I'm currently running a homebrew campaign for 4 of my friends in a global desert setting called Dwaz. Hidden throughout the Dwazian desert are four Noble Genies, one for each element. The party has already encountered Xybarel the Dao, an unknowably powerful and cruel tyrant currently imprisoned in his throne room deep under the sand. Our fire genasi barbarian just recently met Shasaak, her arrogant, absent efreeti queen mother. The party is currently headed to the only major city in the desert, Krigellyel, which the party suspects may be home to the Marid as the city is known for its lavish pool/spa (they are correct in this assumption). The 4 genies will be/are some of the major long term players in campaign events, so I'm not using the official Monster Manual stats for genies, as they don't reflect the level of power, influence, and terror these 4 beings exert over the desert. In essence, each of these genies needs to be built as their own BBEG or astonishingly powerful ally, really leaning into the idea of a power differential between regular and Noble genies. Homebrewing powerful creatures is wildly fun, but it's also difficult to gauge appropriate CR of NPCs that are high level.
The goal here is to create genies that the party can interact with and learn about, but instinctively understand would be extremely unwise to fight at their current level (5th level). They've done a great job so far of testing those limits without being mindless murderhobos (the fire genasi barbarian refuses to condemn her imperialist tyrant uncle Dao, and even became a warlock for him, but agreed to flee the city he was devouring via earthquake). I've realized that my campaign events will all coalesce at a pretty high level, probably 13th at least, so we are leveling a little faster than most campaigns. I've also made it very clear through narrative and mechanical consequences that reckless behavior can absolutely result in death/injury/character changes, so I'm not too concerned with my PCs just rushing in to kill a super powered marid.
However, in my experience DMing, it's best to be prepared for all eventualities. The Marid they will likely meet in the city of Krigellyel is named Sakona, and is less overtly evil than either the Dao or the Efreeti. The Dao represents inescapable annihilation, and the Efreeti is openly destructive and uncaring about smaller scale life. For the moment, the PCs have no reason to try to fight the Dao or the Efreeti, and would have to figure out some pretty high level conjuration magic to even find them again. However, Sakona the Marid is different. They live in a deep pool at the top of a city, and are secretly building an army of undead elves and orcs in an attempt to hunt down the celestial sphinx that guards the desert from interplanar intrusion. They are charming and lavish, and will react with glee to meeting the party, so it's very possible their meeting could be totally innocuous and fun. However, my players are (justifiably) suspicious of anyone they meet, and I've laid out the city in a way where they could pretty easily discover Sakona's necromantic secret. I think they'll be aware that the marid is deceptively powerful and that fighting them would be a mistake, but I could also see my PCs finding a bunch of zombies underwater and leading an angry mob to the sacred pool, so I want to be prepared and make sure I'm not setting them up for an immediate TPK (I know there's lots of ways around that as the DM, I give them lots of chances to narrowly escape or whatever, but you never know).
So below are the current stats I have for Sakona. I wanted them to be a little more squishy than the other genies they've encountered. I think the Dao might literally just use Tarrasque stats, his release from imprisonment will essentially be the final event of the campaign, and the Efreeti is someone they'd have to fight in her Brass Castle and will simply bomb the shit out of them, definitely a level 11-13 or thereabouts mission. I just don't know sort of at what time in the campaign the party will be mechanically capable of taking on this Marid NPC that I fully invented, especially seeing as their "lair actions" will basically be a horde of zombies.
