On extremely rare occasions, player characters come upon a magic item, feature, or friendly creature that allows them to use that most powerful of magics-the coveted wish. Such a discovery is much better than casting the spell personally, because the ill effects of the spell fall upon someone else. It would be the height of foolishness to have the opportunity to use a wish and lose it or misuse it because of indecision. If the character knew beforehand exactly what is was that he wanted most, he could blurt it out as soon as he was asked for his wish. A character's true alignment is reveled here. If a party member is dead, who gives up his wish to raise his companion, should he be repaid somehow? What does the revived character owe his rescuer? Will a greedy character short-sightedly ask for vulgar cash when so many other things are available? Do the immediate needs of the party outweigh a possibility of more beneficial long-term gain? These decisions must be made on the spot and can provide the DM with much amusement as the players and characters wrestle with moral questions. It is a sad but true fact that players will often be heard afterward saying "Oh, I should have wished for something else." What the characters get is sometimes not what they really wanted. Or so it seems. It might help for the players to decide beforehand exactly what is the most important goal for their character and what changes might help them achieve that goal. DM's may also make use of some of these spells in creating non-player characters whose adventures may have allowed them to gain a wish. The player characters are not the only ones capable of performing heroic deeds. And some dark powers use these mighty magics to reward their loyal followers as well. Thus, wishes are available to all, regardless of alignment, class or race. These suggestions for wishes are broken into vague categories; some appeal more than others to certain classes, and a few may be meaningless to some characters. Some of these descriptions also duplicate certain spell effects. It is a given that a wish will duplicate any other spell; some few of these are spelled out specifically to fill in otherwise gaping holes in certain categories. Below are some of the proposed benefits or curses resulti fig from a wish. DM's are encouraged to use their imagination and creativity when dealing with a wish that has come true. (The list below is an edited version from the material submitted by the author. - Ed.) Magic 1. Learn a single spell of any level the caster can currently use. (Wizards and Bards only.) 2. Unlearn a known spell, leaving a slot blank so that another can be learned. 3. Have a subsequently cast spell become permanent. 4. Gain an innate ability usable 1/day. (Up to L3 wizard spell, non-combat) 5. Gain a minor innate ability usable at will. (Non-combat wizard/priest spell) Equipment & magic items 6.Add to the magic ability of a weapon already owned (up to +2, or special abilities that equal 1,000 xp or less). 7. Recharge fully any magic item except one that grants wishes. 8. Add a minor ability to an existing magical item (total xp value of 1,000 with change). 9. Increase the range of a single missile weapon (up to triple). 10. Make a current weapon, shield, piece of armor, or other item unbreakable (save vs. crushing blow becomes 2 or less on a d20). 11. Attune a magical item under 1,500 xp value so that it will only work for one individual, class, race, or alignment. Physical Changes 12. Suppress the need for food, water, or sleep up to 5d20 character-days. 13. Enhance foot speed (6), swimming speed (3), or flying speed (6) if PC has ability to fly without magic. 14. Improve a character's senses, increasing chances to spot hidden objects or hear noises. (By 2 points or 10%.) 15. Improve chance to surprise and reduce chance to be surprised by 1. 16. Change race to another human, demihuman, or humanoid. In this case, the character's abilities many change-bonuses and penalties will be lost, and the new modifiers then apply. If the new race does not allow for the current class and level, then the character may (at the DM's option) still keep his abilities, but may not advance. Alternatively, he may become the closest thing possible (a human paladin becoming a dwarf many become a fighter, for example), or he may have to start over at first level (this is not recommended. 17. Change sex (50% chance of working if used to reverse girdle of masculinity/femininity.) 18. Increase or decrease size, up to 200% maximum or 1/3 minimum. This change man affect which weapons can be used, but the character's proficiencies do not change. This change may affect certain things like damage taken from an attack, melee reach of weapons, etc. Changes to other things dependent on size, like chances to hide in shadows are up to the DM to decide, based on specifics for other creatures that size. Statistics 19. Add permanent hit points (one hit die appropriate to the character's class, up to normal hit point maximum allowed by class, level and Con). 20. Add one point to an ability score under 16 (or 2 points of the ability is under 8). 2 1. Gain a psionic wild talent (devotion only, no abilities with prerequisites). 22. Gain permanent +1 on all attack rolls made with a weapon. 23. Lose a disadvantage. (Which could be viewed as a curse in some instances.) 24. Improve natural AC by 1 point. (Could be interesting if the character suddenly develops harden skin.) 25. Improve class ability (druid shapechange 4 times per day, paladin lay on hands 3 hp/level, etc). This may need extensive DM attention and should not be allowed to break normal game restrictions. Resistances & Defenses 1. Gain very slight magic resistance (1-6%). 2. Improve chance to Turn Undead (priests and paladins only), by one level. 3. Gain immunity to one specific condition (lycanthropy, mummy rot, or green slimenot including the touch attacks of all undead), 4. Gain a saving throw of 20 vs. attacks that normally allow no saving throw (one time only). 5. Improve all saving throws by 1 point. 6. Gain immunity to a single spell (up to L4) or priestly spell (up to L3). Knowledge & Proficiencies 42. Learn a particular non-weapon proficiency that takes up to 2 slots. 43. Improve an existing non-weapon proficiency (d4 points). 44. Learn a weapon proficiency allowed by class (no specials like mastery, expertise, etc.). 45. Mimic animal noises with 90% accuracy. 46. Gain knowledge (character operates as a sage in one area of academic knowledge). 47. Learn the command words to one or more magical items (2d6 command word). Undoing Things 48. Destroy a magic item (xp limits as created items), which gains a save if held by another creature. 49. Remove undead status from a creature, possibly allowing it to be raised or resurrected. 50. Prevent a creature from being raised, reincarnated, resurrected. 51. Cure infected lycanthropy in d6 beings (no saving throw). 52. Remove just about any curse, insanity, feeblemindedness, amnesia, phobia, or other affliction (DM's discretion). 53. Restore alignment changed by magic. Back to White Knight #10 Table of Contents Back to White Knight List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Pegasus-Unicorn Productions This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com