Genie (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, genies are outsiders composed in part of the element of their native Elemental Planes.

Publication history

Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)

The djinn and the efreet first appeared in the original Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974).^[1]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

The djinn and efreet appeared in first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the original Monster Manual (1977).^[2] The word "genie" was not yet used to classify them, although it is mentioned under each race's entry that they are each other's enemies. The dao, the jann and the marid first appeared in Dragon #66 (October 1982). "Featured Creatures" was an ongoing series of articles where Gary Gygax released information on official creatures before their release in the upcoming Monster Manual II.^[3] The dao and marid then appeared in the adventure module The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (1982), and the dao, jann, and marid appeared in the original Monster Manual II (1983). The Pasha of the Efreet, Vizier of the Fire Sultan appeared in the adventure module Pharaoh (1982), and appeared with Aeraldoth, Vizier to the Caliph of the Djinn in Oasis of the White Palm (1983).

Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)

The djinn appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977), and appeared with the efreet in the D&D Expert Set (1981, 1983), the Companion Rules set (1984), and the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991).

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)

The dao, the djinn, and the efreeti appeared in second edition in Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989),^[4] and the jann and the marid appeared in Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989), all under the "genie" heading. All five of these genie types appeared in the Monstrous Manual (1993).^[5] The noble dao, the Great Khan of the dao, the noble djinni, the Great Caliph of the djinn, the noble efreeti, the Sultan of the efreet, the noble marid, the Great Padisha of the marids, the architect/builder tasked genie, the artist tasked genie, the guardian tasked genie, the herdsman tasked genie, the slayer tasked genie, the warmonger tasked genie, and the winemaker tasked genie appeared for the Al-Qadim setting in the Monstrous Compendium Al-Qadim Appendix (1992).^[6] The dao, djinni, efreeti, janni, and marid appeared under the genie of Zakhara heading in the Land of Fate boxed set (1992). The deceiver tasked genie and the oathbinder tasked genie appeared in Assassin Mountain (1993),^[7] and the administrator tasked genie and the harim servant tasked genie appeared in City of Delights (1993),^[8] and the messenger tasked genie and the miner tasked genie appeared in Secrets of the Lamp (1993); these six tasked genie types appeared in Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume One (1994).^[9]

Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition (2000-2007)

The djinni and the efreeti appeared in the third edition Monster Manual (2000),^[10] and appear with the janni in the 3.5 revised Monster Manual (2003). The dao and the marid appear in the third edition Manual of the Planes (2001).^[11] The djinni, efreeti, and janni appear as player character races in Savage Species (2003). The janni appears again as a player character race in the Planar Handbook (2004). The qorrashi appears in Frostburn (2004).^[12] The khayal appears in Tome of Magic (2006).^[13]

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)

The djinn appeared in the fourth edition in Monster Manual 2 (2009).

Description

Genies appear as humanoids with bodies that have external physical characteristics that evoke their elemental nature, though some varieties are capable of shape-shifting into another form. They form their own distinctive societies in their native planes. Because they have powerful supernatural or magical abilities, genies are sometimes called upon or summoned by spellcasters to grant wishes or perform services for them. The individual varieties have differing attitudes towards humanoid races native to the Material Plane.

Types of Genies

• Dao - Genies from the Elemental Plane of Earth, dao often run gem-mining operations there or on the Material Plane.

• Djinni - Genies from the Elemental Plane of Air.

• Efreeti - Genies from the Elemental Plane of Fire, which are said to be made of basalt, bronze, and congealed flames.

• Janni - The weakest of the genies, Jann are formed out of all four elements and must spend time on the Material Plane.

• Khayal - Genies from the Plane of Shadow.

• Marid - Genies from the Elemental Plane of Water.

• Qorrashi - Distant relatives of the djinn, qorrash are elemental spirits of cold and ice.

References

Additional reading

• Cook, Monte. Monstrous Compendium Planescape Compendium III (TSR, 1998).

• Cook, Monte and William W. Connors. The Inner Planes (TSR, 1998).