The party contains:
-Wild Magic Barbarian 4/Dao Genie Warlock 1 Fire Genasi
-Scout Rogue 4/Undead Warlock 1 Satyr
-Battle Smith Artificer 5 Tabaxi (plans to start multiclassing into ranger)
-Circle of Stars Druid 5 Tiefling
What I'm most interested in is what CR you'd assign to this Marid, or better yet what level party you think would be capable of taking them on. I know from experience that CR is a near useless indicator of actual danger in 5e, but it'll be helpful in my calculations of at what level this character could actually be fought/stopped/killed by my PCs. The party will be level 6 by the time they meet Sakona. [Disclaimer: I know Sakona has a lot of free spells per day, most of them are just DM spells for me to justify them having this highly protected necromancer's sanctum within the pool]. And to be clear, yes, they are supposed to be very scary and difficult to kill. My hope is that my players will realize they need to somehow lure Sakona away from the water and their undead army in order to kill them. They already learned the hard way that fighting a dragon in its lair is a near death sentence. My instinct is maybe at 8 or 9th level, the party could revisit the Defiler in the Depths and take them out at that point. Let me know what you think and if you have any mechanical tweaks, tips, or suggestions! I've added unique "Primordial Fortitudes" to each of the genies, let me know if 2d10 per turn is way too much, I truly have no idea, I just think it should be somewhat difficult to kill the ocean.
Sakona, the Noble Marid, the Gilled Genie, the Pearl Barracuda, Barony of the Blue, Dealer in the Depths, the Soaking Sower, the Drowning Defiler, Corpse Carrier, the Antilife Aquarelle
STR 17 (+3)
DEX 16 (+3)
CON 26 (+8)
INT 16 (+3)
WIS 22 (+6)
CHA 18 (+4)
PB +4
Saving Throws: Con +11, Dex +7, Wis +10, Str +7
Skills: Insight +10, Perception +10, Sleight of Hand +11, Deception +12, Athletics +7, Arcana +7
Damage Resistance: Cold, Lightning Bludgeoning, Slashing, Piercing damage from nonmagicals
Primordial Fortitude: Fluid Body. Sakona cannot be killed while in water. At the start of each of their turns while they are in a body of water or in torrential rain, the marid regains 2d10 hit points. If Sakona takes fire or radiant damage, this trait doesn’t function on their next turn. If Sakona is reduced to zero hp while in water, their body reforms under the surface of the water (or above the falling rain) after 1d4 minutes, at full HP.
Living Tide: While in a body of water or torrential rain, Sakona adds a d4 to all rolls, including damage rolls. While fully submerged or under water, Sakona’s ability scores all increase by 4 (+2 to modifiers).
Echolocation: Sakona has blindsight out to 120 feet as long as they are not deafened.
Legendary Resistance: 1/day
Spellcasting
Sakona is an 11th-level spellcaster. Their spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 18, +10 to hit with spell attacks). The Marid has the following spells prepared:
3/day each: Tidal Wave, Cause Fear, Watery Sphere, Misty Step
At Will: Charm Person, Fog Cloud, Detect Magic, Invisibility, Animate Dead, Magic Circle, Control Water, Water Breathing, Water Walk, Purify Food and Water, Locate Object
Cantrips: Acid Splash, Dancing Lights, Mending, Mind Sliver, Toll the Dead, Shape Water
6th level (1 slot): Circle of Death, Create Undead, Soul Cage, Eyebite
Actions
Bite, Melee Attack, +7 to hit, 5ft. reach: On a hit, the target takes 2d8 piercing damage and 1d8 acid damage, and the target must make a DC 18 CON Save or take 2d10 necrotic damage and be restrained (escape DC 15 STR check). Sakona cannot Bite another target while one is restrained.
Rend: A target restrained by Sakona’s Bite takes 2d8 slashing and 1d10 necrotic damage. The creature’s max HP is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken.
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Hi there!
I'm currently running a homebrew campaign for 4 of my friends in a global desert setting called Dwaz. Hidden throughout the Dwazian desert are four Noble Genies, one for each element. The party has already encountered Xybarel the Dao, an unknowably powerful and cruel tyrant currently imprisoned in his throne room deep under the sand. Our fire genasi barbarian just recently met Shasaak, her arrogant, absent efreeti queen mother. The party is currently headed to the only major city in the desert, Krigellyel, which the party suspects may be home to the Marid as the city is known for its lavish pool/spa (they are correct in this assumption). The 4 genies will be/are some of the major long term players in campaign events, so I'm not using the official Monster Manual stats for genies, as they don't reflect the level of power, influence, and terror these 4 beings exert over the desert. In essence, each of these genies needs to be built as their own BBEG or astonishingly powerful ally, really leaning into the idea of a power differential between regular and Noble genies. Homebrewing powerful creatures is wildly fun, but it's also difficult to gauge appropriate CR of NPCs that are high level.
