I want some feedback on this core class taken from the 2e Arabian Adventures campaign. I have seen some conversions of the class, but felt that a direct conversion into a core class requires more playtesting than I am willing to put in to satisfy myself that the class is balanced. Sha'ir could cast unlimited spells of any level with no need to memorize or even know spells if they could get their gen to find the spell for them (which took much longer if the spell was beyond the capabilities of a wizard or equal level). It worked. I think that this is best emulated within the rules by using the Sorcerer class and a PrC with access to a spellpool (from Magic of Faerun). I am looking for opinions on how balances this PrC is and how well it captures the feel of the class.
I should mention that some coversions for abilities I used for this class comes from an unofficial conversion written by Jon Bauder and Matthew Hockenberry.
Notes: I mention two feats that are campaign specific, Improved Familiar allows the would be Sha'ir to summon a gen familair at 7th level (or a number of other types, but thats irrelevant) meaning that any character with the PrC must have at least 8 character levels (be a Sorcerer or Wizard 7/Sha'ir 1). Craft Genie Prison allows the character to create items like a Djinni Ring or Efreet Bottle that are able to entrap genies. Finally, spellpool allows a character to draw spells to fill unused slots (or a spell per day for a sorcerer) from the spellpool, with some restrictions.
Sha'ir
Zakhara, the land of fate, is a land of genies where the influence of those elemental spirits is great. Genies have shaped the land in the past, and they will likely to continue to do so in the future. The desolate state of much of the land appeals to many genies, and the Jann are more commonly found here than anywhere else. The numerous tasked genies that are native to Zakhara are almost non-existent in other lands, as only in Zakhara do the lords of the genies allow these spirits to roam the material plane freely.
Through an ancient pact with the four lords of the genies, some humans were taught a great deal of genie lore and came to understand things that most mortals were unable to grasp. This knowledge allowed them to gain the respect of the genies, and to be treated as close to an equal to the genies as is possible for such powerful beings. They are often served by genies, with the first of their number being married to four genies, a Dao, Djinni, Efreeti and Marid. They also gain some of their spells from extra-dimensional sources through bound minor genies called gens. Finally, their knowledge allowed them to summon, negotiate with, entrap, bind and contact the genies by various means.
Such abilities lead to great influence in the Land of Fate, as those who have the ear of the genies or who interact with them frequently have great power and command great respect. As a result these Sha'ir, as they call themselves, are often advisors to the rulers of the land and are always treated deferentally by most Zakharans. Magicians (Sorcerers), Sorcerers (Wizards) are drawn to this calling equally, although the vast majority of Magicians eventually become Sha'ir while many Sorcerers are drawn to other paths (most notably the greatly feared Wizards, specialists in one the elements).
Hit Dice: d4
Requirements:
Knowledge (Arcana): 5 Ranks
Knowledge (Genie Lore): 5 Ranks
Spellcraft: 5 Ranks
Feats: Eschew Material Components, Improved Familiar, Skill Focus (Knowledge: Genie Lore)
Special: Must have a gen (Daolanin, Djinnling, Efreetkin or Maridan) as a familiar
Class Skills:
Sha'ir class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Genie Lore) (Int), Profession (Wis), Scry (Int, exclusive skill). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int Modifier
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Sha'ir gain no special proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Spells per Day: At every level, the character gains an addition spellcasting level in their spellcasting class (but no other abilities associated with the class.) If the character has 2 or more spellcasting classes, they must choose which class's spellcasting ability to improve at each level.
Genie Tongues: A Shair's available language list includes Aquan, Auran, Ignan, Jannti and Terran in addition to other that they would normally have access to.
Spellpool (Su): Starting at 2nd level, Sha'ir can call 1st to 3rd level spells from a common source known as a Spellpool. At 6th level they may call up to 6th level spells from the Spellpool and at 10th level they can call upon up to 9th level spells from the Spellpool. This ability is gained through the activities of the Sha'irs gen (which disappears in search of the spell in the spellpool to gain the Sha'ir access to the spell) and the loss of the gen results in the inability of the Sha'ir to use this ability. Each type of gen has access to a different spellpool, so if a Sha'ir with a Daolanin familiar is unable to access a spell on a given day other Sha'ir with the same type of gen will be unable to do so as well but those with a different type of gen will be unaffected. See the Spellpool description on pg 19 of the Magic of Faerun for more details.
