Sha' ir

The Sha' ir is a character class originally introduced in the Al-Qadim campaign setting for Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition. Based on Arabian folklore, the sha' ir is a mysterious and powerful wizard that gains their power from genies, and often acts as an ambassador on behalf of mortals to geniekind. Sha' irs are both feared and respected for this role.

This character class was reintroduced into Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 via an article in Dragon Magazine, issue 315 (reprinted in the Dragon compendium). The 3.5e sha' ir kept much of the flavor and many original abilities featured in the 2nd edition character class.

Features of the Class

Summon gen

Sha' irs have a familiar much like a standard wizard does, although the sha' ir familiar performs a much more important role. Sha' irs summon a gen; a creature that resembles a miniature genie from one of the four core elements (earth, water, fire, wind). The gen's primary responsibility is fetching spells from the elemental planes and delivering the arcane energy to the sha' ir for casting. In many ways, this makes the gen a "living spellbook".

Spell casting

Sha' irs cast spells by requesting that their gen go find them. A Sha' ir can request any arcane spell that they know or have seen the effects of, as well as a limited selection of divine spells. The gen then runs off to the elemental planes, finds the requested spell, and brings the spell back to be temporarily imparted into the sha'ir's memory. While this method does make for slower spell casting, as the gen may be gone for a long period of time in its search, sha 'irs enjoy greater utility in their casting, as they are often able to draw on a repertoire of spells dwarfing the selection of a standard wizard or sorcerer.

Elemental Protection

Sha'irs are very resistant to elemental attacks. They are especially resistant to an element that shares the same type as their gen. For example, a sha' ir with a fire gen is especially resistant to fire attacks.

Summon Genie

A powerful sha' ir can summon a djinni, efreeti, marid or dao to help them. This ability is the principal advantage of playing a sha' ir. Smart sha' irs will often save their riches and valuable items, so that when they gain this ability, they can bargain with the genie into entering a longer contract of servitude.

Relationship with the genies

In the Dungeons and Dragons multiverse, each genie stems from a particular element. The Djinn come from air, the efreet from fire, the Dao from earth, and the marid from water. Last the janni are a mixture of all the elements and come from the prime material plane.

The different subtypes of genies all have distinct cultures and outlooks. The djinn tend to be quite independent, and lean towards good and positive outlooks. Efreet society tends to be imperialistic and oppressive. Dao are shrewd bargainers, and often greedy. Marids are capricious, tend to have wide mood swings, and are so haughty as to be nearly unbearable.

A sha' ir typically only deals with one or two of the different genie types, and tends to favor the type that shares the same elemental background as his/her gen. Genies are often easily offended, have over inflated opinions of themselves. Sha' irs possess the training and tact to deal with these powerful creatures, either through diplomacy, flattery (of which genies of all types can't get enough of), or coercion. Many genies refuse to deal with mortals unless a sha' ir is present. On the other side, some genies also resent the power sha' irs hold over them.

Often, a sha' ir will seek to enter into a pact with a genie. Common lengths include 1001 days of servitude, or a dozen and one months. The finer details are worked out between the sha' ir and genie in question, but often include a laundry list of conditions. Common conditions include half of all treasure a genie gathers or sha' ir receives in his adventures goes to the genie, every 10th day off, the genie may flee from combat if reduced to a third of his life total, the sha' ir will never ask for wishes during the term of service, etc.

Party Role

In an Arabian-flavored setting, a sha' ir will often take the place of a wizard or sorcerer, and act as a party's "faceman." Sha' irs are skilled in diplomacy and require a high charisma score, making them ideal for the job. In Arabian-styled cultures sha' irs command high respect and awe, and often come from high social backgrounds (or rise to them).

In other settings, Sha' irs still make good facemen and party leaders. The spell casting style of the sha' ir tends to make them less able in combat, as many times a battle will be over or nearly over by the time a gen returns with a desired spell. When time isn't a factor, however, the casting abilities of the sha' ir are very handy, making the sha' ir ideal for group utility. At higher levels, sha' irs bring powerful entities to the party group.