The goal here is to create genies that the party can interact with and learn about, but instinctively understand would be extremely unwise to fight at their current level (5th level). They've done a great job so far of testing those limits without being mindless murderhobos (the fire genasi barbarian refuses to condemn her imperialist tyrant uncle Dao, and even became a warlock for him, but agreed to flee the city he was devouring via earthquake). I've realized that my campaign events will all coalesce at a pretty high level, probably 13th at least, so we are leveling a little faster than most campaigns. I've also made it very clear through narrative and mechanical consequences that reckless behavior can absolutely result in death/injury/character changes, so I'm not too concerned with my PCs just rushing in to kill a super powered marid.
However, in my experience DMing, it's best to be prepared for all eventualities. The Marid they will likely meet in the city of Krigellyel is named Sakona, and is less overtly evil than either the Dao or the Efreeti. The Dao represents inescapable annihilation, and the Efreeti is openly destructive and uncaring about smaller scale life. For the moment, the PCs have no reason to try to fight the Dao or the Efreeti, and would have to figure out some pretty high level conjuration magic to even find them again. However, Sakona the Marid is different. They live in a deep pool at the top of a city, and are secretly building an army of undead elves and orcs in an attempt to hunt down the celestial sphinx that guards the desert from interplanar intrusion. They are charming and lavish, and will react with glee to meeting the party, so it's very possible their meeting could be totally innocuous and fun. However, my players are (justifiably) suspicious of anyone they meet, and I've laid out the city in a way where they could pretty easily discover Sakona's necromantic secret. I think they'll be aware that the marid is deceptively powerful and that fighting them would be a mistake, but I could also see my PCs finding a bunch of zombies underwater and leading an angry mob to the sacred pool, so I want to be prepared and make sure I'm not setting them up for an immediate TPK (I know there's lots of ways around that as the DM, I give them lots of chances to narrowly escape or whatever, but you never know).
So below are the current stats I have for Sakona. I wanted them to be a little more squishy than the other genies they've encountered. I think the Dao might literally just use Tarrasque stats, his release from imprisonment will essentially be the final event of the campaign, and the Efreeti is someone they'd have to fight in her Brass Castle and will simply bomb the shit out of them, definitely a level 11-13 or thereabouts mission. I just don't know sort of at what time in the campaign the party will be mechanically capable of taking on this Marid NPC that I fully invented, especially seeing as their "lair actions" will basically be a horde of zombies.
The party contains:
-Wild Magic Barbarian 4/Dao Genie Warlock 1 Fire Genasi
-Scout Rogue 4/Undead Warlock 1 Satyr
-Battle Smith Artificer 5 Tabaxi (plans to start multiclassing into ranger)
-Circle of Stars Druid 5 Tiefling
What I'm most interested in is what CR you'd assign to this Marid, or better yet what level party you think would be capable of taking them on. I know from experience that CR is a near useless indicator of actual danger in 5e, but it'll be helpful in my calculations of at what level this character could actually be fought/stopped/killed by my PCs. The party will be level 6 by the time they meet Sakona. [Disclaimer: I know Sakona has a lot of free spells per day, most of them are just DM spells for me to justify them having this highly protected necromancer's sanctum within the pool]. And to be clear, yes, they are supposed to be very scary and difficult to kill. My hope is that my players will realize they need to somehow lure Sakona away from the water and their undead army in order to kill them. They already learned the hard way that fighting a dragon in its lair is a near death sentence. My instinct is maybe at 8 or 9th level, the party could revisit the Defiler in the Depths and take them out at that point. Let me know what you think and if you have any mechanical tweaks, tips, or suggestions! I've added unique "Primordial Fortitudes" to each of the genies, let me know if 2d10 per turn is way too much, I truly have no idea, I just think it should be somewhat difficult to kill the ocean.