Call Upon The Jann (Su): Once per day the Sha'ir can yell for help in the hopes of capturing the attention of a nearby Jann. They may do so only when in the desert or another Forlorn place where Jann are likely to be found. The Sha'ir must make a check with a DC of 20, they add their character level to the results of the roll. If they fail then no Sha'ir can attempt to summon a Jann in an area of 5 miles per level of the Sha'ir who failed for 48 hours. A single Jann will arrive, but it will be free willed. It will only enter combat if the Sha'ir is attacked, and will not act as a messenger, servant or load-bearer.. They will aid those lost in the desert even to the point of welcoming them as guests in its own camp. If the Jann is attacked by the Sha'ir or his party the Sha'ir will be unable to use this ability until restitution is made. Furthermore it will immediately flee to summon enough reinforcements to destroy the party. The Jann never forget kindness, and will remember the aid that they have given to the Sha'ir. Every level after 9th level there is a 1% chance per use of this ability in the Sha'irs lifetime that a Janni who once aided the Sha'ir will arrive and request help. If this does happen and the Sha'ir refuses to help the Sha'ir reputation will be damaged in the eyes of the Jann and they will refuse to answer him in the future. It also reduces the chance that another Janni will arive at the next level by 1%.
Create Genie Prison: The Sha'ir gets the Craft Genie Prison feat for free. If the Sha'ir entraps 5 or more genies in their lifetime, no genie will willingly deal with the Sha'ir. They will not be able to summon genies or Jann, bind genies into service or receive an audience
Bind Genie (Su): The Sha'ir can attempt to strike a bargain with a common genie (Djinni, Efreeti, Dao or Marid) to serve as his long term servant. The genie will serve for a period of not more than 101 days. The genie must make a will save against DC 30 to avoid being bound in service. The roll is modified by the Sha'irs charisma modifier and the conditions in the table below.
Each character level of the Sha'ir beyond 15th +1
Each character level of the Sha'ir under 15th -1
Every condition the Sha'ir agrees to +1
Every condition the Sha'ir refuses -2
For each genie who has previously served +1
the Sha'ir provided that the genie survived
If the Sha'ir has ever used a genie prison -5
on a genie of the same element
If the Sha'ir had bound a genie of the same
element within the past year -3
The genie will insist that the Sha'ir meet 5-10 conditions (1d6+4) before agreeing to enter servitude. Once bound, the genie will defer to its master in all things, but it may twist the intent of its masters command if it feels the need to do so (usually because of an alignment violation). The genie will otherwise serve as the Sha'irs personal bodyguard, food taster and servant. If a genie is slain while serving a master the master cannot summon another for 100 days, during which time the genies assume that the Sha'ir is contemplating the folly that caused the loss of a valuable companion.
Receive an Audience (Ex): The Sha'ir can seek and receive an audience with the rulers of the Djinn, Eftreet, Dao and Marid once per month. Only one type of genie can be contacted at once. The Sha'ir or a designated spokesperson travel to the appropriate elemental plane and a procession of genies will appear within 1d10 days. Alternately they can travel to a desolate region such as a great desert and a procession will appear within 2d10 days. The procession will consist of 1-3 noble genie rulers, 10-100 ordinary genies and 50-300 Jann. They will not appear on the scene of a battle, and will defend themselves for 10 rounds if attacked before they vanish. The genies or their agents will return later to deal with those who affronted them. The noble genies will be able to answer many questions, treat the audience as if the Sha'ir had access to a contact other plane spell (use the Elemental Plane column on the table on page 187 of the PHB). They can also summon lesser genies to answer for any crimes against the Sha'ir. The Sha'ir will also be judged by the nobles, if the Sha'ir has ambushed genies, broken agreements, slain genie without quarter, or behaved ignobly towards genies they may be called to explain their actions or be punished, often with death.
Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1st +0 +0 +0 +2 +1 existing caster level, Genie Tongues
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 +1 existing caster level, Spell Pool I
3rd +1 +1 +1 +3 +1 existing caster level
4th +2 +1 +1 +4 +1 existing caster level, Call upon the Jann
5th +2 +1 +1 +4 +1 existing caster level, Create Genie Prison
6th +3 +2 +2 +5 +1 existing caster level, Spell Pool II,
7th +3 +2 +2 +5 +1 existing caster level
8th +4 +2 +2 +6 +1 existing caster level, Bind Genie
9th +4 +3 +3 +6 +1 existing caster level, Receive an Audience
10th +5 +3 +3 +7 +1 existing caster level, Spell Pool III
Edit: Removed Elemental Protection and Elemental Travel. moved Bind Genie to 8th level. Added Eschew Material Components (from the Magic of Faerun) as a prerequisite feat. Corrected a few typos and minor errors.
