Genie out of a bottle

[Gilladian]

I'm running Dungeon World, but that doesn't really matter. I'm soliciting ideas for what might happen when a group of overeager adventurers find a strange bottle, pop the cork, and release a genie.

Said genie immediately rushes out in a fury and "does" something.... but what? He thinks they're his foe from the moment he was captured. So he's attacking. I can give him just about any Genie-type powers I like. Afterwards, of course, he'll realize his error, and grant the PCs the traditional three wishes; but I'm not worried about that moment; I want ideas for what he might do in his moment of rage before he stops to look. What would YOU have him do? I have several weeks to plan this, so I would love some really good ideas.

 

[MarkB]

Which edition are you playing? Genies in D&D tend to come in several flavours (for instance, Djinni, Efreeti and Janni in 3.5e).

In 3.5e it's the Djinni (specifically the very rare Noble Djinni) who grant wishes, and as they're good-aligned they might well be forebearing enough to at least check their targets before indulging in righteous fury.

That aside, the first thing an angered djinn would probably do is use its Whirlwind Form. It's big, painful, indiscriminate, and will capture anyone in the immediate area who isn't quick on their feet.

 

[Quickleaf]

Man, if I was a genie trapped by some jerk of a sorcerer in a bottle for several years, the first things I'm going to want to do are (a) fly around like a maniac, and (b) trap or shrink whoever put me in there in the first place, so they can get a taste of their own medicine. You know, bury them in sand up to heir necks, shrink them and throw *them* inside the lamp, that sort of thing.

 

[Starfox]

I feel Quickleaf is on the right track - use some grandiose stunt related to the genie's element. Bury them in sand, choke them in smoke, douse them in deep water, or set them helplessly levitating in the air. Another trick that smacks of Arabian Night is to transform them - gender change, turn them into donkeys, turn them into songbirds, turn them into pieces on a chessboard, that sort of thing. Or what if they are sucked into the bottle themselves, instead of having the genie pop out of the bottle? Could be a whole little extra-dimensional dungeon.

 

[Gilladian]

[MENTION=40176]MarkB[/MENTION] - the rules are DungeonWorld, not Dnd precisely. Think of it as Basic Dnd and you won't be far wrong, but since it is very much a fiction-first game, and I'll be writing up the genie after I decide what it is doing, I can give it any powers I want.

Just about everyone has suggested sucking the PCs in; I have only 2 questions about that - what can a group of PCs do that a genie couldn't do to get out? And if HE thinks the ones opening the bottle might be the one who trapped him, doesn't that imply "no sense of time passing" while you're in the bottle? I don't quite see how to get around those issues; any ideas are very welcome.

 

[Starfox]

If the genie sucks the players in, it is probably into a space he just vacated - that is he exits, then sucks them in.

And I don't think time is frozen in a bottle like this. If it was, the genie might still be worn out/wounded from the binding encounter, and its anger would be of a different type that it is normally depicted to be in these stories. High adrenaline vs. long-mulled-over revenge.

 

[MarkB]

Can the genie see or sense what's happening outside the bottle? If not, then he's going to have to assume that whoever trapped him in the first place will be smart enough to have protections in place when he's released.

That being the case, it's unlikely that he'd go into action immediately upon release - he'd take a moment to see what constraints are in place and whether he can overcome them.

The fact that there are no constraints at all in place could be his first clue that the PCs are not the ones who trapped him.

 

[Evilhalfling]

If the PCs are sucked in what if they can't get out? A few days with all the food and wine they can drink, only to have the bottle opened 1-5 years later, and then they have to grant wishes to the fisherman who opened the bottle.

One of the best genie patches I ever read was the genie who was very helpful, always wanting to please his summoners, but impatient, and overeager. I would listen to the first part of a wish an bolt off to fulfill it in the most *helpful* way possible, with hijinx ensuing.

I like the transforming all the PCs into donkeys. cause really how is the genie going to realize his mistake? donkey based charades? whee!

 

[Mark CMG]

I'm running Dungeon World, but that doesn't really matter. I'm soliciting ideas for what might happen when a group of overeager adventurers find a strange bottle, pop the cork, and release a genie.

Said genie immediately rushes out in a fury and "does" something.... but what?

Wedgies for everyone!

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Are you familiar with the Desert of Desolation series (Pharaoh, Oasis of the White Palm, Lost Tomb of Martek)? An entire campaign arc is essentially built around the release of an imprisoned Efreet and what happens as a result.