Sakona, the Noble Marid, the Gilled Genie, the Pearl Barracuda, Barony of the Blue, Dealer in the Depths, the Soaking Sower, the Drowning Defiler, Corpse Carrier, the Antilife Aquarelle
STR 17 (+3)
DEX 16 (+3)
CON 26 (+8)
INT 16 (+3)
WIS 22 (+6)
CHA 18 (+4)
PB +4
Saving Throws: Con +11, Dex +7, Wis +10, Str +7
Skills: Insight +10, Perception +10, Sleight of Hand +11, Deception +12, Athletics +7, Arcana +7
Damage Resistance: Cold, Lightning Bludgeoning, Slashing, Piercing damage from nonmagicals
Damage Immunities: Acid, Necrotic
Condition Immunities: Charmed, Frightened, Restrained, Grappled, Prone
AC 16
HP 138
Speed: 30 ft walk, 80 ft swim, 40 ft fly
Primordial Fortitude: Fluid Body. Sakona cannot be killed while in water. At the start of each of their turns while they are in a body of water or in torrential rain, the marid regains 2d10 hit points. If Sakona takes fire or radiant damage, this trait doesn’t function on their next turn. If Sakona is reduced to zero hp while in water, their body reforms under the surface of the water (or above the falling rain) after 1d4 minutes, at full HP.
Living Tide: While in a body of water or torrential rain, Sakona adds a d4 to all rolls, including damage rolls. While fully submerged or under water, Sakona’s ability scores all increase by 4 (+2 to modifiers).
Echolocation: Sakona has blindsight out to 120 feet as long as they are not deafened.
Legendary Resistance: 1/day
Spellcasting
Sakona is an 11th-level spellcaster. Their spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 18, +10 to hit with spell attacks). The Marid has the following spells prepared:
1/day: Gaseous Form, Dimension Door, Dream, Private Sanctum, Clairvoyance, Nondetection, Vitriolic Sphere, Negative Energy Flood, Magic Jar, Create Magen, Control Weather
3/day each: Tidal Wave, Cause Fear, Watery Sphere, Misty Step
At Will: Charm Person, Fog Cloud, Detect Magic, Invisibility, Animate Dead, Magic Circle, Control Water, Water Breathing, Water Walk, Purify Food and Water, Locate Object
Cantrips: Acid Splash, Dancing Lights, Mending, Mind Sliver, Toll the Dead, Shape Water
1st level (4 slots): Inflict Wounds, Shield, Thunderwave, Unseen Servant, Silent Image, Hideous Laughter
2nd level (3 slots): Ray of Enfeeblement, Blind/Deaf, Arcane Lock, Darkness, Detect Thoughts, Suggestion, Mirror Image, Phantasmal Force, Hold Person
3rd level (3 slots): Bestow Curse, Feign Death, Blink, Dispel Magic, Counterspell, Fear, Hypnotic Pattern, Slow, Glyph of Warding
4th level (3 slots): Blight, Shadow of Moil, Black Tentacles, Otiluke's Resilient Sphere, Arcane Eye, Greater Invisibility, Polymorph
5th level (2 slots): Contagion, Dominate Person, Mislead, Planar Binding, Wall of Force, Seeming
6th level (1 slot): Circle of Death, Create Undead, Soul Cage, Eyebite
Actions
Bite, Melee Attack, +7 to hit, 5ft. reach: On a hit, the target takes 2d8 piercing damage and 1d8 acid damage, and the target must make a DC 18 CON Save or take 2d10 necrotic damage and be restrained (escape DC 15 STR check). Sakona cannot Bite another target while one is restrained.
Rend: A target restrained by Sakona’s Bite takes 2d8 slashing and 1d10 necrotic damage. The creature’s max HP is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken.