?

[@danreed4250]

Virgil Moore absolutely one of my players did this and I had them use wish a few dozen times

[@MrEmigliore]

Virgil Moore that is quite the meta gaming. If one of my players did that I'd make so at one point the simulacrum becomes self-aware and (trough the power of the wishes) becomes a villain or a powerful monster.

[@probablythedm1669]

The thing you might want to consider about the use of any spell is that if a player can do it then other people can and have used it like that too (unless they're the first to ever cast the spell in all of history). So what's to stop a villain from creating a clone army of himself or spamming Wish to remove all enemies? (Kind of a Tyranny-vibe then; do as I command or get wrecked by my Wish) Still, it's your right as a DM to allow it to be used like that. I would not though, for the reasons stated above. The way I'd do it is make the strain of casting Wish destroy the simulacrum before it can finish the casting. Maybe with an epic explosion or just a magical vacuum that makes it implode and turn into an sphere of annihilation. Basically, there'd be random unpleasant effects when trying to break the universe. You could probably weaponized them, but there'd be no "Free wishes for everyone!"- party. Besides, every magical outhouse needs a sphere of annihilaiton at the bottom (to keep the goblins out). :P

[@1anarquista.sensato]

What made them stop using it? DIdn't it cause a problem?

[@Troglodytarum]

Virgil Moore I would allow it but the interplanetary FBWM (Federal Beuro of Wizard Magic) would raid his wizard tower for using to much world changing magic without paying the magic tax.

[@merlintym1928]

"I wish I could concentrate on an additional spell" That fucker was such a power gamer

[@timer67]

My players are getting very close to finding the luck blade in the curse of strahd. This video has been incredibly useful, thanks :D

[@dm_zemo]

Every time I get a notification of a new Web DM video I uncontrollably shout "YES!" and then have a strange conversation with people around me as I explain what the hell I'm so happy about. "Oh It's just these two dudes talking about D&D who are super cool and I kinda feel like they're my best friends I've never met yet." Never stop with the outtakes and pop culture tangents. Also pitch a show to Seeso. I have absolute faith you guys could crush a Seeso comedy show about D&D. Harmonquest is funny but painful to watch because the only one who seems to give a shit is Spencer Crittenden. He seems to be an awesome DM stuck with players who kinda just show up and occasionally actually play D&D. Also do you have some sort of merchandise in the works? I want you to shut up and take my money. Just don't ever shut up. Respectfully in reverence, DM Zemo

[@JPruinc]

LOL!!! Whatever it takes to get the word out! I've only seen the two episodes of Harmonquest. It does seem more joke-centric, less about the game. I need to get caught up on that. We are brainstorming merch. Keep y'all posted.

[@JPruinc]

Phil C YES!!!! It's so much fun! And you'll see that there is little conversion needed since they streamlined 5th edition. Come back to tell us of your cosmic adventures!

[@GamerNxUSN]

My favorite example of the "be careful what you wish for" lesson was in Reboot, when Enzo wishes he was the fastest program in the mainframe. So everyone else slowed down and he stayed the same,, thus being the fastest.

[@muninrob]

In my campaign I use 2 types of cast for wish, Combat wishes, "you have 7 seconds on my stopwatch, starting.....now", and for non combat, I DO make the player write the wish out, exactly how they speak it - simulating the forethought and caution a caster of 9th level spells should have when dealing with mighty magics.

[@OnlyTwoShoes]

Best wish in a campaign that I DMed. The party outwitted an Efreeti and in return, it offered to grant them one wish. Knowing that it was evil and any wish they made would be twisted against them, the Claric replied with "I wish for you to lose the ability to grant wishes." The Efreeti scowled at the Cleric, before planar shifting back home.

[@RgScorpio]

I have a tip for djinni should anyone who's looking to add one in their campaign yet don't want their players getting too overwhelmed with the sheer level of phenomenal cosmic powers being offered here. In the campaign I'm currently running, my players have a chance of finding a traditional lamp that houses a djinni. The catch here is that he was bound to it by a powerful warlock. The warlock used a talisman that syphoned power from the djinni to prevent him from using his power to escape. By releasing the djinni, the players are offered a boon in exchange for helping him find the warlock. The boon in question won't be as world changing considering his weakened state. He will be grateful for being rescued, but his power to grant wishes has diminished from his battle and imprisonment by the warlock. So, if you're worried about wishes from a djinni being too crazy (when literal interpretations may be too much of a headache) or powerful for your players, consider weakening their abilities for whatever reason you can think of.

[@alexputignani4475]

I once had a player use wish (He got the wish at a low level by making a perception check at night and getting a nat 20. I made it so that he saw a shooting star.) to basically gain invisibility as a cantrip. He and his friends spent near 10 minutes trying to lawyer up the best wish possible. Unfortunately they never clarified who he would be invisible to! I made it so that whenever he used this cantrip form of invisibility he was only invisible to allies. After a couple battles he figured it out, and we all had a great laugh about it.

[@777Looper]

That's a technical sabotage, even for a wish. Especially if the wish was phrased anything like "I wish to have the spell invisibility usable as a cantrip." It's changing the clear referent of the statement.

[@alexputignani4475]

1. They never used words like "the spell wish" or "cantrip". He just wanted a vague invisibility forever power. 2. I'm very aware of the sabotage, and so were the players. That was the whole fun of the situation. The players knew to treat getting a random Wish from the DM more like receiving Wish from a devil, than like the regular casting of it.

[@MrEmigliore]

Caleb Hickenlooper a way to screw with the player in that case would be: the spell of invisibility works only once as a cantrip, or he can use it as a cantrip but can't use it until he's level appropriate to learn it.

[@777Looper]

Sounds like they just did a poor job of lawyering then :) in which case yeah, that sounds like gold.

[@777Looper]

(Though my brain is now going through all the conditions under which a creature could be defined as an "ally". Does the player become visible as soon as he conceives the intent to do something contrary to his ally's agenda/welfare? Does this apply to practical jokes? Robbing friendlies in towns?)

[@johnathoncrines3198]

I kinda like the way wish is written. One wish for the price of a single spell learned is more than fair.

[@Warlord6000]

Great video, solid topic. I dm a group currently and play myself (both 5th ed) and my dm plays in my game which can lead to some interesting clashes of opinion. Especially so with the Wish spell. Personally I do away with the negatives of the Wish spell and instead put the ruling that it can only be used once every x amount of in game years. I like the idea that it is so physically demanding that the spell cannot be cast many times by a single user, which adds to its value. Alongside this I also remove the conditions. You can make one Wish no holds barred. As a DM my job is to accommodate my players? give them a world to interact with that they can destroy or save and come away from with an experience. I mean for example if the player wished that the main antagonist didn't exist, he would no longer exist. But what would that world look like? What evil would flourish in his absence? What bonds formed out of a common foe would never be made etc etc. My friend takes it very literally and does not allow anything outside of the book. Bit of a contrast but I like the idea of unlimited power in maybe one potentially two uses.

[@leechesinmybreeches29]

Player: I wish we land safelyDM: You and your party land safely on the ground, and your skyship crashes on top of you.(If you want to be cruel.)

[@ricardokleverelias3451]

Wish or Divine Intervention???? *Laughs in Arcana Cleric*

[@nickritchie2154]

You guys have the best dnd discussion channel on KZbin. Every table should aspire to play games as thoughtfully and creatively.

[@NM-jy1yp]

How about this idea for handling nonstandard wishes: 1) Have the player describe exactly what they want the wish to do, in plain English with no attempt at lawyering. 2) Assign a difficulty class based on how unlikely/powerful/obnoxious/ridiculous you perceive the wish to be. 3) Have the caster make a cast roll and decide the results based on how severely the roll fails or succeeds.

[@CleverPsuedonym1]

In the heroes of the vale campaign, DM Todd Kenreck presents a 6th level party with a wish situation that spirals into multiple wishes, and it’s awesome. He monkeys and messes with the wishes of his party, a thing I think DM’s find fun and interesting and want to do, BUT he does it in a way that doesn’t alienate his players. He doesn’t take an antagonistic role in the twisting he’s doing. Here’s the key elements of that that I observe: 1. His monkeying doesn’t deny the players the outcome they wanted, as far as he can predict. Instead, his approach seems like, “here’s what they want, what’s an interesting way for me to PACKAGE that and delivery it to them.” 2. This PACKAGING, instead of providing some Deus Ex Machina that poofs away a problem, presents the players with some resource they didn’t have the “opens the door” to achieving their desired outcome. This is significant because, even though a player ostensibly ACTS by casting a wish spell, there is a level to where the results can feel somewhat unearned. This PACKAGING can be in the form of a powerful resource the players lacked, like access to a tool, power source, or magical entity, but the key is that - in whatever form - it require some sort of “exercise of agency.” The wish should present characters with some kind of choice or action or something that satisfying adds to the narrative of the campaign instead of just subtracting obstacles from it. Maybe a wish puts a character in contact with an NPC who can solve their problem easily, but requires that the character choose to align/cooperate/deal in some way with that NPC. This could be complicated if the player has reason to not want to work with that npc. Maybe the solution doesn’t require a choice to occur, but presents a complex choice in the process of its occurrence. “We know this wish will get us from point a to point b, but on the path we encountered something that made us have to make a tough choice.” For a much better idea of what I’m saying, watch some heroes of the vale my dudes. It rocked.

[@the_rose_garden01]

I miss the Miracle spell. It was basically Wish for Clerics. When I run games, I like to reskin Wish as Miracle so Clerics can change reality.

[@sniperdgs]

as a new player this does help me understand things i may or may not want/ or be able to wish for. Thankyou.

[@MyJC19]

I remember being irritated with a particular kingdom so I opened a gate in the middle of their capital with wish to the abyss

[@FrumpybutSuperSmart]

Divine Intervention is basically get out of a negative Deck of Many Things result once a week at 20th level.

[@ddickson1167]

I think wishes are inherently double-edged. Not sure if you've seen "Darby O'Gill and the Litttle People", but it's a great illustration of the dangers of wishing.

[@Xaxares]

I remember in 2nd edition the Gamemaster guide was specifically telling Gamemaster to twist the living daylights out of any wish spells made. They wish for a castle? Have it appear in the sky, crashing down on them, they want a king's ransom? teleport a king to them to ransom... AND have the kingdom's army know exactly where they are so they can "negotiate". Those were pretty much written as is in the book.

[@rocketb00t]

Is the 33% chance of losing the spell meant to deter a wish for infinite wishes? It creates the probability for the classic "3 wishes" scenario.

[@alexandervaucrosson7841]

John Scott the 33% occurs when you deviate from replicating the effect of a spell of 8th or lower.

[@rocketb00t]

I know, for example wishing for infinite wishes...

[@SavageGreywolf]

if you're a wizard with a level 9 slot and you know the spell Wish, you would already have infinite wishes in that case.

[@alexandervaucrosson7841]

hmm perhaps you'll suffer the effect of casting an infinite number of wishes, aka crumble to dust

[@Andrewc87563]

More likely you will be stuck blowing out candles and throwing coins into wells forever!

[@Zerum69]

Wish = Flaws: it's like a monkey paw, it might cripple you permanently, there's a chance you'll never be able to cast it again Benefits: you can cast it whenever you want as soon as you get enough power Divine Intervention = Flaws: it's extremely unlikely you'll be able to cast it, requires you to have a good relationship with your deity Benefits: it has no negative side effects to the caster, it's potentially stronger since God > Mortal, if you reach lvl 20 you can cast it 100% of the time every in game week making you potentially the most powerful character in the game setting only surpassed by lvl 20 clerics of higher deities than yours and the God's themselves

[@Fnorder23]

My group joined a war against a high fae lord to whom they were indebted. To seal the alliance one of the players had to marry a princess (who was a kick-ass paladin) and the fae prince appeared as an uninvited guest to their wedding. As is tradition, he offered a gift to the couple - a Wish. The player bursted out "I never want to see you again!" so the elven prince smiled and disappeared. Can't wait to see how this will bite them in their flankable zones soon!

[@applecrow8]

I like the idea of having the caster being the one who determines the outcome of the wish, but has explained to them that there are plenty of things in the universe that might take exception to what they are doing.

[@Sean-ne3gx]

Wow, a video on something that Jim said he wished that they had covered and would need it's own show when the classes were done with, nicely done guys, I just expected to not see any of those "we should do" videos for years if ever.

[@minnion2871]

"I wish for a extra pair of arms.... " A disembodied pair of arms appear in the air before you and then lands in your lap....

[@scabbynack]

Great episode guys! Wishes and the other 'broken' parts of D&D that would never be included if it was a new game today are the hallmarks of what makes more interesting games!

[@witchygurl]

For the game I play my DM has given different kinds of wishes a point value. A wizard's wish is like 10,000 points or whatever, a Djinni wish is 25,000 points or so. So depending on what you want to do he can kind of quantify it based on your desire. It works out really well. It makes us (the players) feel like we're getting the most out our wishes and it makes us feel like it's fair as well. It might seem a little restrictive but he also knows when to be a little more flexible with the effect of the wish so it all works out in the end.

[@chorkentar]

It would have been nice to hear more examples of specific wishes or divine interventions that you guys have seen in game

[@keithwinget526]

Eeker: "I wish I held in my hand the most powerful sword in the land." DM: "You notice your surroundings immediately change. You are now dangling from a mighty greatsword of incredible power you've never felt before. It is protruding from a wall inside an active volcano, and you must make a strength check to avoid losing your grip." Eeker is a goblin wizard... Casting wish at the end of an exhausting adventuring day, because why not?

[@chaddixon9764]

The 11th level cleric in my party got this to work on his second try, and cast "Holy Aura." That poor Adult Black Dragon got boned so hard.

[@samgafford2371]

If a player used Divine Intervention or Wish to summon some angels and to add them to the party: just give them a pair mid-level scurge Aasimar Pact of the Blade Celestial Warlocks as npcs.

[@DevilsDeal]

Logically, divine intervention should be answered in a way that fits the deity in question.

[@Soma2710]

Player:"I wish we landed safely" DM: "Okay. You look down and suddenly your hands disappear into your body, which you also notice is turning into a thick iron box. Protruding out of the middle of your chest appears to be a combination lock. You plummet to the ground, much in the way a safe would. It's a sad thing your adventures have ended here!"

[@hamstsorkxxor]

Hehe, that got a good chuckle out of me!

[@daveschrumpf8261]

The turkey's a little dry. THE TURKEY'S A LITTLE DRY?!!!

[@paulcoy9060]

should have wished for some mayonaise.

[@Gnawgahyde]

I remember the first time a DM provided me with a Wish. I was a human Assassin / Wizard with homebrew rules for AD&D (2nd Ed). I had talked to the DM about changing my race as I was tired of playing a human. He allowed me through game play to attain the Wish spell and I worded it as best I could; however, the fail safe he had which did become detrimental to one of the other players was that each day I had to roll a save to stop myself from killing a random person each day! Best game I ever played though!

[@Smeagolthevile]

I really want to do a campaign where a group of worshipers of a deity, lets say Shar for example, gather a bunch of powerful wizards who are loyal to that deity and all cast wish at the same time for their deity to succeed in their goals, in the case of Shar, for example, trumph and destroy Selune. then your campaign is dealing with the fallout

[@wesleyjudson599]

I think the main thing about the wish spell is that it's easier to remove a rule for the sake of fun, rather than add a rule for the sake of balance.

[@shadophaxx2401]

Player: I wish for untold riches Genie: granted Player: what? But where are my riches? Genie: I’m not telling you

[@jazzjiggleballs9921]

In one of my hombrew campaigns I did away with the wish spell, but supplemented it's place in my world with a twist. Taking a que from ol DBZ I have it where there are 7 magical rune stones scattered across the prime material plane. If gathered they summon Duroklyion the God of Gifts and he will bestow one wish to his summoner. Of course Duroklyion has quite a bit of history behind him that can be uncovered.

[@Fistminer]

If someone oversteps the power of wish Primus is gonna sic the inevitables on them.

