Homebrew Dao Species Details

Genies are rare elemental creatures out of story and legend. Only a few can be found on the Material Plane. The rest reside on the Elemental Planes, where they rule from lavish palaces and are attended by worshipful servants.
Genies are as brilliant as they are mighty, as proud as they are majestic. Haughty and decadent, they have a profound sense of entitlement that stems from the knowledge that few creatures except the gods and other genies can challenge their power.

Creatures of the Elements. A genie is born when the soul of a sentient living creature melds with the primordial matter of an elemental plane. Only under rare circumstances does such an elemental-infused soul coalesce into a manifest form and create a genie.

A genie usually retains no connection to the soul that gave it form. That life force is a building block that determines the genie’s form and apparent gender, as well as one or two key personality traits. Although they resemble humanoid beings, genies are elemental spirits given physical form. They don’t mate with other genies or produce genie offspring, as all new genies are born out of the same mysterious fusion of spirit energy and elemental power. A genie with a stronger connection to its mortal soul might choose to sire a child with a mortal, although such offspring are rare.

When a genie perishes, it leaves nothing behind except what it was wearing or carrying, along with a small trace of its native element: a pile of dust, a gust of wind, a flash of fire and smoke, or a burst of water and foam.

Rule or Be Ruled. Mortal servants validate a genie’s power and high self-opinion. A hundred flattering voices are music to a genie’s ears, while two hundred mortal servants prostrated at its feet are proof that it is lord and master. Many treat their servants as valued members of their households. Evil genies freely threaten and abuse their thralls, but never to the extent that they can no longer work.

In contrast to their love of servants, most genies loathe being bound to service themselves. A genie obeys the will of another only when bribed or compelled by magic. All genies command the power of their native element, but a rare few also possess the power to grant wishes. For both these reasons, mortal mages often seek to bind genies into service.

Decadent Nobility. Noble genies are the rarest of their kind. They are used to getting what they want, and have learned to trade their ability to grant wishes to attain the objects of their desire. This constant indulgence has made them decadent, while their supreme power over reality makes them haughty and arrogant. Their vast palaces overflow with wonders and sensory delights beyond imagination.

Noble genies cultivate the jealousy and envy of other genies, asserting their superiority at every opportunity. Other genies respect the influence of the noble genies, knowing how unwise it is to defy a creature that can alter reality at a whim. A genie isn’t beholden to any noble genie, however, and will sometimes choose to defy a noble genie’s will and risk the consequences.

The Power of Worship. Genies acknowledge the gods as powerful entities but have no desire to court or worship them. They find the endless fawning and mewling of religious devotees tiresome — except as it is directed toward them by their worshipful servants.

Their miraculous powers, the grandeur of their abodes, and the numbers of their servants allow some genies to deceive themselves into believing they are as powerful as the gods. Some go so far as to demand that mortals of other realms — even whole continents or worlds — bow down before them.

Dao are greedy, malicious genies from the Elemental Plane of Earth. They adorn themselves with jewelry crafted from precious gems and rare metals, and when they fly, their lower bodies become columns of swirling sand. A dao isn’t happy unless it is the envy of other dao.

All That Glitters. The dao dwell in complexes of twisting tunnels and glittering ore-veined caverns on the Elemental Plane of Earth. These mazeworks are continually expanding as the dao delve into and reshape the rock around them. Dao care nothing for the poverty or misfortune of others. A dao might grind powdered gems and gold dust over its food to heighten the experience of eating, devouring its wealth as mortals consume a precious spice.

Lords of the Earth. A dao never assists a mortal unless the genie has something to gain, preferably treasure. Among the genies, dao are on speaking and trading terms with the efreet, but they have nothing but scorn for djinn and marids. Other races native to the Elemental Plane of Earth avoid the dao, which are always seeking more laborers to mine the mazeworks of their floating earth islands.

Proud Overseers. Dao force those they enslave to work in dangerous subterranean realms that rumble with earthquakes.

As much as they enjoy enslaving others, the dao hate being enslaved. Powerful wizards have been known to lure dao to the Material Plane and trap them in the confines of magic gemstones or iron flasks. Unfortunately for the dao, their greed makes it relatively easy for mages to cozen them into service.

Dao Traits

As a dao, you have the following traits.

Alignment

Dao are evil beings that see nothing wrong in enslaving others. Your alignment is neutral evil.

Age

A genie is born when the soul of a sentient living creature melds with the primordial matter of an elemental plane. Only under rare circumstances does such an elemental-infused soul coalesce into a manifest form and create a genie. A genie usually retains no connection to the soul that gave it form. That life force is a building block that determines the genie's form and apparent gender, as well as one or two key personality traits. A genie born this way is born as an adult, otherwise they mature at the same rate as humans, they do not age once mature or die of old age.

Creature Type

You are a Elemental.

Size

Dao are around ​11 feet tall. Your size is large.

Speed

You have a walking speed, burrow speed, and flying speed of 30 feet.

Genie Resilience

You are proficient in Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws.

Dao Strength

When you do damage with weapon attacks you roll for twice the amount of damage for that attack. If you hit with a weapon that does bludgeoning damage, if the creature hit is Huge or smaller they must make a Strength check or be knocked prone.

Darkvision

You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.

Earth Glide

You can burrow through nonmagical, unworked earth and stone. While doing so, you don’t disturb the material you move through.

Petrification Immunity

You have immunity to the petrified condition.

Sure-Footed

You have advantage on Strength and Dexterity saving throws made against effects that would knock you prone.

Dao Magic

You can cast detect magic, detect evil and good, and the disguise self spells at will, when you cast disguise self using this trait the duration lasts as long as you want it to and you can appear as a creature that is Medium or Small. Starting at 3rd level, you can cast invisibility with this trait. Starting at 5th level, you can cast the gaseous form, and tongues spells with this trait. Starting at 7th level, you can cast stone shape spell at will and phantasmal killer spells with this trait. Starting at 9th level, you can cast conjure elemental (earth elemental only), passwall, and wall of stone with this trait. Starting at 11th level, you can cast move earth with this trait. Starting at 13th level, you can cast plane shift with this trait. You cast these spells using this trait without requiring a material component. Once you cast these spells with this trait, you can’t cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast these spells using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level.

Your spellcasting modifier is Charisma for these spells when using this trait.

Noble Genie

At 17th level you don't suffer any of the penalties that normally follow casting the Wish spell to produce an effect other than duplicating another spell but can only cast it for another creature on their behalf and cosmic law dictates that you can expend your yearly limit of wishes on a specific creature only once in that creature’s existence.

To be granted a wish, a creature within 60 feet of you states a desired effect to it. You can then cast the Wish spell on the creature’s behalf to bring about the effect.

You can cast the Wish spell three times per year, and cast True Polymorph three times per day, you cast these spells using this trait without expanding a spell slot.

Natural Armor

When you aren’t wearing armor, your base AC is 11 + your Constitution modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield’s benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.

Elemental Demise

If you die, your body disintegrates into crystalline powder, leaving behind only equipment you were wearing or carrying.

Fist

When you make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal bludgeoning  damage equal to 2d8 + your Strength modifier, instead of the damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Terran and one other language of your choice.