| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I would balance it by saying "no" to my players when they try to do something inappropriate to that campaign.
I can imagine some campaigns where cutting loose with semi infinite wishes might not be a bad thing, and others where it should be so limited there is almost always a better alternative.
Simulacrum (and other so called broken spells) require close GM oversight, they are designed to be loosely worded to maintain versatility for nearly any campaign. It's a feature not a bug.
And it's largely because of PFS that Paizo exists for that stuff to be available.This thread
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2qpmc?SnoCone-Wish-Machine#1has 49 FAQ requests and no answer for over two years. They are aware of it, but apparently not willing to do anything about it.
I don't see the need for a Paizo intervention on every single issue that a GM may make homerules on. You won't see it used in PFS as it's not on the exception list in terms of the bar on ongoing spell effects.
As you may or may not notice, Paizo tends to restrict rules changes to issues that directly impact PFS play. where a simple campaign change won't do the job by itself. Pathfinder Unchained! was created because PFS play had identified several classes that needed a major do over.
You know there's a huge world of PF players out these besides PFS.
And we buy stuff. Thereby we are customers. And the customers want this FAQ.
Really? Source cite?
I hear PFSers say this, but I think it is confirmation bias. PFSers see each other more than they see home gamers. And home gamers see less of each other than PFSers. But I find it very difficult to believe that PFS is the engine driving the revenue behind pathfinder.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Which is one of the main mantras of the marketing world, btw! LOL :)It's a feature not a bug.
Of course, the devil has all the coolest toys :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Then you write it down and incorporate it by reference. "I wish for what is written down in this book to happen."
Or you could get yourself a normal GM like me that asks for an out-of-game explanation of the player character's desired wish, assumes that the character always words the wish appropriately in-game, and doesn't screw the player over without some advanced warning.
GM: So, what is it you want to wish for?
Player: I want my character to become a god, replacing Gorum as the master of war.
GM: I see. I'm afraid that is beyond the power of the spell.
See? Easy. Only jerks make this situation difficult (be they players or GMs).
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Oh, I'm fine with too powerful wishes simply failing. What got me started on this was some implied GM mustache twirling at the idea of free wishes from an Efreeti simulacrum in particular as a form of balancing infinite wishes. The trope of twisted wishes is for short sighted, dumb, or greedy people making mistakes, asking for too much, or not foreseeing consequences. It's not for smart Wizards/Psychics/Sage Sorcerers using an infinite source of wishes to do things that are well within the the clear limits of the spell, like perform off list 7th level spells every day, transport you anywhere you want to go on demand, or (for Psychics and Sorcerers) using 8th level and below utility spells to pad out their spells known deficiencies.
Simulacrum needs to be fixed, not the rules on safe wishes twisted against the player because he found a rules legal way to get lots of them.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Wasn't there an adventure where efreeti enslaved mortals into making wishes to benefit themselves
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Wasn't there an adventure where efreeti enslaved mortals into making wishes to benefit themselves
Yes, but I don't recall how the efreeti managed to make it work. i.e. h ow did they stop those mortals from making very reasonable wishes for escape?
Wasn't there an adventure where efreeti enslaved mortals into making wishes to benefit themselves
Twice in APs, efreeti have used other people to make wishes for them - once by enslaving others, and earlier by just tricking people into it.
Yes, but I don't recall how the efreeti managed to make it work. i.e. h ow did they stop those mortals from making very reasonable wishes for escape?
It chose to not grant them.
Outside of bindings, efreeti are not compelled to grant wishes they don't want to. They may, of course, but they have no compulsion to do so.
So the guy just said, "Make the wish I want you to make and you won't be tortured gruesomely and in a humiliating fashion in front of your family and fellow slaves today."
A few such deaths from slow torment later, and people were only all too willing to do exactly that.
(Of course, he also granted wishes to non-slaves: the bargain was, "Two wishes you want after a wish I want." with him keeping the bargain and using it several times over.)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Also, spell rules override general rules, i.e. "If reduced to 0 hit points or otherwise destroyed, it reverts to snow and melts instantly into nothingness. A complex process requiring at least 24 hours, 100 gp per hit point, and a fully equipped magical laboratory can repair damage to a simulacrum."
Therefore, no fast healing or regen for simulacrums, sorry.
That process can regenerate hp. It does not say it is the only way. It does not say they cannot be healed normally by time or magic.
/cevah
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Yeah, I was going to point that out but decided against it. Technically it's an additional method of healing, nothing in the spell description (other than knowing it is snow mixed with illusion magic) makes it unable to heal naturally, from positive energy (LOL, not really), or Make Whole.
they should melt if not kept below 0 degrees Celsius.
they should melt if not kept below 0 degrees Celsius.And they need to get to the north pole with their magic hat to go live with Santa?
only if the simulacrum believe in such nonsense, in which case they're a poor choice of simulacrum.
Wasn't there an adventure where efreeti enslaved mortals into making wishes to benefit themselvesYes, but I don't recall how the efreeti managed to make it work. i.e. h ow did they stop those mortals from making very reasonable wishes for escape?
The Key is an Efreeti doesn't have to grant someone a wish. There is no forcing it to do so which is the key.
Also remember there is a trait for wishcrafting in the elements book.
Thoughtful Wish-Maker (D20PFSRD, Careful Wish-maker in the book)
Wasn't there an adventure where efreeti enslaved mortals into making wishes to benefit themselvesYes, but I don't recall how the efreeti managed to make it work. i.e. h ow did they stop those mortals from making very reasonable wishes for escape?The Key is an Efreeti doesn't have to grant someone a wish. There is no forcing it to do so which is the key.
Also remember there is a trait for wishcrafting in the elements book.
Thoughtful Wish-Maker (D20PFSRD, Careful Wish-maker in the book)
At all times, the simulacrum remains under your absolute command.
Looks like the sim does have to give you those wishes.
/cevah
|
only if the simulacrum believe in such nonsense, in which case they're a poor choice of simulacrum.they should melt if not kept below 0 degrees Celsius.And they need to get to the north pole with their magic hat to go live with Santa?
In a world with all the craziness of Pathfinder - I don't think that a powerful winter fey who delivers the presents that all of his small-sized minions make would be all that strange. :P (Perhaps he feeds off of the hopes & dreams of children.)
Santa is a much bigger and more powerful faery than Toot, and I don't know his true name anyway. You'd never see me trying to nab Saint Nick in a magic circle even if I did. I don't think anyone has stones that big.
Just use common sense.
A simulacrum can't make simulacrum. That's near to how summoned outsiders can't summon other outsiders.
They probably cannot use aligned spells because they have no soul.
They would heal naturally at half(round down, minimum 1)
A simulacrum of an effretti can only grant limited wishes because it's half as nobel.:)