I should mention that some coversions for abilities I used for this class comes from an unofficial conversion written by Jon Bauder and Matthew Hockenberry.
Notes: I mention two feats that are campaign specific, Improved Familiar allows the would be Sha'ir to summon a gen familair at 7th level (or a number of other types, but thats irrelevant) meaning that any character with the PrC must have at least 8 character levels (be a Sorcerer or Wizard 7/Sha'ir 1). Craft Genie Prison allows the character to create items like a Djinni Ring or Efreet Bottle that are able to entrap genies. Finally, spellpool allows a character to draw spells to fill unused slots (or a spell per day for a sorcerer) from the spellpool, with some restrictions.
Sha'ir
Zakhara, the land of fate, is a land of genies where the influence of those elemental spirits is great. Genies have shaped the land in the past, and they will likely to continue to do so in the future. The desolate state of much of the land appeals to many genies, and the Jann are more commonly found here than anywhere else. The numerous tasked genies that are native to Zakhara are almost non-existent in other lands, as only in Zakhara do the lords of the genies allow these spirits to roam the material plane freely.
Through an ancient pact with the four lords of the genies, some humans were taught a great deal of genie lore and came to understand things that most mortals were unable to grasp. This knowledge allowed them to gain the respect of the genies, and to be treated as close to an equal to the genies as is possible for such powerful beings. They are often served by genies, with the first of their number being married to four genies, a Dao, Djinni, Efreeti and Marid. They also gain some of their spells from extra-dimensional sources through bound minor genies called gens. Finally, their knowledge allowed them to summon, negotiate with, entrap, bind and contact the genies by various means.
Such abilities lead to great influence in the Land of Fate, as those who have the ear of the genies or who interact with them frequently have great power and command great respect. As a result these Sha'ir, as they call themselves, are often advisors to the rulers of the land and are always treated deferentally by most Zakharans. Magicians (Sorcerers), Sorcerers (Wizards) are drawn to this calling equally, although the vast majority of Magicians eventually become Sha'ir while many Sorcerers are drawn to other paths (most notably the greatly feared Wizards, specialists in one the elements).
Hit Dice: d4
Requirements:
Knowledge (Arcana): 5 Ranks
Knowledge (Genie Lore): 5 Ranks
Spellcraft: 5 Ranks
Feats: Eschew Material Components, Improved Familiar, Skill Focus (Knowledge: Genie Lore)
Special: Must have a gen (Daolanin, Djinnling, Efreetkin or Maridan) as a familiar
Class Skills:
Sha'ir class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Genie Lore) (Int), Profession (Wis), Scry (Int, exclusive skill). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int Modifier
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Sha'ir gain no special proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Spells per Day: At every level, the character gains an addition spellcasting level in their spellcasting class (but no other abilities associated with the class.) If the character has 2 or more spellcasting classes, they must choose which class's spellcasting ability to improve at each level.
Genie Tongues: A Shair's available language list includes Aquan, Auran, Ignan, Jannti and Terran in addition to other that they would normally have access to.
Spellpool (Su): Starting at 2nd level, Sha'ir can call 1st to 3rd level spells from a common source known as a Spellpool. At 6th level they may call up to 6th level spells from the Spellpool and at 10th level they can call upon up to 9th level spells from the Spellpool. This ability is gained through the activities of the Sha'irs gen (which disappears in search of the spell in the spellpool to gain the Sha'ir access to the spell) and the loss of the gen results in the inability of the Sha'ir to use this ability. Each type of gen has access to a different spellpool, so if a Sha'ir with a Daolanin familiar is unable to access a spell on a given day other Sha'ir with the same type of gen will be unable to do so as well but those with a different type of gen will be unaffected. See the Spellpool description on pg 19 of the Magic of Faerun for more details.
