Help, we're *kinda* screwed!

[HelplessPeasant]

So our party’s in a spot of trouble. We’re a party of about 7th level, playing a mishmash of 1st and 2nd edition rules. We were dungeoneering, and after clearing out the dungeon, one of the various loot items we rolled was an Efreeti bottle. We talked it over with each other, and decided it was better to just open it once we got back to our town. Once we got back, we went into an open clearing a ways away from the town, and we opened the bottle. We rolled to see if the Efreeti was insane, and he was. We traded blows for a turn, and we *nearly* killed him, but he got initiative for the second turn. For his second turn, he used a wish spell to summon a red dragon. The DM rolled a 12-sided for the dragon’s age category, and he rolled a 12, which was a Great Wyrm. Again, our party lost initiative,(our party doesn’t roll very good numbers) and the first thing the dragon did was breathe fire on our poorly positioned less sturdy members. Basically, all of them got cremated, and now we only have 4 7th or so level fighters and a thief left, and one 5th level mage/cleric. The two things we have going for us are that our mage/cleric has a ring of Djinni summoning, and when he rolled to see if he was a Noble Djinn, he rolled a 98. SInce my DM is pretty lenient, (and also my dad) he allowed that, and we now have three wishes. The other thing we have going for us is that our main fighter has a +5 two handed sword that has a chance to instantly kill anything of Chaotic Evil alignment, along with some other bonuses. Luckily for us, Red Dragons are Chaotic Evil. She’s also positioned away from the dragon’s head and claws, and ready to hit it. We plan to use 2 of the three wishes to grant everybody in the party 100% fire resist., and to resurrect our dead party members. Any advice on how best to use the wishes would be greatly appreciated.

[The Glyphstone]

Wish that your magic sword will strike true on its next hit - bam, Chaotic Evil dragon dead. Saves you the Fire Resistance wish as well.

[HelplessPeasant]

The thing is, the dragon gets a save vs spell. I'm not sure what a Great Wyrm red dragon gets on a save vs. spell, but it's probably pretty good chances.

[Cikomyr]

Don't enchant/curse the dragon. Enchant your own skills.

Ask for "The Perfect Strike". Don't go for mechanical wishes, go for thematics. The sword clearly has the capacity to kill the dragon. You only need to make sure you strike true.


It's a Role Playing Campaign, not a video game. Don't focus on + or %, focus on the story

[Rhynn]

The thing is, the dragon gets a save vs spell. I'm not sure what a Great Wyrm red dragon gets on a save vs. spell, but it's probably pretty good chances.

Against the instant death effect, you mean?

Since the DM rolled 1d12, I'm gonna assume that's a 2E dragon (there's only 8 categories in 1E, 10 with the FR rules), it's got a save of either 6+ or 4+ against Spells (depending on whether it's saving as a fighter or a magic-user; I could see either, or using the better one as if it were multi-classed).

Wish for the dragon to fail its save against the effect.

In either case, the dragon's 65% Magic Resistance might apply.

[Stoneback]

Boy! Talk about Murphy's law!

How about just wishing the dragon and efreet away?

[Rhynn]

Yeah, I'd probably play it safe with:

1. Wish everyone, including the dead, to safety.
2. Wish the dead back to life.
3. Wish the dragon and the efreet to be gone.

[Hopeless]

Person with wishes ask the djinni to transport him and the wisher back to a few minutes before the efreet bottle was opened and say "NO!"

This is assuming the wisher remembers what happened and back before the bottle is opened will insist that they not open the bottle even to the point of using a second wish to have that efreet bottle dropped into the hoard of the red dragon it would have summoned had it been opened the first time round!

Can you actually wish the bottle to be swallowed whole by that red dragon?

[HelplessPeasant]

Person with wishes ask the djinni to transport him and the wisher back to a few minutes before the efreet bottle was opened and say "NO!"

This is assuming the wisher remembers what happened and back before the bottle is opened will insist that they not open the bottle even to the point of using a second wish to have that efreet bottle dropped into the hoard of the red dragon it would have summoned had it been opened the first time round!

Can you actually wish the bottle to be swallowed whole by that red dragon?

The idea actually occurred to me too, but my DM's kinda strict about how he'll let us use the wishes. Plus, we plan to bribe the Djinn by freeing it after he grants us the wishes, in exchange for letting us use the wishes however we want. If we did go back in time and change that, he'd still be imprisoned, since we never would've needed him if we never opened the bottle, and thus he'd still be stuck in the ring. In the best case scenario, we use the wishes to augment the party somehow, and we kill the dragon on our own, gaining the xp. As a plus, we'd also be able to skin it for its scales, which will be very valuable for armor and selling. Worst case scenario, (with the party still surviving), we just wish the dragon and Efreeti disappear, gaining nothing but our lives.

