Quote Originally Posted by sithlordnergal View Post
Huh, I'm surprised more people aren't worried about the wording...I find that as part of the spell's fun. How do you word your wish in such a way that it gets you what you want without totally being screwed over by negative effects. And as a DM, what are the loopholes the player left open that allow me to technically fulfill the precise wording of the wish.

I know it might seem like DM versus player, but I love the Monkey's Paw idea.
I don't worry about the wording because of an experience back in AD&D. I was a player, and one of the other players had a wish to use. They wrote - by hand, in cursive - a 20-page contract for a wish. They laid this on the DM near the beginning of a session. The DM then started to read it, taking notes on it. When 15 minutes later, he had reviewed the first four pages, one of the other players stood up and said, 'if this is today's game, you don't need the rest of us here' (something like that, it's been about 30 years). The DM, deeply involved in reading this contract, just nodded. That was not what the one who stood up expected - he thought the response would be that the DM could do it later. But the rest of us ended up leaving and did not play that day. I don't even remember what the wish was or why it needed such a long contract - I don't recall it having any impact on the campaign. I do know that there is no way I ever want to be in that kind of situation, so I'm never going to get into caring about the precise wording.