Wish Factories and Role-playing

[Shostak]

The subject of wish factories--a methodical approach to mass-producing wishes by extracting them from demons--comes up from time to time. Here's an example of how if one approaches the issue from a role-playing perspective, the very idea of a wish factory is ridiculous. At the heart of this is the difference between game mechanics supporting role-playing and the reverse. Having a game group that values playing a character as though they have real fears and motivations is such a treat!

[phiwum]

That's pretty well-played, Shostak. I'm afraid I'm not quite so good at imaginative narration like that, tending more to rolling the dice and applying the results in a more pedestrian manner. I'll have to up my game.

[timm meyers]

That is the best game play narrative I have read in a long time, Bravo!

(I am wondering how many other players have actually summoned a demon or played in a party that did?)

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by phiwum

That's pretty well-played, Shostak. I'm afraid I'm not quite so good at imaginative narration like that, tending more to rolling the dice and applying the results in a more pedestrian manner. I'll have to up my game.

Thanks! The real issue isn't so much the narrative detail, but the meaning of activity that the game mechanics allow and resolve but do little to nothing to give definition to. In this case, the trepidation with which the player had the character approach the situation and her motivations for feeling like summoning a demon was her best course of action suggested a lot of the details.

[malloyd]

Note the most horrifying risk here is that the deal isn't over. Calling up an unwilling or hostile supernatural thing to solve a problem you can't yourself (which by definition has powers you can't match) only makes sense if the transaction, whatever it is, [ends] after you obtain (or pass up) the solution.

If the thing is able to come back later, or do things if you refuse the terms it offers, or even just do things right now in [addition] to what you asked it to, it's a much more insane thing to attempt.

[Steve Plambeck]

Originally Posted by Shostak

The subject of wish factories--a methodical approach to mass-producing wishes by extracting them from demons--comes up from time to time. Here's an example of how if one approaches the issue from a role-playing perspective...

Holy smoke that was beautiful! Thanks for sharing such a poignant narrative. You could have written for Weird Tales back in another era.

Now I have to hang my head in shame. All I've got are a couple pedestrian, minor rule tweaks that make wish factories impossible. But your solution is really what we should all aspire to.

[timm meyers]

Originally Posted by Steve Plambeck

Holy smoke that was beautiful! Thanks for sharing such a poignant narrative. You could have written for Weird Tales back in another era.

Now I have to hang my head in shame. All I've got are a couple pedestrian, minor rule tweaks that make wish factories impossible. But your solution is really what we should all aspire to.

Please share your wish factory rules, I am genuinely curious.

[Bill_in_IN]

We weren't big on wishes in our Classic TFT days and that carried over to Legacy TFT for me.

I remember some GMs in their games conveniently disregarding the wish limit for attributes being 16. It's 14 in Legacy TFT. That was outright ridiculous to see people proudly claiming characters with ST 100. Why even play when you do that? That's like a computer RPG where they discover a stop spot that dies instant level upside and then repeatiedly going to the spot. Cheating can take many forms.

[Steve Plambeck]

Originally Posted by timm meyers

Please share your wish factory rules, I am genuinely curious.

Really simple!

• Wishes are non-transferable -- so no sales possible
• No wishes may be accrued between adventures -- so no stockpiling possible.

My rationale for the latter is that they are just too easy to waste by accident. "Dang I'm thirsty, wish I had a beer -- oh no I spent my wish!" And a second point being the law of averages will catch up with you and kill you off if you try that contest of wills all the time.


My old group never allowed wishes anyway. If I were to start a new group I believe I would allow them, but only under those limits.

Addendum: in reviewing my notes I see I had actually come up with a loophole. Wishes are not completely non-transferable. A wizard who has accrued two wishes may spend one wish to give the other wish to someone else, who can use it immediately or save it for another day. A Lesser Wish is even sufficient to transfer a Greater Wish. The double jeopardy the wizard has to face to give away one wish should prevent any runaway effect :)

I'm also partial now to the idea the wizard, having won the contest of wills, can direct the wish be given to someone else actually present for the summoning. That way if things go horribly wrong, the recipient is also at risk of dying. Miss the summoning roll? Pentagram fail? Now you both have a 50 to 100 ST monster trying to kill you.

[JohnPaulB]

Originally Posted by Shostak

At the heart of this is the difference between game mechanics supporting role-playing and the reverse. Having a game group that values playing a character as though they have real fears and motivations is such a treat!

Well, to add a level of continuing affect of summoning to the game, you could have each Summoner roll on the TFT Companion Handicapped Characters in TFT. You could make the handicaps into quirks, like GURPS does, but permanent until healed. The character can "wear" their quirk like a medal of valor.