bound djinni class

 Bound Djinni
a class for Old School D&D-alikes
by edmund dulac

HP, XP, Saves, Attack Bonus, Equipment Restrictions as Elf.

You are a spirit of flame and desire, sealed inside a magical vessel such as a ring, lamp, or sword. You must obey the commands of the person who holds your vessel. In fact, you must try to bring about all desires they verbally express in your hearing, whether they want you to or not (they can, of course, tell you to immediately stop what you are doing). You must always follow the letter of your vessel-carrier’s wishes, though you can otherwise interpret them however you want. This isn’t a matter of threat of punishment–this is simply what bound djinn do, though they certainly don’t always like it.

You do not need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. However, once you have completed all outstanding wishes, you are compelled to return to their vessel until called forth again. You must be within a few feet of your vessel into enter it. You cannot take any items with you.

Djinn vessels are indestructible, barring Wish-level magic, the fire of an ancient dragon, or divine intervention. Should you manage to get your vessel destroyed, you will be free to do as you please, assuming a magician doesn’t manage to cram you into a snuff box again.

Water and earth are anathema to djinn. You take d4 damage per turn of submersion or interment. 

by edmund dulac

Act of Change
When outside of your vessel, you can assume any shape you desire, within the parameters of Polymorph Self or Disguise Self. However, your height and length cannot exceed twice your level in feet. Changing shape is also tiring–every time you do so, Save vs Magic or take d4 Constitution damage. You do not need to make this Save the first time you assume a shape after resting inside your prison.

Act of Creation
Starting at level 3, you can create objects from nothing, but only to fulfill a command by the owner of your djinn-prison. The total value in gold pieces of objects you create over the course of a day cannot exceed your current experience total divided by 10. If a created object leaves your presence a number of turns greater than your level, it vanishes into black smoke. Djinni-created food and drink nourishes like any other meal if eaten before it vanishes.

Act of Strength
Starting at level 5, when in human or demihuman form, you can easily perform any feat of Strength a normal human is capable of and automatically succeed all such Strength checks. You only need to make Strength checks for tasks that would surpass the abilities of a single person. You can carry twice as many objects without being encumbered, as well. This does not confer any bonuses to combat.

Act of Nature
Starting at level 7, when in human or demihuman form, you can fly on a whirlwind at will, albeit clumsily, as the Chariot of Air spell.

Act of Desire
At level 9, you can grant a Limited Wish to the possessor of your vessel 1/week.

Etc

  • Typically, the carrier of a djinni’s prison is another PC, though it could be some magician who decided to give the mercenaries a little help. The relationship between a bound djinni and the carrier of their prison comes down to the players, though circumstances will probably conspire to keep them from outright wanting to kill each other–if a djinni engineers a TPK, they might end up stuck in their prison in the bottom of a dungeon for a couple centuries.
  • If you see a tower of diamond or a castle of steel, it probably has a powerful djinni bound at the bottom, supporting the structure’s existence with their presence. Releasing them destroys the edifice, and releases a barely-sane spirit of epochal rage into the world at large.
  • You could have a djinn-binder class who has half thief skill progression and MU XP who automatically gets an NPC djinni. For the semi-competent hero who stumbles onto awesome magical power.
  • There are plenty of people who want a bound djinni of their own. Careless owners of a djinn-prison might find their former servants fighting against them.

poké-esqe

Tried to make a 5th edition D&D warlock pact for Final Fantasy-esque summoning awhile back and I’m still not happy with the result. This fits more neatly into the way 5th edition classes work, leverages the large number of existing creatures in the Monster Manual, and allows for pokemon-style critter-collecting.

 
Otherworldy Patron: The Monarch
from tactics ogre: let us cling together

You are the student of an asura, deva, or legendary monarch in the Art of Royalty and have learned to command fealty from lesser spirits.

Starting at 1st level
You can spend your action to bind a willing or incapacitated elemental, fey, incorporeal undead, celestial, fiend, or dragon with a CR equal to or less than your warlock level divided by 3, rounded down (If your level is 1, you can bind creatures with a CR of 1 or less). You can only have 1 bound creature at a time. If you exceed this limit, you must choose a creature to release from its binding. Released creatures appear in a space adjacent to you. If they are neutral or friendly, they will simply depart. If they despise you, they will give you at least a 24 hour running start before they start trying to kill you.

You can spend an action to conjure a bound creature for 10 minutes.. The creature appears in a space adjacent to you and is friendly to you and your companions for as long as you maintain concentration.  The creature gets its own initiative and turns. It obeys all spoken commands you give it, and commanding it does not require you to spend any actions.

If your concentration is broken, the creature breaks free from your control. If it was hostile before you bound it, it again becomes hostile towards you and your companions, and may flee to cause greater mischief. If it was neutral or friendly, it might require you to convince it to enter your service again, possibly demanding a bribe. You cannot dismiss an uncontrolled creature, and uncontrolled creatures do not count towards your bound total.

The creature vanishes once the 10 minutes expire. Dismissing a controlled creature early is a free action. Bound creatures can die like any other.

You can conjure a bound creature once, and regain your use of this ability when you take a short or long rest. 

Starting at 6th level
You can bind up to three creatures.You can conjure any one of them once, and regain your use of this ability when you take a short or long rest.

Starting at 10th level
You can bind up to five creatures. You can conjure any one of them once, and regain your use of this ability when you take a short or long rest.

Starting at 14th level
You can bind up to seven creatures. You can conjure any one of them once, and regain your use of this ability when you take a short or long rest.

A Most Thoroughly Pernicious Problem

I’ve had some technical and personal issues, and I’m waaaay behind on mailing the last few orders of _A Most Thoroughly Pernicious Pamphlet_, so I’m refunding them. I’ll be send out print versions for free once I have my life and printer in order. I can’t find a way to tell people through Gumroad, so I’m just putting up announcements on social media. Sorry about this, guys.