[Hopeless]

The idea actually occurred to me too, but my DM's kinda strict about how he'll let us use the wishes. Plus, we plan to bribe the Djinn by freeing it after he grants us the wishes, in exchange for letting us use the wishes however we want. If we did go back in time and change that, he'd still be imprisoned, since we never would've needed him if we never opened the bottle, and thus he'd still be stuck in the ring. In the best case scenario, we use the wishes to augment the party somehow, and we kill the dragon on our own, gaining the xp. As a plus, we'd also be able to skin it for its scales, which will be very valuable for armor and selling. Worst case scenario, (with the party still surviving), we just wish the dragon and Efreeti disappear, gaining nothing but our lives.

Uh uh for the wish to happen as far as the djinn is concerned it has happened so they're wondering why the djinni summoner has objected and then notice his djinni looking on saying," Listen to him or else!"

I still think using a wish to make that dragon swallow the efreet bottle would make for an interesting revelation later on in the game!

And on the plus side the djinni gets to enjoy what that efreet has to go through...

(Actually what's the saving throw for that efreet bottle actually surviving long enough for it to pass out the other end once the dragon decides it needs to go to the loo?)

[Slylizard]

Wish for the efreet to regain his sanity... then see whatf happens when he realises he has attacked you for no reason.

[Stoneback]

Wish to know what you should wish for.

[The Glyphstone]

Wish for the efreet to regain his sanity... then see whatf happens when he realises he has attacked you for no reason.

Decide to press the attack? Efreets are evil, remember, so being sane is no guarantee he won't decide to kill you anyways.

[Stoneback]

Agreed. Wishing for a monster to regain his sanity is such a crap shoot, it's almost as good as not wishing at all.

Except for you're down a wish.

[Lvl45DM!]

Wish for 100% Fire Resist, Resurrection and for everyone weapons to act as Red Dragonslaying for a limited duration. double damage +4 to hit and a save vs death for the Wyrm with every shot. Then promise the Djinni a share of the dragon's treasure if he sticks around and fights with you.
Bam said the Djinni!

[Lord Torath]

Wish for a Time Stop to affect your entire party, but not the dragon, so you can get several rounds worth of attacks (especially with that CE-slaying sowrd) in on the dragon. Save one wish for Resurrections, and use the last wish to set the Djinn free. He hates effreet, so he'll probably help you take it down.

[Cikomyr]

Wish for a Time Stop to affect your entire party, but not the dragon, so you can get several rounds worth of attacks (especially with that CE-slaying sowrd) in on the dragon. Save one wish for Resurrections, and use the last wish to set the Djinn free. He hates effreet, so he'll probably help you take it down.

That's a good point, actually. If you can find the good wish to get rid of the dragon, then save up the last wish for freeing up the Djinn.

I still think "the perfect strike" will do the trick. It actually suggest the idea that the strike will manage to bypass the dragon's defenses.

[Rhynn]

Anything involving making attack rolls against the dragon is a pretty terrible idea. A 7th-level fighter has THAC0 14, a great wyrm red dragon has AC -11. With a +5 weapon (or, say, +2 from Strength, +2 from weapon, +1 from spec) you'd need a 20 to hit it at all.

Wishing to deal it a mortal blow seems like a much better idea.

[Cikomyr]

Anything involving making attack rolls against the dragon is a pretty terrible idea. A 7th-level fighter has THAC0 14, a great wyrm red dragon has AC -11. With a +5 weapon (or, say, +2 from Strength, +2 from weapon, +1 from spec) you'd need a 20 to hit it at all.

Wishing to deal it a mortal blow seems like a much better idea.

I am telling you. "the Perfect Strike".

For all you know, it will make the fighter accidently drop his sword, which will bounce off the nearest wall and provoke an avalanche that will kill the Dragon.

You don't ask for the MEANS to succeed. You ask to SUCCEED. Anybody who watched Puella Magi Madoka Magicka will tell you that you need to actually understand the reasons behind your wish, and make sure you ask for what YOU WANT, not what you think will give you want you want.

[Lord Torath]

I am telling you. "the Perfect Strike".

For all you know, it will make the fighter accidently drop his sword, which will bounce off the nearest wall and provoke an avalanche that will kill the Dragon.

