Quote:
Originally Posted by TippetsTX
I think the key to limiting wishes will be the GM gradually revealing the unintended consequences of dealing with demonic forces.
|
Yes, this became a theme in our TFT campaign even for exploiting various other types of magic or even mundane power dynamics. Our players never got into demon summoning, but even if they could, they would probably have expected our GMs to personalize the experience in interesting ways that would make the endeavor something you should expect serious risk and consequence from. But even if the PCs never do it, it's fun and useful to figure out if/when the NPC wizards in the world are doing it, and what the situation is.
We've been over several possibilities on these forums over the last few months, and I think there are countless interesting ways to do it, so I kind of like how genericly the rules present demons, though I think it could use a sentence along the lines of "why wizards don't mass produce wishes isn't common knowledge, and even demonologists don't know all the reasons why this spell isn't more commonly used. Each GM may want to consider what may or may not happen if and when wizards start to over-use the spell."
Some of my favorite ideas include:
* Demons vary widely in stats and abilities. (GURPS Magic has some fairly nice random demon generation tables which could be adapted to TFT and/or used for inspiration.) Some may have rather higher resistance to a battle of wills than expected, and/or have other unpleasant tricks.
* Some or all Greater Demons can't grant spells as described, though they may have some magic abilities and can try to do things to grant your wishes by doing things.
* Demons may hold grudges against wizards who extract wishes or otherwise abuse them, and may prepare surprises for them.
* Demons who have been summoned may re-appear later not under control of the caster, and/or bring friends, and/or astral project to haunt/torment a resented summoner, and/or do other mischief.
* The GM might develop the plane of existence the Demons exist on and have the demons be individuals with various wants, needs, abilities, allies, enemies, politics, etc., and the more you summon them, the more that stuff becomes relevant in one way or another.
Another example:
If you invoke a Greater Demon-Wish for an increased attribute, the Demon divines where there is an attribute adder magic item, and goes and gets it. If it's worn or carried by someone, the demon may need to fight, kill, or remove their arm, to get it and bring it to the wisher. They tend to pick items as near to the wisher as possible, and if someone who lost such an item makes such a wish, they tend to go back to the same item. This interestingly makes such items a bit dangerous to carry around...