Genie (5e Race)

Genie

Efreeti by GaudiBuendia

Phenomenal cosmic powers! Itty bitty living space… —Genie, Aladdin.

Physical Description

Genies are large muscular and colorful skinned creatures that resemble humanoids only in vague shape. Their appearances vary greatly between subraces, with each of them reflecting their particular form of primordial energy in their personality and physical appearance. However, they all adorn themselves in fine flowing silk clothing and their skin tones, hair, and eye coloring always lends towards their primordial elemental.

Genies

Genies are rare elemental creatures out of story and legend. Only a few can be found on the Material Plane. The rest reside on the Elemental Planes, where they rule from lavish palaces and are attended by worshipful slaves. Genies are as brilliant as they are mighty, as proud as they are majestic. Haughty and decadent, they have a profound sense of entitlement that stems from the knowledge that few creatures except the gods and other genies can challenge their power.

Creatures of the Elements. A genie is born when the soul of a sentient living creature melds with the primordial matter of an elemental plane. Usually, this happens near a point of overlap or contact between the elemental and material plane. Even then, only under rare circumstances does such an elemental-infused soul coalesce into a manifest form and create a genie. A genie usually retains no connection to the soul that gave it form, as the process through which it is created strips the soul of all its distinct accoutrements. That soul is simply a life force, a building block for a genie's being. It does, however, determine the genie's form and apparent gender, as well as maybe one or two key personality traits. Sometimes, it is possible for just life energy to accumulate and make a genie. This takes a much longer process, as life energy from many souls must be pulled together to be sufficient. Although they resemble humanoid beings, genies are actually more like spirits given physical form. Hence, some see genies have a "tail" or a wisp instead of legs sometimes. They don't mate with other genies or produce genie offspring, as all new genies are born out of the same mysterious fusion of spirit energy and elemental power. They do, however, occasionally court, though they often are so caught up in their own affairs they rarely meet another genie. A genie with a stronger connection to its mortal soul might choose to sire a child with a mortal, although such offspring are rare. When a genie perishes, it leaves nothing behind except for a small trace of its native element: a pile of dust, a gust of wind, a flash of fire and smoke, or a burst of water and foam.

Rule or Be Ruled. Mortal slaves serve to validate a genie's power and high self-opinion. A hundred flattering voices are music to a genie's ears, while two hundred mortal slaves prostrated at its feet are proof that it is lord and master. Humans who sometimes fail games with genies or cross these mighty creatures will often be enslaved, forced to do labor to upkeep the genie's abode as well as care for the genie itself. Genies view slaves as living property, which is worth more than standard property like a palace or currency. A genie without property amounts to nothing among its own kind, as their pride somes from a sort of materialism. As a result, many genies treasure their slaves, treating them as honored members of their households. Evil genies freely threaten and abuse their slaves, but never to the extent that the slaves are no longer of use. In contrast to their love of slaves, most genies loathe being bound to service themselves. A genie obeys the will of another only when bribed or compelled by magic, usually imprisonment. All genies command the power of their native element, but a rare few also possess the power to grant wishes. For both these reasons, mortal mages often seek to bind genies into service, whether they grant wishes or not.

Decadent Nobility. Noble genies are the rarest of their kind and are the only known genies to possess magic to grant wishes. They are used to getting what they want and have learned to trade their ability to grant wishes to attain the objects of their desire. This constant indulgence has made them decadent, while their supreme power over reality makes them haughty and arrogant. Their vast palaces overflow with wonders and sensory delights beyond imagination. Noble genies cultivate the jealousy and envy of other genies, asserting their superiority at every opportunity. Other genies respect the influence of the noble genies, knowing how unwise it is to defy a creature that can alter reality on a whim. A genie isn't beholden to any noble genie, however, and will sometimes choose to defy a noble genie's will and risk the consequences. Sometimes individual genies may plot together to rebel against a noble, but this usually ends badly when the target can easily snap and make all the schemers vanish from existence.

