gamegoblin

It’s bound to happen sooner or later. The enterprising Castle Keeper has dutifully designed his module down to the last detail; drawing out maps, placing monsters in rooms, inserting traps and puzzles, and, last but not least, rolling the random treasures to be found. When that final critical step happens, it will sometimes be the case that a magic item rolled on the tables will have unforeseen consequences on the campaign, and these items require a little extra forethought and creativity to turn into a viable, living part of your story. Sometimes these are simply items that are subtly powerful, and in other cases there are items that actually introduce an NPC into the campaign, such as sentient weapons or objects that summon a particular creature. One such example is the Ring of Djinni Calling. Just rub it, and you have the services of a Djinn for an hour every day.

When such an item appears, it is easy for it to become little more than a robotic servant of the player characters, where the creature is called forth to perform a particular task, then stuffed back into the bottle after it is done. The creature that is called forth has no sense of identity or will, and for all intents and purposes, is just another magic item. By giving some thought to the nature of these creatures, and adding some simple personality quirks, these summoned servants grow into what they are really intended to be: a full-fledged NPC.

This article presents Rajeed the Amorous, a Djinn who has the dubious honor of being the servant of a ring. He can be used any time the Castle Keeper randomly rolls (or chooses to place) a Ring of Djinni Calling in his adventure.

Rajeed the Amorous, Djinn Servitor of the Ring

Size: L; HD: 7d10; HP: 33; Move: 20ft/60ft(fly); AC: 16; Attacks: Slam (atk +7, dmg 2d8) or Great Scimitar +3 (atk +10, dmg 2d6+6); Special: Air Mastery, Spell-like Abilities, Whirlwind, Darkvision (60ft), Immunity to Acid, Plane Shift, Telepathy (10ft), Mighty Physique; Saves: M,P; Int: High (18), AL cg; Type: extraplanar; Treasure: 7 (see below); XP 996.

When summoned, Rajeed appears in a flash of light and a puff of smoke. Like all of his kind, he towers over humans in height and is possessed of an incredible physique. His skin is a sky blue in color, while his hair and finely-trimmed beard are as white as the clouds. He appears decked out in finery, with several valuable jewels, and wearing an exquisite-looking great scimitar at his belt (magic, +3 enchantment bonus, value 9000gp). He always appears wearing a purple hair shirt, which he claims was woven from sylph hair (value 5gp). A set of dragonclaw panpipes (500gp) is tucked into a silver and platinum belt (750gp). While many Djinni appear with a wisp of smoke or vapor in place of their legs, Rajeed prefers to appear with his legs solid, so that people may properly examine his lovely jade and gemstone toe ring (5000gp).

Rajeed will first look over the party, carefully searching the immediate area for humanoid females of any size or shape. If he spies any females within the group, he will break into a wide, charming grin and introduce himself to them with a low bow. He will all but ignore the male members of the party, and the only one who can compel him to action is the owner of the ring. If there are no females present at all, he will appear crestfallen, and quickly settle into a bored expression. If females of any humanoid race are about, he will engage them in conversation, try to make them laugh, flatter them, and otherwise flirt with them (this is also regardless of the woman’s charisma score- Rajeed has different aesthetics from even other Djinn). Given the opportunity, Rajeed will take to playing his panpipes (quite skillfully, in fact), all in the hopes of bedding one (or all) of the women.

Outside of these behaviors, Rajeed is friendly and vivacious. When he meets a new master of the ring, he summons enough wine to get himself and his new master stinking drunk (along with any traveling companions), with the hope that the master will quickly pass out and leave Rajeed enough time to pursue his real endeavors (chasing women). This rarely works out, however, as Rajeed only has an hour in the prime world every day. It still doesn’t keep him from trying, though.

When sent out into the world to perform tasks, Rajeed is often sidetracked by his desires. If he sees females while out and about, he will quite likely forget his objective, and try to seduce them with food, wine and song.

Rajeed is also terribly vain, and goes out of his way to acquire jewels and finery that look good on him. This can be anything from a silk shirt to a crown jewel. While out performing the will of the ring’s master, he will often steal anything of this nature that catches his eye. More than once, the offended individual has tracked the item back to the owner of the ring.

When it comes to fighting, Rajeed prefers to use his powerful fists. When hard-pressed, or directly ordered to, he will fight with his scimitar (his mighty physique allows him to wield the large weapon in one hand). However, Rajeed doesn’t really like to fight- he views the pursuit of the fairer sex to be a better investment of his time.

Rajeed has a sleeping chamber within a Djinni Sultan’s castle, on the elemental plane of air. The Sultan that provides him shelter is the one who got him this job and bound him to the ring (apparently, being a ring servitor is a major industry amongst the djinn). He carries most of his valuables with him, as noted above, but keeps the rest locked in a chest in his chamber. These include a decorative egg (100gp), a wood carving of himself with inset gems (500gp), a gold and gemstone coronet (5000gp), and a potion of spider climbing.

Rajeed legitimately likes his job, and will perform services for good-aligned individuals with no qualms. He also likes any time he gets to spend on the prime plane, as this allows him the opportunity to indulge his taste for “earthly flesh,” as he calls it. When in the service of evil masters, Rajeed will subvert them in any way possible, short of open rebellion.

Tips for using Rajeed:

• As mentioned, Rajeed can be inserted any time the CK finds the players in possession of a Djinn ring.

• While not malicious, Rajeed will often neglect his duties to pursue carnal pleasure. Whenever he is not directly supervised by the ring’s master, he is probably trying to find women.

• Keep in mind that someone owned the ring before the PCs got their hands on it. These previous owners probably want it back, as the djinn is a very powerful servant to command. Also, remember that whoever has the ring before the PCs find it will use it on them if possible.

• If there are female PCs in your troupe, then they will get the lion’s share of Rajeed’s attention. Outside of finding the ring, another way to introduce the group to Rajeed is to have him stumble across the party while performing a task for his current master. He will spy the ladies in the group, promptly forget what he is about, and begin to flirt with them.

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