Running Genies In D&D 5e

Giving you the lowdown on genies in D&D and how you can play them in your own campaigns.

Genies in D&D are not normally the trinket-bound, wish-fulfilling blue beings you might find in a Disney film (though they can be trinket-bound, wish-fulfilling and/or blue). Most are independent and powerful magic-wielders of considerably greater power than most mortals.

In this guide, you can learn about genies and how you can use them in your campaigns including combat tactics for these exotic elementals.

What are genies in D&D?

Genies are types of elementals that possess potent magical abilities. There are different types of genies for each elemental plane with their powers reflecting their elemental plane of origin.

They are often not aggressive in nature, though they can have a penchant for mischief, manipulation and even harm if they feel disposed to do so. They can also be petitioned for a boon, and some (about a third of them) have access to the wish spell (in limited quantities) allowing the opportunity for some very powerful gifts. Such a boon will often come at a cost though.

While petitioning a genie for a favour is safer than requesting such things of a devil or a hag, this does not mean they are benevolent creatures (they are generally considered neutral in alignment) and should still be approached with caution.

Types of genies

There are 4 types of genies, each associated with the elemental planes of air, earth, fire and water. They are:

Dao – Native to the elemental plane of earth, dao have a great love of riches and can easily manipulate earth and stone.
Djinni – Possessors of the elemental powers of the air, djinni love the freedom of the skies and the sharing of tales and stories.
Efreeti – Fickle and feisty genies native to the elemental plane of fire. They can forge treasures within magical infernos as well as using such fire to burn their foes.
Marid – Like with water, a marid’s temperament can vary between calm stillness to volatile and tempestuous. Possessing the powers of elemental water, marids can often be petitioned with gifts of trinkets and the promise of protection of watery realms.

Running genies in D&D

While not deific in power, all genies are CR11 making them fairly powerful. They are also difficult to kill permanently and some have access to the most powerful spell in the game (the wish spell), though this can only be used for someone else.

This power will often make them arrogant, or at least self-confident. This power can also make them great antagonists, but also patrons, quest-givers and those seeking a mutually beneficial deal. There are also a couple of genie-centric subclasses like the pact of the genie warlock and the oath of the noble genies paladin (from the recent Forgotten Realms unearthed arcana).

Below are some ideas for using genies in your campaign:

Defending their realm – A Marid has been causing problems for trade routes and transport across the seas. They’ve been whipping up tempests and destroying ships. Turns out someone has been trying to take whatever the Marid is guarding, and the Marid has reacted by destroying anyone that encroaches on its territory.
Forger of a magic item – In order to defeat a powerful evil enemy, the party must bind it in magical chains that can only be forged in a powerful, magical inferno. Fortunately, there’s an efreeti with just those powers, but she’ll need convincing. There are inter-planar pirates trading elemental creatures as slaves. The efreeti wants the slave ring dealt with and the slaves rescued. In return, she’ll forge the chains for you.
Dealing with a dao – A dao has taken up residence in the underdark and has proclaimed the region it’s empire. Duergar, Svirfneblin, Drow and others have all been enslaved and must do the dao’s bidding. An escapee has petitioned the party to rescue their friends from the dao’s evil machinations.
10 year servitude – The party, all at different times, made a deal with a djinni. 10 years servitude for the boon of the wish spell. However, the djinni is willing to cut short your service for a mission of incredible danger. Do you dare accept, and what kind of schemes have you become embroiled in?

Using genies in combat

Marid D&D 2024 — Marid: Wizards of the Coast

With a variety of powers, genies have a whole arsenal of powers at their fingertips. Below are some ideas for using genies in combat to help with tactics:

Take the combat somewhere dark – Genies have darkvision, some characters do not. By going into caves and murky water, you can cause bigger problems for player characters than for your genies.
Use the environment – Genies are also capable in a variety of environments that PCs may be less comfortable with. For example, marid’s can breath underwater and have a swim speed, djinni can can fly and dao can burrow through the ground. Use these abilities to your advantage.
Magic resistance – Some genies are resistant to magic. This means they’ve got advantage on saving throws against magical effects. This makes them a great option against a party with lots of spellcasters.
Elemental resistances and immunities – Each genie has a few resistances and immunities to the elements they’re associated with. Consider pitching certain genies against certain characters that use these types of damages and conditions.
Tough to kill – If killed on a plane that isn’t their native plane, then genies will reform on their native plane. This means they can easily return to torment the party unless they’re willing to face the genie on their home turf.
Easy escapists – Many genies won’t let things go that far though. They also have a lot of spells in their arsenal that can help them make a get away. Things like invisibility, fog cloud, plane shift and others will let your genie flee if combat turns sour. Players may need to devise clever ways to pin down a genie that they want to keep from escaping.
Wishes – Some genies have access to the wish spell but can’t cast it for themselves. They can cast it for another non-genie though. Perhaps the foe has a genie on call for exactly this kind of requirement.
Different genies for different attacks – Dao and efreeti have high damage attacks with dao able to knock prone. Djinni attacks are lower damage but their whirlwind can restrain enemies. Marids have a long reach for high damage melee attacks.
Control the battlefield with magical walls – Dao can cast wall of stone while efreeti can cast wall of fire. Use these to control the battlefield and separate off characters while you handle them a few at a time.
Misty veil to block vision – Marid’s have 30ft blindsight, they can also use fog cloud as a bonus action, letting them impair the vision of enemies, but not their own. This will mean advantage on your attacks and disadvantage on those of your enemies.

Differences in D&D 2014 and 2024

The above tactics are based on the stat blocks in the 2024 Monster Manual. It’s worth being aware though, that the 2014 genie stat blocks are a bit different.

As a general rule, the genies in the 2024 Monster Manual have more hit points, more damaging attacks, more attack types available and tend to be more elemental focused in their attacks (whereas the 2014 genies tend to favour scimitars or mauls).

Its also worth noting that the lore around genies has changed too. For instance, all genies are neutral in the 2024 rules, but in 2014 rules, Dao and efreeti are evil aligned while djinni are good.

Personally, I prefer the elemental focus and the greater threat posed by the 2024 genies, but both are good options and your use will likely be determined by which ruleset you’re running in your campaign.

Fighting genies

Of course, you may be on the wrong side of a genie attack. If you happen to be fighting some genies, it’s important to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses.

Use damage types wisely – Different genies are resistant or immune to different types of damage. Avoid using fire damage against an efreeti or lightning and thunder against a djinni.
Stop them casting spells for early escapes – The silence spell can help here for example. If they can cast spells, then they can probably escape.
Beware of vengeful genies – If you kill a genie on any plane other than their native elemental plane, then they’ll reform, possibly with vengeance in mind. Just be aware you may need to sort them out again or even hunt them down once they’ve reformed.
Saving throws – Like with many creatures, intelligence tends to be a good saving throw to target. Marids and efreeti also have a lower dexterity save too which can be handy.
But beware of magic resistances – All genies other than marids have magic resistance so just be aware that even with a weaker saving throw, they’ll still have advantage against your spells. Things like bane, mind sliver and other spells and effects could help here (though likely need their own saving throw failure to aid future attempts). Spell attacks will be just as potent as usual though.
Be prepared for flight – Or burrowing against Dao and swimming against marids. All of these can play havoc on an I’ll prepared party.

Of course, if you can avoid fighting a genie at all, that is often going to be preferable. And talking is often going to be an option with genies. They are, after all, intelligent and not automatically hostile in nature.

What do you think of genies? And have you ever used them in your own campaigns? Let me know about it in the comments below.