The Power of Worship. Genies acknowledge the gods as powerful entities but have no desire to court or worship them. The noble genies in particular have powers practically rivaling a deity due to wish magic. They find the endless fawning and mewling of religious devotees tiresome - unless it is directed towards them by their worshipful slaves. Their miraculous powers, the grandeur of their abodes, and the numbers of their slaves allow some genies to deceive themselves into believing that they are as powerful as the gods. Some go so far as to demand that mortals of other realms — even whole continents or worlds — bow down before them and erect structures in their honor.

The Four Primordial Elements

Dao

The Dao are greedy, malicious genies from the Elemental Plane of Earth. They adorn themselves with jewelry crafted from precious gems and rare metals, and when they hover, their lower bodies become columns of swirling sand. A dao isn't happy unless it is the envy of other dao.

All That Glitters. The dao dwell in complexes of twisting tunnels and glittering ore-veined caverns on the Elemental Plane of Earth. These mazeworks are continually expanding as the dao delve into and reshape the rock around them. Sometimes they do this whilst slaves are within the mines to mess up their sense of direction for fun. Dao care nothing for the poverty or misfortune of others. A dao might grind powdered gems and gold dust over its food to heighten the experience of eating, devouring its wealth as mortals might consume a precious spice.

Lords of the Earth. A dao never assists a mortal unless the genie has something to gain, preferably treasure. They tend to have rooms of treasure in their palaces where they hoard gold and precious items, like dragons do. Among the genies, dao are on speaking and trading terms with the efreeti, but they have nothing but scorn for djinn and marids. Other races native to the Elemental Plane of Earth avoid the dao, which are always seeking new slaves to mine the mazeworks of their floating earth islands.

Proud Slavers. The dao trade for the finest slaves that money can buy, forcing them to work in dangerous subterranean realms that rumble with earthquakes. These slaves are often always digging futile termite-like tunnels to expand the mazes of the dao. As much as they enjoy enslaving others, the dao hate being enslaved. Powerful wizards have been known to lure dao to the Material Plane and trap them in the confines of magic gemstones or iron flasks. Unfortunately for the dao, their greed makes it relatively easy for mages to cozen them into service. When caught, dao are usually used to locate precious minerals and do construction projects with their earthen magic. Some masters have been known to use dao to set sandstorms on enemies.

Djinni

Proud, sensuous genies from the Elemental Plane of Air, the djinni are attractive, tall, well-muscled humanoids with blue skin and dark eyes. They dress in airy, shimmering silks, designed as much for comfort as to flaunt their musculature.

Airy Aesthetes. Djinn rule floating islands of clouds tuff covered with enormous pavilions, or topped with wondrous buildings, courtyards, fountains, and gardens. Creatures of comfort and ease, djinn enjoy succulent fruits, pungent wines, fine perfumes, and beautiful music. Djinn are known for their sense of mischief and their favorable attitude toward mortals. To them, humans are very funny and amusing, which is why their slaves are often entertaining them in little shows. Among genies, djinn deal coolly with efreeti and marids, whom they view as haughty. They openly despise dao and strike against them with little provocation.

Masters of the Wind. Masters of the air, the djinn ride powerful whirlwinds that they create and direct on a whim. Sometimes, they ride puffy nimbuses through the sky. Creatures that stand against a djinni are assaulted by wind and thunder, even as the djinni spins away on that wind if outmatched in combat. When a djinni flies, its lower body transforms into a column of swirling air, like a tornado.

Accepting Servitors. The djinn believe that servitude is a matter of fate, and that no being can contest the hand of fate. As a result, of all the genies, djinn are the ones most amenable to servitude, though they never enjoy it. Djinn treat their slaves more like servants deserving of kindness and protection, and they part with them reluctantly. A mortal who desires the brief service of a djinni can entreat it with fine gifts, or use flattery to bribe it into compliance. Powerful wizards are able to forgo such niceties, however, if they can summon, bind into service, or imprison a djinni using magic. Long-term service displeases a djinni, and imprisonment is inexcusable. Djinni resent the cruel wizards that have imprisoned their kind in gemstones, iron flasks, and such throughout the ages. Betrayal, particularly by a mortal whom a djinni trusted, is a vile deed that only deadly vengeance can amend. Djinni are typically caught for their power to wreak havoc on the airspace of a location, making them ideal weapons in war.

