[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-510671-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-510671-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","save-my-game-managing-wishes-part-1-dd-dm-advice","Save My Game - Managing Wishes - Part 1 - D&D DM Advice","","DM advice for running D&D “wish” mechanics when campaigns go off track, focusing on how to adjudicate the spell’s open-ended outcomes. It explains that wish effects depend on the wish’s source, including divine powers, wish-granting creatures (genies, pit fiends), and magic items, and how those sources shape interpretation, consent, and potential twists. It then outlines practical rule-based approaches, including strict compliance, partial fulfillment, or wasted/denied wishes, plus guidance for managing intent, diplomacy, and bargains when granting entities react to character behavior.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/","Story & Novel",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/save-my-game-managing-wishes-part-1-dd-dm-advice/510671/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/save-my-game-managing-wishes-part-1-dd-dm-advice/510671.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Ophelia","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-18","2026-10-05",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",7,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why are wish spells difficult for a DM to adjudicate?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Wish effects are open-ended, and their handling depends heavily on the wish’s purpose and source of power, which changes how outcomes should be interpreted.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How should a DM treat wishes granted by divine powers versus other sources?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"If a divine power or related entity grants miracles, it may choose to grant, refuse, or twist the request. Other wish-granting creatures can decide whether to grant and may interpret requests according to their own personalities and ends.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What options does the DM have when a player makes an invalid wish under D&D 3.5 guidance?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The DM can let the wish fail and be wasted, partially fulfill it with the closest allowed result from the Player’s Handbook, or deny the wish and allow another attempt.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},510671,1791519193,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,87,91,95,100,105,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":22,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":30,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":96},7971461741311,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/74000253aff267980c6?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1779345379180704826","Save My Game: Managing Wishes 1 of 3  \nHome > Games > D&D > Articles  \nThis column provides advice for DMs whose campaigns are in trouble. Do your players constantly bicker or complain about issues both inside and outside of the main campaign action? Do your best ideas fall flat? Have you set up a situation that you now wish you hadn't? Worry no more, because Jason Nelson-Brown has the answers to save your game!  \nBe Careful What You Wish for  \nIn this installment of Save My Game, we look at that most complex of spells -- the wish. Most players consider a wish the best possible reward, the last salvation of a mission gone sour, or the key to a vast treasure trove. But adjudicating the effects of a spell that seems so open-ended can prove quite challenging, even with the stricter guidelines that D&D v .3.5 offers . What's a DM to do?  \nProblem: Managing Wishes  \nWhat's the best way for a DM to handle wishes? It's nice to be able to dole them out when needed, but what exactly are their limitations and potential drawbacks? Should PCs be warned to be careful what they wish for? -- Ned from WotC  \nAdjudicating wish spells can be tricky because their purpose in the game isn't entirely clear. The purpose of the wish and the source of its power can have a significant effect on how you as DM choose to adjudicate the effects of the spell.  \nSolution 1: Who Grants Wishes Anyway?  \nOne obscure rule that caused lots of trouble in the 1st Edition AD&D game was that wishes were granted by the nearest divine power. That entity knew the nature of the wish and could choose to grant it, refuse it, or twist it as desired. So a character in the Demonweb Pits didn't have to bother trying to wish that something bad would happen to Lolth. In fact, it was wise not to make any wish at all in such a place, since doing so could only end poorly for anyone other than Lolth's buddies.  \nThat rule made the wish spell basically useless on any plane other than the Material, and maybe the Astral and Ethereal. Since miracle exists as a spell in D&D v .3. 5, cutting the deities out of the  \nwish-granting business only stands to reason. The gods are in charge of miracles requested by their own  \nfollowers, but they need not respond to those originated by anybody else.  \nThe game also includes a variety of wish-granting creatures, such as genies, pit fiends, and a handful of others . These creatures can decide whether or not to grant a wish, and their personalities and natures determine what kinds of wishes they will grant and how they will do so. In determining whether a particular wish will be granted, consider whether it furthers the creature's ends or pleases it in some way . Even if the creature is bound to grant the wish, how obnoxiously technical, literal, and anal-retentive can it be in twisting the meaning of the request? Maybe such creatures should be using miracle instead of wish anyway, to tie the possible effects more firmly into the nature of the granting creature.  \nSo where does the power behind the wish come from when a character casts the spell or uses a wish-granting magic item rather than requesting direct intervention from some divine entity? The simplest answer is that such a character is tapping into the primal energy of the cosmos to bend reality to her whim and make her wish come true. In a sense , she has cut out the middle-men. Casting wish is ultimately no different than casting meteor s warm; you cast it, and the desired effect just happens . After all, it's a 9th-level spell with an XP cost --shouldn't it work as described in the book without adding extra complications? Why does the DM need to intervene with this spell in particular?  \nSolution 2: Apply the Rules Precisely  \nUnlike some previous versions of the game, D&D v .3.5 gives very explicit guidelines for what a wish, limited wish, or miracle can do. As DM, therefore, you can choose to play a wish strictly by the book . If your players wonder what they can wish for, tell them to","cbCaipvDGWcRz2qy","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaipvDGWcRz2qy","pdf",490782,"English","# Be Careful What You Wish for\n# Problem: Managing Wishes\n# Solution 1: Who Grants Wishes Anyway?\n# Solution 2: Apply the Rules Precisely\n# Solution 3: What Purpose Does the Wish Spell Serve?","[{\"question\":\"Why are wish spells difficult for a DM to adjudicate?\",\"answer\":\"Wish effects are open-ended, and their handling depends heavily on the wish’s purpose and source of power, which changes how outcomes should be interpreted.\"},{\"question\":\"How should a DM treat wishes granted by divine powers versus other sources?\",\"answer\":\"If a divine power or related entity grants miracles, it may choose to grant, refuse, or twist the request. Other wish-granting creatures can decide whether to grant and may interpret requests according to their own personalities and ends.\"},{\"question\":\"What options does the DM have when a player makes an invalid wish under D\\u0026D 3.5 guidance?\",\"answer\":\"The DM can let the wish fail and be wasted, partially fulfill it with the closest allowed result from the Player’s Handbook, or deny the wish and allow another attempt.\"}]","Save My Game - Managing Wishes - Part 1 - D&D DM Advice | PDF",1791243785]