Chances are, your image of a genie will match up with the djinni pretty accurately. That is, if you envision genies as lazy assholes and not a lovable cartoon character voiced by Robin Williams. In terms of design and abilities, it is very much what you’d expect.
The question is: does that make it a bad monster? Well, no. But it isn’t an incredibly interesting one.
Lore: The Laid Back Tyrant
From the Air Plane, Djinni are proud and gorgeous. They don’t dress to impress, but rather choose to do so for comfort. They are arrogant, but their beauty makes it hard not to see why.
They live among islands of the air. Their lives are laid back, relaxed. Most of their days are spent laying around, eating fruit or drinking wine. That said, they are tricksters to a fault, making them a natural enemy to the dao. Although they do get along surprisingly well with efreet and marids.
Djinni ride among the winds on powerful currents, which they can even take passengers on. Its enemies are assaulted by lightning and a violent tempest, even as the genie flees from a fight it cannot win. While flying, its legs become like mist.
To these genies, servitude is a matter of fate. As such, they often have the most slaves out of any genie. Although unlike the others, they don’t revel in this. Instead, they treat their slaves more like servants, whom they’ll treat with surprising kindness, though they are still reluctant to part with them.
Also unlike the others, the djinni is willing to become a mortal’s servant for a price. However, powerful wizards often forgo this process, instead binding them with powerful magic. Long-term imprisonment is the easiest way to anger a djinni. Should one be betrayed or ensnared, they will hunt those who did it to them unto the ends of reality.
Design: The Cliché
he’s pissed
Okay, does everyone imagine genies like this or did I watch Aladdin too many times as a kid? I can’t be the only one, right?
Honestly, I don’t have much to say about this guy. He is a genie and he is blue. I like how his legs break off into smoke around the knees, hinting at their transformative nature. And the red eyes add a nice air of menace to the monster. But that’s about it.
Um… yeah, that’s it. Moving on.
Stats: The Winds Are Assholes
As you’d expect from an air genie, this dude is a tricky bastard.
Though you might not realize it at first glance. The AC is high, but not monstrous. Same with the HP. Defense wise, the most intimidating factor of this monster is its immunity to lightning and thunder.
Offensively speaking? It’s another story entirely.
Djinni are capable of casting a few spells, most of which can be annoying or dangerous. These include:
At will: detect evil and good, detect magic, thunderwave
3/day each: create food and water, tongues, wind walk
1/day each: conjure elemental, creation, gaseous form, invisibility, major image, plane shift
Again: I do not have the time to go over all of them, so let’s move on.
It can also create a whirlwind within a 5-foot-radius. Anyone within must make a Strength save or be restrained. This whirlwind can move up to 60 feet, carrying the creature within along with it. However, the djinni must concentrate on it as if it were a spell. Players caught within it can make another save to escape or hope their party breaks the genie’s concentration.
Aside from that, it’s a very straight-forward fight. It’s got a scimitar that it can swing thrice per turn. Not especially dangerous compared to its other abilities, but still potentially deadly to an unprepared party. Especially if used well in tandem with its spells.
All in all, a pretty decent fight.
Placement
Decent is the best word for the djinni. No aspect of it is terrible nor incredible. It’s just… decent.
With all that said, let’s put the Djinni on the Best of the Bestiary!
- Beholder
- Death Tyrant
- Dragon Turtle
- Green Dragons
- Red Dragons
- Blue Dragons
- Black Dragons
- White Dragons
- Silver Dragons
- Couatl
- Behir
- Aboleth
- Bronze Dragons
- Brass Dragons
- Copper Dragons
- Gold Dragons
- Chuul
- Chimera
- Death Knight
- Fomorian
- Bone Devil
- Dracolich
- Faerie Dragon
- Ankheg
- Empyrean
- Dao
- Drow (all four of ’em)
- Shadow Demon
- Marilith
- Drider
- Aarackockra
- Azer
- Demilich
- Spectator
- Cambion
- Animated Armor
- Banshee
- Basilisk
- Yochlol
- Bulette
- Cloaker
- Darkmantle
- Doppelganger
- Ettin
- Pit Fiend
- Erinyes
- Chain Devil
- Bearded Devil
- Barbed Devil
- Spined Devil
- Ice Devil
- Djinni <—————————
- Nalfeshnee
- Glabrezu
- Chasme
- Barlgura
- Horned Devil
- Balor
- Shadow Dragon
- Vrock
- Dretch
- Goristro
- Hezrou
- Manes
- Duergar
- Quasit
- Dryad
- Flumph
- Planetar
- Imp
- Flameskull
- Displacer Beast
- Carrion Crawler
- Rug of Smothering
- Bugbear Chief
- Bugbear
- Vine Blight
- Twig Blight
- Needle Blight
- Bullywug
- Ettercap
- Gas Spore
- Cockatrice
- Lemure
- Solar
- Deva
- Cyclops
- Centaur
- Fire Elemental
- Water Elemental
- Air Elemental
- Dinosaurs (All six of them)
- Earth Elemental
- Galeb Duhr
- Flying Sword
- Crawling Claw
- Violet Fungus
- Shrieker
- Gargoyle
Jonah's Daily Rants 