Efreeti

Hulking genies of the Elemental Plane of Fire, the efreeti are masters of flame, immune to fire and able to create it on a whim. Fine silk caftans and damask robes drape their magma-red or coal-black skin, and they bedeck themselves in brass and gold torcs, chains, and rings, all glittering with jewels. When an efreeti hovers, its lower body transforms into a column of smoke and embers. When they are enraged, the column may catch some flames, and their eyes, mouth and hair may flare up like mini infernos. Efreeti are rumored to be able to temper their skin to be like that of metal.

Haughty and Cruel. The efreeti are deceptive, cunning, and cruel to the point of ruthlessness. They despise being forced into servitude and are relentless in pursuit of vengeance against creatures that have wronged them. Efreeti don't see themselves in this light, naturally, and regard their race as fair and orderly, even as they admit to an enlightened sense of self-interest. To them, retaliation to a brutal point is only right if you've been crossed. Strength and the power to push others around is natural.

Spiteful Slavers. Efreet view all other creatures as enemies or potential serfs, inferior to themselves. They raid the Material Plane and the elemental planes for slaves, which they capture and bring back to their homes on the Elemental Plane of Fire. They had once enslaved even azers from their home plane to erect their palaces. The efreet rule as oppressive tyrants, promoting only the cruelest among their slaves. These overseers are usually the victors in some brutal game the efreet orders to rile and make their slaves fight each other. Those overseers are given whips to help keep the rank-and-file slaves in line. They are seen as inheriting the cruel disposition of the efreet. The efreet in turn see this as justification for their superiority.

Planar Raiders. Most efreeti reside on the Elemental Plane of Fire, either in great domed fortresses of black glass and basalt surrounded by churning lakes of fire, or in the fabled City of Brass. Additionally, efreeti military outposts thronging with their minions and slaves can be found scattered throughout the planes. On the Material Plane, efreeti dwell in fiery regions such as volcanoes and the burning expanses of the world's deserts." Their love of the desert brings them into conflict with the djinn that ride the desert whirlwinds, and with the earthbound dao. However, they are capable of remaining civil with the two types. However, they utterly despise marids, with whom they have maintained a passionate conflict throughout the history of both races.

Marid

Hailing from the Elemental Plane of Water, the marids are the most wondrous of genie-kind. Although all genies wield great power, even the lowliest marid sees itself as clearly superior to the flighty djinn, the ground-hugging dao, and the fuming efreeti. Large and piscine, marids are a strange sight to behold, particularly when clad in the finely stitched vests and colorful pantaloons they favor. They speak in voices as soft as the sea breeze or as sonorous as storm waves breaking against a rocky cliff. When hovering, their lower bodies transform into columns of foamy water.

Water Lords. Water is a marid's native element, and the genie can manipulate water in virtually any way it desires. A marid can walk on water and breathe naturally beneath its surface. It can create water or shape clouds of fog and mist from the vapor in the air. It can even transform itself into a mist or use water as a weapon to bludgeon its foes. Some marids can go as far as manipulating ice.

Marid Homes. Marids are rare on the Material Plane. They inhabit mighty and majestic coral fortresses located in the Elemental Plane of Water. These citadels float in the depths of the plane and contain opulent, air-filled chambers where slaves and guests reside. A marid doesn't expect much from its slaves, simply wanting to have them for the status of ownership. Marids go out of their way to obtain skilled slaves and aren't above kidnapping mortal artists, entertainers, or storytellers for use in their courts. However, they do not spend a lot of time raiding the Material Plane and sometimes just use other plane inhabitants for menial tasks.