[@Azetchki]

The first (and only) time I gave a wish to my players, it was trough a djinni in a lamp. Instead of using it, they actually went in an adventure to throw the lamp in The middle of the ocean :p

[@tylerbennett5381]

I got a wish from a Dao ( technically no, they can't give wishes but whatever) and I wished for a tavern. I had to pay 5,000gp and clean ghosts out but it worked. To this day that tavern is my favorite thing I've ever had in D&D. I came up with a menu, hired staff, made my own rates. It is wonderful

[@jh-ne4sy]

I think they’re overlooking the power of the duplicate ANY spell of 8th level or lower without requiring material components and only requiring an action. Especially assuming the party is getting downtime. Now the caster can make free simulacrums, free contingencies, steal all but the very strongest spells from every other caster’s list and bring back the long dead as an action for free. Definitely sounds like the strongest spell to me

[@TheMicrowavegirl]

Use wish to get unlimited (youthful) clones of your party in a demi plane, then if you wipe, use WISH plane shift to get out of the demi plane where you last left off. IMMORTALITY!

[@tophatoctopus1997]

i think that the wishes goal should be to complete the goals presented with as little energy used as possible. examples: "i wish x was back" Xs dead body appears before you. "i wish y was dead" 5 seconds after the casting, y falls down the stairs and snaps his neck, killing him instantly. "i wish i had j" the closest j is teleported to you, possibly from someones possessions or even their hands.

[@Derrick-dr2zj]

You guys are the best, you deserve more subscribers!

[@XthegreatwhyX]

I always give players wishes, sooner or later, because they are about the most fun thing that can happen in a session. I never discuss wishes beforehand, that's metagaming (unless there's a wish-granting entity they can confer with). If you are imaginative and adaptable, there's nothing a player can wish for that you can't face.

[@paulcoy9060]

I'm surprised no one has brought up The Gamers' movie, Hands of Fate. One of the best, impulsive wishes ever in that movie, short and sweet.

[@Locaneo]

I Homebrewed the Divine Intervention myself because I felt the low percentage was a bit too restrictive. I understand why it's there, but felt there should be more options. So I added this to it. You can spend turns doing the following actions to increase your chances: • Up to 2 extra prayers for 1 turn each: -5 per prayer on the percentile. • Give 1 offering/sacrifice on the next turn: -15 on the percentile • Offer one entire corpse or proof of death of an enemy of your god: -20 to -40 on the percentile depending on the strength and worth of the enemy to your god. • If all the above are done the Divine Intervention automatically happens, all of those acts would take 4 turns altogether.

[@Hawdkoah]

I like the idea of Wishmaster style mishaps taking place as a plot hook for an adventure facing off against an efreeti. Maybe someone wishes they could be beautiful forever and get turned into a statue, or someone wishes for riches beyond their wildest dreams and ends up with a bunch of treasure stolen from a very pissed off dragon's hoard.

[@HoundofOdin]

I would just wish for everything to turn out the way I want it. If something 'unexpected' happens, well, I didn't want that, so it gets negated.

[@roamingthereal4060]

15:30 I don't know what games you guys play in, but Divine Intervention is amazing. Obviously up to the DM, but in theory a Cleric could just pray for someone to come back to life everyday and in about 10 days it happens. Then seven days of downtime. Before you start praying for something else. Thats a miracle every 17~ days. Need help raiding a castle? Ask for some help via gate. Oh the raid still fails and you're all trapped in prison shackled to the wall with no way out? Plane shift or astral projection to escape being trapped literally anywhere with nothing. Lost an arm? Regenerate. Friend died in battle? Might as well pray for him to come back to life. Village you come across having a drought? No big deal, my god controls the weather. Hungry? Hero's feast. So long as you are willing to wait a few days for something to happen.. you can pull off some true miracles for 10th level play.

[@anasb.8647]

they obviously didn't know about the Miracle Epic Ritual when they wrote down Wish in the book, now THAT is the greatest magic any mortal can do, technically even any god really

[@archlittle6067]

Divine Intervention causes a hero to show up...and some day you will show up at their DI.

[@Mr.Monster1984]

once the players found a cursed wish ring. The rogue took it and quickly wished to be the strongest person in the world. He had str 8. So everyone in the world was cursed and had their str lowered to 7, including the party. And they had to go on a quest to revert it

[@The_Sharktocrab]

Only time I ever used a wish I was falling and wished to be safe and the dm gave me wings

[@xaosbob]

I often treat granted wishes as monkey's paws, particularly when granted by malicious beings (or when lessons need to be learned, like in a good folktale). However, when learned and cast by the caster, I am a firm believer of honoring the spirit of the wish, not the letter. Like you said, we know each other as players and DMs, and we can work it out.