Call Upon The Jann (Su): Once per day the Sha'ir can yell for help in the hopes of capturing the attention of a nearby Jann. They may do so only when in the desert or another Forlorn place where Jann are likely to be found. The Sha'ir must make a check with a DC of 20, they add their character level to the results of the roll. If they fail then no Sha'ir can attempt to summon a Jann in an area of 5 miles per level of the Sha'ir who failed for 48 hours. A single Jann will arrive, but it will be free willed. It will only enter combat if the Sha'ir is attacked, and will not act as a messenger, servant or load-bearer.. They will aid those lost in the desert even to the point of welcoming them as guests in its own camp. If the Jann is attacked by the Sha'ir or his party the Sha'ir will be unable to use this ability until restitution is made. Furthermore it will immediately flee to summon enough reinforcements to destroy the party. The Jann never forget kindness, and will remember the aid that they have given to the Sha'ir. Every level after 9th level there is a 1% chance per use of this ability in the Sha'irs lifetime that a Janni who once aided the Sha'ir will arrive and request help. If this does happen and the Sha'ir refuses to help the Sha'ir reputation will be damaged in the eyes of the Jann and they will refuse to answer him in the future. It also reduces the chance that another Janni will arive at the next level by 1%.
Create Genie Prison: The Sha'ir gets the Craft Genie Prison feat for free. If the Sha'ir entraps 5 or more genies in their lifetime, no genie will willingly deal with the Sha'ir. They will not be able to summon genies or Jann, bind genies into service or receive an audience
Bind Genie (Su): The Sha'ir can attempt to strike a bargain with a common genie (Djinni, Efreeti, Dao or Marid) to serve as his long term servant. The genie will serve for a period of not more than 101 days. The genie must make a will save against DC 30 to avoid being bound in service. The roll is modified by the Sha'irs charisma modifier and the conditions in the table below.
Each character level of the Sha'ir beyond 15th +1
Each character level of the Sha'ir under 15th -1
Every condition the Sha'ir agrees to +1
Every condition the Sha'ir refuses -2
For each genie who has previously served +1
the Sha'ir provided that the genie survived
If the Sha'ir has ever used a genie prison -5
on a genie of the same element
If the Sha'ir had bound a genie of the same
element within the past year -3
The genie will insist that the Sha'ir meet 5-10 conditions (1d6+4) before agreeing to enter servitude. Once bound, the genie will defer to its master in all things, but it may twist the intent of its masters command if it feels the need to do so (usually because of an alignment violation). The genie will otherwise serve as the Sha'irs personal bodyguard, food taster and servant. If a genie is slain while serving a master the master cannot summon another for 100 days, during which time the genies assume that the Sha'ir is contemplating the folly that caused the loss of a valuable companion.
Receive an Audience (Ex): The Sha'ir can seek and receive an audience with the rulers of the Djinn, Eftreet, Dao and Marid once per month. Only one type of genie can be contacted at once. The Sha'ir or a designated spokesperson travel to the appropriate elemental plane and a procession of genies will appear within 1d10 days. Alternately they can travel to a desolate region such as a great desert and a procession will appear within 2d10 days. The procession will consist of 1-3 noble genie rulers, 10-100 ordinary genies and 50-300 Jann. They will not appear on the scene of a battle, and will defend themselves for 10 rounds if attacked before they vanish. The genies or their agents will return later to deal with those who affronted them. The noble genies will be able to answer many questions, treat the audience as if the Sha'ir had access to a contact other plane spell (use the Elemental Plane column on the table on page 187 of the PHB). They can also summon lesser genies to answer for any crimes against the Sha'ir. The Sha'ir will also be judged by the nobles, if the Sha'ir has ambushed genies, broken agreements, slain genie without quarter, or behaved ignobly towards genies they may be called to explain their actions or be punished, often with death.
Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1st +0 +0 +0 +2 +1 existing caster level, Genie Tongues
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 +1 existing caster level, Spell Pool I
3rd +1 +1 +1 +3 +1 existing caster level
4th +2 +1 +1 +4 +1 existing caster level, Call upon the Jann
5th +2 +1 +1 +4 +1 existing caster level, Create Genie Prison
6th +3 +2 +2 +5 +1 existing caster level, Spell Pool II,
7th +3 +2 +2 +5 +1 existing caster level
8th +4 +2 +2 +6 +1 existing caster level, Bind Genie
9th +4 +3 +3 +6 +1 existing caster level, Receive an Audience
10th +5 +3 +3 +7 +1 existing caster level, Spell Pool III
Edit: Removed Elemental Protection and Elemental Travel. moved Bind Genie to 8th level. Added Eschew Material Components (from the Magic of Faerun) as a prerequisite feat. Corrected a few typos and minor errors.
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