Wishing Imp

[Aslan]

I have been thinking of adding the Wishing Imp to my campaign to aid in the decent of one the pc's into further evil. However, I have some concerns and one of them is the nature of the Imp itself. I knwo it is capable of granting a wish for the user once per day, but does it always have to be at the user's request? Is it possible to have the Imp glean the desire of it's master and use the wish much like a dread companion acting out the desires of it's master? I personally feel it would add to the curse of the object, but not sure logisticly it might work that well. Any other thoughts?

[Jasper]

The answer is yes and no....

No the imp will not acctuly make a subcontious wish happen, the Pc must vocalise it in some way Ie: The Pc might subcontiously wish that the attractive thief in the party would notice him more but unless he acctuly says "I wish Ataylea would notice me more." there is no wish made.

However the Imp can help nudge the Pc to amke that wish if the imp picks up on it. He could send the Pc dreams that he and the thief could be together if only he wished for it and even force situations where the Pc is able to be alone with the thief only to be intereupted every time.
To keep in the imps MO the wish would be twisted however to have the thief not notice the Pc for his charm or good looks but for some hanious crime the Imp pinned on him.


This is doubly evident if the Pc wishes harm on someone. The imp will wihsper all the supposed dark things the Pcs enemy is said to have done and staging accidents and attacks in such a way as to make the pc think the enemy did it until the Pc gets army enough to wish deadly harm on the emeny.

[Shadowsworn]

Think of the Crystal Shard, if you've read about it. Its the same sort of thing.

I remember that JWM had a story up on the campaign journals section of SotK about the Wishing Imp.

[alhoon]

To keep in the imps MO the wish would be twisted however to have the thief not notice the Pc for his charm or good looks but for some hanious crime the Imp pinned on him.

I agree with Jasper on the answer but pinning a crime on him, while possible and a good example is a bit too obvious for the character to notice that his wish was misintepreted badly.

What about giving him a -10 circumstance penalty to hide checks due to some warm and cozy light that shine through him? That would make him seem prettier, but would give an OR 2 and the -10 penalty to hide. So the character at first when he sees himself in the mirror notices he is more handsome and attractive, but soon (not immediately) the problems arise.

What I want to express is that the wishing imp would probably start with subtle misinteprations. Also
"The fastest way to damn a man is to give him what he wishes for" so I would rule that if the wish itself is worthy of a powers check, then the imp keeps it to the spirit as to the letter.
Consider this example, while the fighter ponders about the wish he wants to make, he sees another (more handsome and charming) man approaching the thief and gaining her attention . . . if the jealous fighter says "I wish for this man to be eaten by ghouls as soon as he is out of our sight and hearing" then I would rule that the wishing imp would grant this wish without complications (like having the pack of ghouls attact the characters just after they finish off the thief). The fighter comits a brutal murder with evil intent. That is worth of a DPowers check.

Another thing: I used something similar on a campaign a few years ago with the twist I proposed before (evil wish = granted) While my sister's character lost 2 power checks, she didn't want to get rid of the thing. We ended up fighting over meal as I tried to convince her to put away her favorite magical item before she ends up cursed beyond redemption. Thankfully (for her character and me) the party left Ravenloft soon after, so the item/creature (a dragon statuette) didn't follow.

[Hrtofdrkns]

I don't know about having the imp grant unvocalized wishes. I mean, everybody has an evil thought, a hateful wish, every now and then. But we don't really mean it.

If all of a players subconcious wishes are granted, the PC may as well let the darkness win. After all, their doom is already planned out.

[Gemathustra]

If all of a players subconcious wishes are granted, the PC may as well let the darkness win. After all, their doom is already planned out.

Indeed, and where's the fun in that?