Egotistical Hierarchs. All marids claim a title of nobility, and the race is awash in shahs, sultans, muftis, and khedives. Most of these titles are mere pretense on the part of the self-important marids. Marids treat all others-including other genies as inferiors of various grades, ranging from poor cousins to petty annoyances. Their haughtiness is known to rival the efreeti, though they admittedly are more mature and less cruel. They tolerate djinn, dislike dao, and despise efreeti. Humanoids are among the lowest of the creatures that marids must tolerate, although they sometimes deal with powerful wizards and exceptional leaders on an almost-equal footing. Doing so has sometimes proven to be a mistake since wizards have managed to imprison marids in elemental gems, iron flasks, and decanters over the ages. Bribery and flattery are the best means of dealing with marids, to which an obsequious mortal is a creature that knows its place.

Whimsical Storytellers. Marids are champion tale-tellers, whose favorite legends emphasize the prowess of marids in general and of the speaker in particular. Sometimes they use their element to better regale audiences with a water show. Fanciful genies, they lie often and creatively. They aren't always malicious in their deception, but embellishments suit their fancy. Marids consider it a crime for a lesser being to interrupt one of their tales, and offending a marid is a sure way to invoke its wrath. As such, their moods are said to be fluid like water, able to change on a dime.

Genie Names

Due to the elemental plane, they come from, genies names are often associated with the plane they come from.

Names: Aeranas, Azura, Cerulis, Empearal, Flurris, Halos, Murmus, Stratos, Ventis

Genie Traits

Phenomenal cosmic powers! Itty bitty living space…
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2.
Age. A Genie, being an elemental being will live for as long as the elemental plane they are aligned with continues to exist.
Alignment. Genies are elemental chaos fused with a lost soul and as such, they are generally of the same alignment or within one factor of that alignment as most of their kind. See the suggested alignment of the Genie Subrace Table.
Size. Genies are immense creatures by human standards that can measure up to 9 feet tall. Their weights vary greatly from the Djinni who barely weigh anything to the Dao that can weigh over 300 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Hover. You can float a few feet above the ground. This allows you to ignore most forms of difficult terrain and gives you advantage on saving throws against being knocked prone. However, you can float no higher than 5 feet and when you are reduced to 0 hit points you stop hovering.
Elemental Demise. When you die, your body disintegrates into either, a crystalline powder, a warm breeze, a flash of fire and smoke, a burst of water and foam, depending on your subrace, leaving behind only the equipment you were wearing or carrying.
Languages. You can read, speak, and write Common and the Primordial dialect of your home plane, see the Genie Subrace Table. Primordial is a guttural language, filled with harsh syllables and hard consonants.
Subrace. Genie's have vastly different subraces based on their home elemental plane. Pick one from Dao, Djinni, Efreeti, and Marid.

Earth: Dao

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Earth Glide. As an action, you can move through 10 feet of nonmagical unworked sand, earth, mud, stone or similar material. While doing so, you don't disturb the material you move through and gain 10 feet of tremorsense until the end of your turn. If you end your turn within an object or material you are moved to the spaced you entered it from.
Elemental Resistance. You have resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning damage.
Earthen Flesh. You have advantage on saving throws against being petrified.

Air: Djinni

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Air Cushion. You don't take damage from falling if you fall more than 15 feet.
Elemental Resistance. You have resistance to lightning and thunder damage.
Winds of Flight. As an action, you can manifest or dismiss a whirlwind that can be used to fly. The whirlwind keeps you suspended up to 30 feet in the air and you cannot fly higher than 30 feet from the ground using this flying speed. This speed is equal to your current walking speed.

Fire: Efreeti

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Superior Darkvision. The range of your darkvision increases to 120 feet and you see in shades of red rather than grey.
Elemental Resistance. You have resistance to fire damage.
Efreeti Weapon Training. You have proficiency with the glaive, longsword, scimitar, and whip.
Hurl Flame. As an attack action, you can hurl a molten ball of fire at a target within 120 feet. Charisma is your ability modifier for this attack. On a successful hit you deal 2d8 fire damage. After you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you complete a short or long rest.
Savage Flame. When you score a critical hit with a melee attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice and deal fire damage equal to number rolled.

Water: Marid

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Amphibious. You can breathe air and water.
Aqua Jet. You can hover over solid ground as well as liquid.
Elemental Resistance. You have resistance to cold damage and you ignore any of the drawbacks caused by a deep, underwater environment.
Waterborne. You have a swimming speed equal to your walking speed.

