Pathfinder 1E Power of the Djinn

Centaur · Jul 3, 2019

I am just curious peoples interpretations of the Sorcerer Djinni Bloodline ability "Power of the Djinn". It states that you gain the power of genies to grant wishes. Then in a separate sentence it says you have the ability to cast limited wish once per day but doesn't really tie it to the first sentence. Obviously there is some implied relation here, but I am curious on other peoples input.

Power of the Djinn (Su): At 20th level, you gain the power of genies to grant wishes. Once per day, you can cast limited wish as a spell-like ability. Such wishes must begin with the words “I wish,” and cannot duplicate a wish you have granted within the past 24 hours. If you use this ability to duplicate a spell with a costly material component, you must provide that component.

Can the sorcerer cast the spell himself or does he need someone else to actually wish for something from him, and then he chooses to grant it. Also, because were talking about genies and wishes here, can the sorcerer be compelled to grant the wish? perhaps by someone they view as more powerful or as their boss... or if they are captured would a captor be able to demand it? I'm reaching here I know, but just looking for input for flavour etc.

ALSO... Bonus question: This power is gained at 20th level so I am assuming most campaigns don't progress beyond that point. But If it were to progress into the "Epic" levels, when would you as a GM think it appropriate for this ability to progress to a full on Wish, rather than a Limited Wish.

Imaculata · Jul 3, 2019

The sorcerer can phrase the wish himself, since he is a sorcerer and not a genie. But the wish must start with "I wish...".

As for progressing it into Wish... don't.

As a side note, in my homebrew campaign setting genie's can grant wishes for themselves, and do it all the time. They can live in luxury, and granting wishes for others tends to be a service that they provide to mortals on top of that. The reasons why genie's bother to do this, varies per genie. Some simply enjoy watching the greed of humans become their undoing.

LuisCarlos17f · Jul 4, 2019

Sometimes I wonder about why genis give wishes...and I have got some theories.

- They are magic slaves by a punishment, like in the teleserie "upon once time".

- In the old past they were enslaved by the mankin (or our ancestors, the titans). We don't remember them, but they do it.

- The magic lamp is to collect mana. The genies get that mana and the wishes are the reward.

- Fun. Giving wishes is like us watching contests or reality shows in the TV, or a grimm version of pranks with hidden cam.

- Illusion. The wishes aren't real, and usually the wish becomes a nightmare, but the mortal isn't hurt, only waking up with a painful lesson.

- In my story once the wish was wisdom. The "little word" was the wisher learnt to be more self-critic and notice a lot of things are wrong, a painful gift, but he could use this wisdom to help people and to create a better world.

- Fallen deities and self-promotion. To keep their power they need mortal believe in them. If they are forgotten, they would become weaker and disappear.

Imaculata · Jul 6, 2019

That is an interesting take on it. Many of the genies in my campaign tend to enjoy watching the weakness and failure of mortals, or being surprised by them and seeing them rise to greatness. Whenever a person makes a wish, their wish needs to come from somewhere. Wish for a castle, and someone else loses their castle... and they might come looking for it. And it is the impulse of wishing for whatever you want, that often becomes the downfall of their client. This rule also allows me to restrict the players a bit, and make them think about what they wish for.

Genies in my campaign live in infinite luxury. A genie inside a magic lamp has a vast pocket dimension inside their lamp, with a golden palace and endless servants; a reality they can shape however they wish. They are not prisoners of their lamp. They enjoy granting wishes, and the terms and conditions for how and what kind of wishes they grant are up to the individual genie. Some uphold a high work ethic, and see it as their job to properly inform their client about the dangers of making wishes. Genie's are also free to refuse a wish, if it violates their terms and conditions. Some genies have a policy to not interfere with beings more powerful than them, so you might not be able to wish that pesky dragon or evil god to die, because the genie does not fancy picking a fight with such a powerful foe.

Greenfield · Jul 10, 2019

Being primarily a 3.5 player, I see it through that lens.

In 3.5, Genie are the ultimate Elementals, and they aren't interchangeable. Different attitudes/alignments.

Djinn can't actually grant wishes, unless they are noble. Generally Chaotic Good people, they can't grant wishes very often, but they won't willfully mess with you for asking.

Efreet are Fire elementals, and are Lawful Evil. They can grant three Wishes a day, but even at the best of times are going to take delight in misdirecting a mortal's Wish. Being Lawful, however, they will keep a bargain, to the letter if not the spirit.

Doud are Earth elementals, and they cant grant full wishes at all. Instead, they can grant up to five Limited Wishes per day.

Nereid are the Water version of the Genie. They can grant a Wish only once a year.

Version notwithstanding, I generally play Genie as written, in terms of alignment and/or personality. They have the ultimate power in the multiverse, but can't use it for themselves.

Because of this, mortals seek to bind or enslave them, and they in turn hate being forced to serve. Even the good ones.

However, if one bargains with them in good faith, and shows proper courtesy and respect (Diplomacy checks anyone?), then it may be possible.

By the 3.5 rules its pssible to Summn a Genie using the Summon Planar Ally or other similar spells, however the rules also say that such creatures will refuse to use spells or spell-like abilities that cost Experience or significant cost/price.

And, of course, summoned creatures can't summon other creatures. (In 3.5 at least, summoned creatures aren't real, they're manifestations of a "typical" creature of that type. When killed, or when the spell ends, the "creature" returns to that special place where it came from.) See Cnjuratin school descriptions for details.

Now one difference I noticed between 3.5 and Pathfinder is that "won't use spells or spell like abilities" text. In D&D you can't get cheap/free Wishes by summoning an Efreeti (Summon Monster 8 I think). In Pathfinder you can. There is no 25k diamond needed by the Efreet, as it's a natural ability, and no rule that says they can't/won't use the power.

For all the people who say that DD 3.5 is "broken", I'll say that there are more than a few "broken" things in Pathfinder, and this is one of them

Pathfinder 1E Power of the Djinn

Centaur

First Post

Imaculata

Hero

LuisCarlos17f

Legend

Imaculata

Hero

Greenfield

Adventurer

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