Wish by Committee

## Parents

Three Wishes by anna aglietti

At Your Highness' Pleasure by J.K. Wish

## Game Text

One player plays the Finder. They are in a precarious situation, having just obtained the means of having their wishes come true (they uncovered a lost amulet, finished the arcane summoning sigil, thrice repeated The Unspoken Name), however also being stuck because of it (trapped underground, currently in prison, alone in the wilderness).

The other players (three or four more is optimal) play the Wish Granters. After a terrible history of mere mortals cheating their way through wishes, Wish Granters never work alone—and they have editing powers. Wish Granters also have ulterior motives.

Each Wish Granter describes their fantastic, magical nature and what their day job is when they’re not assigned to granting wishes. Each Wish Granter also has a Secret Ambition that is not made known to the others. A Secret Ambition could be that they want to become mortal, be worshipped by a cult, have the perfect meet cute—whatever they’d really rather be doing than granting someone else’s wishes.

The Wish Granters explain the rules of wishing:

1. The Finder gets three (3) wishes.
2. The Finder must make all wishes within 72 hours of the wishes becoming available.
3. A wish must be no more than ten (10) words.
4. The Wish Granters will grant each wish immediately unless otherwise specified.
5. There are no limitations for what the Finder may wish for, except that:
	1. Each wish will be passed between each Wish Granter, who will have the opportunity to add, remove, or change a single word within the wish,
	2. Whereas each wish remains grammatically correct after each edit,
	3. Once each Wish Granter has made their one (1) edit, the wish is thereby granted within the closest spirit of the language.

The Finder may, of course, plead or argue with the Wish Granters, who are not able to use their practically infinite magic to affect the Finder in any way outside of the bounds of a wish, but also do not have to entertain the whining of mortal. The Wish Granters have essentially free reign to complete each wish through whatever method they see fit and many often use the opportunity to fit in some beneficial consequences for themselves. After granting each wish, each Wish Granter explains how they’ve furthered their Secret Ambition.

Even though the Wish Granters are fairly limited in how much they can alter a wish, many have been known to bargain with Finders between wishes. A Wish Granter might encourage the Finder to phrase a wish in certain specific ways or promise to be more generous with their next edit if the Finder completes a task for them first.

After all three wishes have been granted, the each Wish Granter provides the Finder with an individualized client feedback form, which consists of three questions:

1. Were your wishes granted to your satisfaction? Yes / No
2. Did I (the Wish Granter) interact cooperatively with my fellow Wish Granters? Yes / No
3. Personal Question: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_? Yes / No

Wish Granters use this final question as an opportunity to further their Secret Ambition by asking a yes or no question, such as “Would you trust me (the Wish Granter) in a position of authority?” or “If I (the Wish Granter) were to share a coincidental encounter with an attractive stranger, could you (the client) imagine me hitting it off?”

* If the Wish Granter gets three Yes’s, their Secret Ambition is accomplished as imagined (taking into consideration any compromises they had to make along the way).
* If the Wish Granter gets two Yes’s, their Secret Ambition is accomplished but with a significant compromise and consequence.
* If the Wish Granter gets one Yes, their Secret Ambition is still out of reach.
* If the Wish Granter gets zero Yes’s, their Secret Ambition is exposed in the worst context to the Finder and the other Wish Granters—and their managers, who will now work to undermine said ambition.

Lastly, the Finder describes an epilogue of how their life continues after having benefitted from their three wishes and whatever their ongoing relationship with the Wish Granters may be.

## Analysis

Three Wishes passes on its primary themes, though the specifics (eretic to be executed, demon) are made more broad. The overall structure of three wishes and then a final resolution is also shared.

Wish by Committee's wish granting system includes the system of edits from At Your Highness' Pleasure, with tokens omitted for simplicity. The concepts of Ambitious Goal and Deadly Secret were combined into Wish by Committee's single Secret Ambition.

Instead of At Your Highness' Pleasure's round-robin format with the role of The Petitioner changing round to round, Wish by Committee borrows the asymmetrical format of Three Wishes, replacing the single role of "demon" with the party of Wish Granters (such as how all characters play advisors in At Your Highness' Pleasure).