Shadow: Khayal

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Compulsive Lier. You are proficient in the deception skill. At 10th level you gain advantage on deception checks
Shadowy Resistance. You have resistance to necrotic damage.
Umbral State. As an action, You may become temporarily ethereal, and can move through any creature or object as if it were difficult terrain for 1d6 hours, taking 1d6 force damage if you end your turn inside a creature or object.

Genie Subrace Table

Subrace Name	Elemental Plane	Suggested Alignment	Primordial Dialect
Dao	Earth	Neutral evil	Terran
Djinni	Air	Chaotic good	Auran
Efreeti	Fire	Lawful evil	Ignan
Marid	Water	Chaotic neutral	Aquan
Khayal	Shadowfell	Chaotic neutral	Necrosis

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This content deviates from 5e standards. Its use could dramatically alter campaigns, take extreme care.

Caution - Here there be monsters! This content intends to provide a different experience, or goes beyond the scope of the anticipated subjects and situations, than the 5e rules were intended to handle. Some portions of the content below may not be what you expect from traditional game content. When implementing this content, DMs and Players should read over all the information carefully, and consider the following specific notes of interest:

All playable races require approval from your Dungeon Master but, much like the Aarakocra or Yuan-Ti Pureblood, a playable Genie requires very special Dungeon Master consideration. A Genie can allow a lot of fantastic things to happen that couldn't happen otherwise but they can also cause outcomes that are somewhat unorthodox and unpredictable. If your Dungeon Master is up for the challenge, go for it! This variant is based off "Variant: Genie Powers" in the Monster Manual, page 145.

Genie Variant: Wish Granters

Noble Efreeti by Michele Giorgi

Some powerful genies are bound to or even imprisoned within objects by other powerful beings, usually gods, legendary heroes, or other genies. While bound a genie's power is a fraction of what it used to be and even that amount is dampened and siphoned away to be used by the magical object that they are bound. This object, when attuned to by a creature, allows them to use the siphoned power of the genie in the form of wishes. If you wish to use this variant you use the base genie statistics and while you are a part of a subrace of your choice, you don't gain the benefits of that subrace unless specified otherwise. If you are freed from your prison somehow you may use the racial traits specific to your subrace but lose any and all effects of this variant.

Container Table

d6	Container
1	A small urn.
2	A normal iron flask.
3	A brass teapot.
4	An sleek wooden jewelry box.
5	A bottle with a swirling tornado, a dim flame, a floating bubble, or a spinning pebble depending on the genies subrace.
6	A golden lamp, adorned with intricate designs.

