I'm gonna say it. The wish spell is broken.
First, the PHB says that if it's used to raise the dead, there is no penalty. Why not? Usually when a wish is used to raise the dead, it's used more like a [/i]resurrection[/i] spell. So why not have the wish spell cause disability?
And the way the spell is worded, it's hard to tell if it means the caster ages 5 years when casting it regardless of what it's used for, but only causes the Strength loss if used for something other than healing, or if the weakness and aging only happen if the caster attempts to alter reality on a larger scale.
The -3 STR penalty is silly. Wizards don't need STR. Maybe a -3 to INT (mental strain) or CON (physical strain) from casting such powerful magic would be more realistic. A wizard with a 9 STR going down to a 6 STR isn't inconvenienced in the least. A wizard going down from an 18 INT to a 15 INT is mightily inconvenienced. Wishes should be draining.
So how do you all use it?
Personally, I vary it by campaign, depending upon player maturity, deadliness of the campaign, etc. But in most cases I insist on the 5 years of aging no matter what a wish is used for. The weakness is usually to the CON score, 3 pts, plus the 2d4 days of rest (which restores the CON score-nothing else will except multiple restoration spells).
Fixing the wish spell
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- Halaster Blackcloak
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Fixing the wish spell
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- Tawnos76
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The last campaign I ran the Wish spell was used mainly for the demihuman dwarf to continue to level up alongside the human compatriots to continue the campaign into higher levels. Which is a suggested use for it in the handbook.
I do require the 5 years of aging and sometimes the STR loss. Most of the mages I have campaigned usually spent much time preparing and wording carefully so that it was done in a controlled environment. I think that if the mage prepares wisely then the losses should be less potent but if they try to do it more in the moment while on a campaign or in a dungeon crawl where it is being used more as a quick need then the losses are more potent.
I do require the 5 years of aging and sometimes the STR loss. Most of the mages I have campaigned usually spent much time preparing and wording carefully so that it was done in a controlled environment. I think that if the mage prepares wisely then the losses should be less potent but if they try to do it more in the moment while on a campaign or in a dungeon crawl where it is being used more as a quick need then the losses are more potent.
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- Halaster Blackcloak
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I'm starting to think that the 2d4 days of bed rest and the -3 STR (or whatever stat is used) is almost redundant and meaningless. Aging 5 years requires a system shock roll, which isn't all that good for most wizards. Fail that and you're dead. Plus his Con score drops 1 pt. But then again, I like the idea of the wizard being weak and incapacitated after such a powerful spell even if he makes his system shock. Helps prevent abuse by taking the the wizard out of play for a few days.
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- Tarrax Ironwolf
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In my game, I just bypass the system shock roll and just have the detrimental effect happen. Makes the caster be all 'you better have a real damn good reason for my health to suffer for this wish.' So needless to say, if a wish is desired to come into play, serious thinking comes with the territory.
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