You don't ask for the MEANS to succeed. You ask to SUCCEED. Anybody who watched Puella Magi Madoka Magicka will tell you that you need to actually understand the reasons behind your wish, and make sure you ask for what YOU WANT, not what you think will give you want you want.

That's a horrible idea! What you really want to do is wish for your fighter to make The Perfect Strike! (how do you do a superscript? I wanted to TM that The Perfect Strike)

After seeing Rhynn's analysis of your hit chances, Cikomyr's wish for the perfect strike really looks better and better. Hopefully it will result in the death of the dragon with minimal damage to its hide. And with the great wyrm being ~200 feet long, you should be able to get several suits of AC:-7 Hide armor out of the beastie as well.

Plus, when the Efreet watches you slay the beast with one blow, it just may intimidate him into fleeing. If not, you can have your genie friend help you take him out.

Edit: If you factor in a charge bonus, and a +4 to hit for the dragon being immobile (Time Stop), you wind up with a 14 to hit. Specialization will drop that to a 13, and a strength bonus to a 10 to 12. Still not as good as a Perfect Strike, though.

Use your 2nd Wish to bring everyone back to life. Then use your third wish to transport the dragons' hoard to the clearing. Or to free the djinni.

Helpless Peasant, don't forget to come back and tell us how it all turns out!

[Hopeless]

Fine wish both the efreet and the dragon into the efreet's bottle and corked after it has done so.
Second wish to summon the red dragon's treasure so you can use that to get your party raised or resurrected, then free the djinn as long as he takes the efreet bottle with him...

Still say having the dragon swallow the resealed efreet would be more hilarious, but well... hey who gets to cast the identify spells if your mage is dead?

[HelplessPeasant]

Anything involving making attack rolls against the dragon is a pretty terrible idea. A 7th-level fighter has THAC0 14, a great wyrm red dragon has AC -11. With a +5 weapon (or, say, +2 from Strength, +2 from weapon, +1 from spec) you'd need a 20 to hit it at all.

Wishing to deal it a mortal blow seems like a much better idea.

Well the thing is, our party is a bit OP for 7th level. The fighter in question has a strength of 18/00, which is a +6 to hit, and the weapon is indeed a +5 to hit. The leader of our party, a paladin, has a suit of +5 full plate, and a +5 Holy Avenger, the cleric of our party had a suit of +4 full plate and a +4 mace of disruption, and our thief had 2 +4 dagger, a suit of +4 leather, and a Ring of Invisibility. We're a bit lucky with loot rolls.

[Rhynn]

The fighter in question has a strength of 18/00, which is a +6 to hit

Nope, it's a +3. +6 to damage.

So he needs 16 or 17 to hit, and that's assuming the dragon doesn't use any spells to protect itself.

[Jay R]

It may be time for the traditional 1E/2E ceremony known as "rolling up new characters".

[Lord Torath]

Here's another optional wish: Wish for the dragon and effreet to be affected (make certain to use this word) by Hold Monster. Held monsters can be automatically killed once combat is no longer raging. Then wish for Resurrections/Treasure/Freedom as desired.

[HelplessPeasant]

Here's another optional wish: Wish for the dragon and effreet to be affected (make certain to use this word) by Hold Monster. Held monsters can be automatically killed once combat is no longer raging. Then wish for Resurrections/Treasure/Freedom as desired.

The problem with that is, my DM would rule that the dragon's magic resist could roll against that, and that's not very good chances. Unless you were already implying that.

[Lord Torath]

Yup. That's why you wish for the dragon to be affected by the spell. If her magic resistance/saving throw kicks in, she wasn't affected, was she?

If you want un-ending friendship from the Djinni, ask him if he'd like you to wish that he will be free from any imprisonment for as long as he exists. That way, he's not only free from the ring, but can't ever be put in one again. If just just make the wish without asking him first, he may get cranky. Maybe he actually enjoys serving time in rings. Depends on your DM.

[Cikomyr]

There's always the cheesy thing.

Wish for 20-metric ton of (solid metal) to appear right over the dragon.

I can promise you there won't be any save against magic.

[Lord Torath]

May make the corpse recovery a bit difficult, though. And you really want to ab able to skin that dragon...

Can you wish for the dragon to suddenly suffer a fatal brain apoplexy?

[Rhynn]

Oh, another option (just not a perfect one): wish for a potion of red dragon control. It's a simple, very "mild" wish. The dragon would get a save, at -2, which would be a 25-35% chance of the potion working.

In addition to temporarily neutralizing the dragon, this can also deal with the efreeti by turning the dragon against it, while you make good use of the other two wishes to raise the dead and get to safety.