Ability Score Increase. Same as your subrace.
Genie Physiology. You do not need to eat, breathe, or sleep. However, you do have to spend 4 hours in your container each day. If the day reaches its 20th hour and you still have not done this, you are forcibly sucked into your container and unable to leave until four hours have passed. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.
Destabilization. If your hit points are reduced to 0, your form becomes unstable and you are forcibly sucked back into your container until you regain hit points. If you die your elemental spirit shatters, sending bits and pieces of you to a random assortment of planes simultaneously. If this happens your master is no longer attuned to your container. You can’t be brought back to life via spells such as revivify or true resurrection since you are not dead. In order to return to your former, the wish spell must be used to do so or the spell planar binding must be cast on your container in a special 24 hour ritual as each piece of your elemental spirit drawn back from the planes they were scattered to.
Master's Wish. As a reaction to hearing your master say "I wish", you may grant your master one wish before you must complete a long rest to do so again. This wish can be as simple as, performing a task or retrieving an item, to casting a spell or repeating a specific action. If the wish can be achieved by casting a spell you have access to via the Wish Table you can cast the spell at will but must provide any gold cost associated with the casting of the spell. If the spell targets you, you can instead make it target your master instead. You otherwise cannot cast any of the spells inside the Wish Table unless you can via other means such as a spell scroll. Even though you have no control over what your master wishes for, you have full control over how you grant the wish. You may also refuse the wish given to you by your master if the wish isn't a single, simple, none convoluted sentence if it asks you to perform an impossible task, if you believe it would kill you, or if your Dungeon Master says otherwise.
Your Container. Your container is where you have been trapped for some time. This can be any small object that has open space inside of it, the Container Table has a list that you may roll on to choose or help inform your decision on what your container is. This container can only be destroyed by the being that trapped you within it. Your container has an Armor Class of 10 and if targeted by an attack, it moves any damage that attack would deal with you instead if you have more then 0 hit points. Similarly, if an effect targets your container it is moved over to you, such as the spells cure wounds, lesser restoration or bestow curse. You may enter or exit your container as an action, appearing within 5 feet of it at the beginning of your next turn. While inside your container you are unaware of any happening outside your container, however, you have a blindsight range of 5 feet around your container. The living space within a container can hold as much as a bag of holding and if you are reduced to 0 hit points or it is ever over capacity it expels all contained items, excluding yourself.
Your Master. If a creature touches your container, you become aware of this and may telepathically communicate with them if you are not unconscious. When a creature attunes to the container they are considered to be your master in regards to your racial trait. This doesn't count against the number of attunement slots the attuned creature can have. If your container is more than 5 feet away from your master for more than 10 minutes, it will magically appear back on their person. If your master ever dies, you are immediately sucked back into your container no matter how far away you are and cannot leave it again until you have a new master. You are unable to directly attack your master, however, you may allow harm to come to them such as through a misworded or misconstrued wish.

Wish Table

Character Level	Max Spell Level	General Spells	Dao Spells	Djinni Spells	Efreeti Spells	Marid Spells	Khayal Spells
1-2	0/1st	mending, identify, absorb elements, detect magic, protection from evil and good, command	mold earth, magic stone, resistance, alarm, earth tremor, shield	gust, feather fall, catapult, expeditious retreat, unseen servant, floating disk	control flames, burning hands, sacred flame, produce flame, fire bolt, create bonfire	shape water, create food and water, detect poison and disease, fog cloud, ice knife, purify food and drink	chill touch, disguise self, unseen servant, inflict wounds, snare, cause fear
3-4	2nd	arcanist's magic aura, locate object, alter self	maximilian’s earthen grasp, earthbind, dust devil	gust of wind, warding wind, skywrite	heat metal, aganazzar’s scorcher, pyrotechnics	protection from poison, misty step snilloc’s snowball swarm	blur, phantasmal force, mirror image, ray of enfeeblement
5-6	3rd	dispel magic, clairvoyance, revivify	erupting earth, tiny hut, meld into stone	fly, haste, stinking cloud	melf's minute meteors, fireball, flame arrows	wall of water, water breathing, tidal wave	"shadow of moil, hallucinatory terrain, phantasmal killer, death ward
7-8	4th	conjure minor elementals (your subrace only), elemental bane	stone shape, stoneskin	storm sphere, ice storm	fire shield, wall of fire	control water, watery sphere	bestow curse, major image, phantom steed
9-10	5th	conjure elemental (your subrace only)	transmute rock	control winds	immolation	cone of cold	creation
11-12	6th	instant summons, primordial ward	bones of the earth, investiture of stone	investiture of wind, wind walk	disintegrate, investiture of flame	investiture of cold, wall of ice	soul cage
13-14	7th	teleport	forcecage	whirlwind	fire storm	simulacrum	project image
15-16	8th	dominate monster	earthquake	control weather	incendiary cloud	tsunami	clone
17-20	9th	wish	—	—	—	—

Genie Height and Weight

Table: Genie Height and Weight

Subrace	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Dao	6'0"	+(5d6) inches	140lbs	(2d8) x 10 lb
Djinni	6'2"	+(6d6) inches	20lbs	(2d4) x 10 lb
Efreeti	6'4"	+(6d6) inches	100lbs	(2d6) x 10 lb
Marid	6'0"	+(5d6) inches	120lbs	(2d6) x 10 lb
Khayal	6'1"	+(6d4) inches	140lbs	(2d8) x 10 lb

References

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