[@jimmyshousevideos]

The guys I play with absolutely think of everything before they make a wish. If they cast it expect a few pages of explanation about what they want.

[@oliverwilhelm6171]

I had my players find an Efreet in a ring in one game. He gave them each one wish, but told them flat-out that he can ONLY grant "destructive" wishes: the fall of a kingdom, the death of a rival, the decay of a forest or end of an industry. Didn't hear any complaints. I think having Djinn or other sorts of genie races being able cast a specific kind of wish to be fairly handy - I let the players know right-out which there is. Djinn can grant any wish, but not to the extent of the other three. Efreet can grant wishes that destroy or end something. Marid can grant wishes that induce change in a target - emotional, physical, whatever. Dao can grant wishes involving wealth or property.

[@Iwillgotohell2]

"I wish for us to be in a time where the bad guy is not" - you are sent over 1000 years into the future, the world is in chaos, the bad guy won, then lost to a worse evil, and then the worse evil lost to an even worst evil, all because the PCs were not there to stop the first bad guy and a couple crazy cultist took their place on stoping the first bad guy, you are in the worst timeline

[@alexanderchippel]

The way I rule it as such: Player Casts Wish: 100% beneficial, and what what was intended more so then what was said. Genie or Magic Item: 100% literal, completely impartial (unless the character fucked over the genie previously) Devil/Demon: Never good. You want gold? It's cursed. Want to live forever? You still age and get old and can be injured, but never truly die.

[@dropkickpiper3204]

I recall a time our characters decided to wish the fighter an absurdly high strength score, and get that high strength he did, but he could never “turn it off” as it were. He’d pick up an apple and crush it as soon as gripping it, opening a door he would infallibly manage to break it off its hinges.

[@itzybitzyspyder]

I had a DM years ago that made the player make the wish and not the character...I made a 60 page document and got my wish with 0 negative effects.

[@GarrettCrowe]

Hi, this is Garrett Crowe, the author of the Manos D&D game. It's true because of IP (only FR material on the DM's Guild) I got it for sale at drivethrurpg at www.drivethrurpg.com/product/206213/Manos-and-Dragons Thanks for the mention. Hope you guys enjoy the game.

[@deplorablemecoptera3024]

My ideal deployment of wish, and the way that I deploy it in my game is: you make one wish by speaking your desire aloud. This wish can be no longer than ten words following the words "I wish" (a total of 12 words). If a wish is longer than this, only the first 12 words spoken are taken in to consideration. If the wish is not a wish, or if the stated effect of the wish is already the current state of affairs (i.e. Wishing an already dead man was dead) the spell does nothing and the spell slot is expended. The DM has complete control over the effect of this spell but should strive to grant the wish as stated in the most literal way possible. As it is the most powerful spell known to mortals there are no limits to what a wish can do besides the ability of the player to put to words their desires.

[@sandpaper]

Regarding normal humans in a game based on Manos: The Hands of Fate, Fear Itself by Pelgrane Press is the perfect system for it. I can't speak highly enough for the GUMSHOE system for games that don't need a high level of crunch.

[@toprak3479]

THAT WAS A DIVINE INTERVENTION. The hand of God came down from heaven to stop the motherfuckin bullets, Vincent.

[@toprak3479]

Or something like that.

[@andrewhazlewood4569]

Wish for a spell book with every spell in it. Maybe that would be worthwhile for a wizard.

[@werewolfjedi38]

at the 5:20 mark, the monkey paw idea. why not give the choice, they can take the literal meaning of their words, or get exactly what they want at the % roll to never cast it again. dangerous power at both ends, what are you willing to sacrifice for your success?

[@GixtheDragon]

Back in the 2nd edition days,(with the Return to the Tomb of Horrors), my party had to figure out how to find the hidden city in a massive swamp that had grown around the entrance to the Tomb of Horrors. The other players had debated back and forth for 30-40 min, which I found annoying... so I used one of the wishes on my Ring of 3 wishes to transport the party to the outer wall of the city. The rest of the party where surprised and angry with me as I had not consulted with them first. My response was, 'I ended the argument. Now can we deal with what we are here to do?"

[@chaddixon9764]

Wish and Divine Intervention, when you want to be Franklin Richards for a sec.