Can I return my ability to cast Wish by using the Glyph of Warding spell?

Question

The description of Wish in the Player's Handbook says that if you use it to do anything other than duplicating another spell, you suffer stress, one of the results of which is:

There is a 33 percent chance that you are unable to cast wish ever again.

The description of Glyph of Warding says that I can put any spell into the glyph, even a 9th-level spell.

What will happen if a wizard creates a Glyph of Warding using a 9th-level spell slot, and inscribes the Wish spell, with the words being: "I wish to get back my ability to cast Wish"?

Note that the wizard does this before they lose the ability to cast Wish.

Will this work as I think it should?

Answer 1

First Answer: Not Easily.

So, I'll assume you're talking about prepping a wish-glyph prior to losing the ability to cast wish. At that point, you should be able to cast a 9th-level Glyph of Warding, and you should be able to cast a 9th-level Wish. Unfortunately for you, it's not that easy, as you have to cast them at the same time, and the only way to get a character with two 9th-level spell slots is via Boon of High Magic... with means that either your DM is being exceedingly generous with you, or you're in a campaign that hit 20 some time ago, and have been collecting Boons. That's not normal state, even among casters who can cast Wish.

Now, it's still doable, even without extraordinary Boons. You could write the Glyph of Warding onto a spell scroll, and then use that for the combined casting. It's rather more time-consuming and expensive, but it would be doable.

Of course, you're using Wish. You could just Wish for a Wish-glyph to cast this particular Wish on you, and save yourself the extra slot issue. That... has issues we'll cover a little later on.

Second Answer: Not Safely

Even after you get over that hump, though, you're still dealing with Wish... and you're doing so on an entirely custom effect. The text for wishing with custom effects is as follows:

You might be able to achieve something beyond the scope of the above examples. State your wish to the GM as precisely as possible. The GM has great latitude in ruling what occurs in such an instance; the greater the wish, the greater the likelihood that something goes wrong. This spell might simply fail, the effect you desire might only be partly achieved, or you might suffer some unforeseen consequence as a result of how you worded the wish. For example, wishing that a villain were dead might propel you forward in time to a period when that villain is no longer alive, effectively removing you from the game. Similarly, wishing for a legendary magic item or artifact might instantly transport you to the presence of the item’s current owner.

I don't know about you, but that doesn't fill me with confidence that This Will Definitely Work... and phrases like "unable to cast wish ever again" (as contrasted to something like "lose the ability to cast wish") don't help any.

Finally, it's worth noting that casting wish into the Glyph in this way is exactly the sort of wish-casting that might lose you your ability to cast wish.

So... you could try to set up this contingency, yes. Assuming you haven't been granted the Boon of High Magic, it will be somewhat costly and/or time consuming (scribing 9th-level scrolls ain't cheap), there's a 1-in-3 chance that you'll have to trigger your contingency in the setup process, and there's a good chance (with a lot of DM fiat) that it'll fail utterly or that something else goes wrong. Still... it might work.

As for Wishing for a Wish-glyph, that's just compounding your issues here. It means two nonstandard Wish effects for the DM to adjudicate instead of just one. There's also that bit about "the greater the wish, the greater the likelihood that something goes wrong". Asking your Wish spell to shoulder the load of a Glyph in addition to its other burdens seems like it would make that Wish at least a bit "greater" for those purposes. Given how much this plan is digging into its shenanigans budget already, it's probably better to just pony up for the scroll.

Answer 2

It doesn't matter if this particular sequence works or not because the GM doesn't have to grant your wish

The Wish spell contains the following clause :

The GM has great latitude in ruling what occurs [...]. This spell might simply fail

If the GM allows this sequence to play out as you described, then it will still only depend on their ruling of the Wish whether you get it back or not.

If the GM wants to take away your ability to wish, they can and there's nothing you can do to force them to give it back.

Answer 3

Adventurers' League claims it will work - some of the time

General rule on Wish restoring Wish

According to Adventurers' League rules, Wishing back the ability to cast Wish is a valid use of the spell, and is, in fact, the only way to undo the loss of the spell. Adventurers' League FAQ current as of this answer (under the heading for Wish) confirm that the fourth bullet point of Wish works on the stress roll itself.

The caster whose ability is being restored gets to reroll the 33% chance of stress, and has a 67% chance of now being able to cast Wish again. Unfortunately, the caster doing the restoring must also make the roll, and may lose the ability.

Therefore, there is a 4 in 9 chance that both casters are now fine, a 1 in 9 chance that they are both unhappy, and a 4 in 9 chance that nothing really changed (one can and one can't).

Note that the second Wish must be cast immediately, and that this is of course subject to DM rulings in non-AL games.

Restoring Wish with a Glyph

In your case, you would be both casters. Like readying a spell, casting a spell into a Glyph is actually casting it - you'd have to make the roll there and then. You'd have a 1 in 9 chance of losing Wish forever with this gambit for no gain - but a 2 in 3 chance of having a 67% chance of saving yourself later if you ever fail that stress roll later.

Credit to Joeorbob for finding the reference in the current AL FAQ for me.