ROLLSPEL RUNEQUEST 6 ROLLSPELSRUNOR

ythological creatures of the than the lower ranking djinn, this is not Flight: usually travel by flying from place Confinement). Although some jinn might Islamic world, jinn are magical strictly true. Rather the ifrit rely more on to place – although they are happy to mimic willingly serve a master at first, extended entities which live in a realm flexing their tremendous magical strength walking if fitted to their adopted form. At top enslavement twists their attitude so that the beyond our own, unseen by the in brute-force approaches, than insightful speed they can move at INTx5 metres per round. magician must force them to perform each Mhumans with whose lives they capriciously or clever application. Intensity 4 spirits, ifrit Telekinesis: To interact with the physical world and every task – requiring a successful Bin- meddle. Placed in Islamic theology between know 1d3+9 Sorcery spells and have maste- jinn instinctively move objects via telekinesis, ding test and the expenditure of a Point. humans and , the djinni, ifrits and ma- red many skills to a minimum of 120%. providing part of their intangible body is Conversely, if the jinn wins the battle they rids were powerful spirits. Capable of good – INT 2d6+6, POW 1d6+30, CHA 5d6. touching it. They have a pseudo STR equal break free from the conjurer’s control, al- or evil, they could be arrogant, malicious The most powerful of these spirits, they are to their POW, though for the expenditure of lowing free use of their magic or immediate yet still be capable of benevolence when it rarely summoned due to their immense a Magic Point they can multiply this limit escape to their home realm. Whilst an unleas- suited them. magical strength and dangerous inclinations. by a factor of five, solely for the purpose of hed may be an aggravating annoyance, As creatures of “smokeless, scorching fire” It often takes the coordinated efforts of shifting exceptionally heavy objects. losing control of a Djinn might result in the they are for the most part intangible, but several magicians to attempt such a feat, or conjurer being consumed, leaving a pile of could affect the world of mortals and per- a great deal of flattery. Most marids are over- The Action Points, Strike Rank, and Magic picked-clean bones. form great deeds of magic. This makes them bearingly arrogant and conceited. Intensity 5 Points of the jinn are calculated as described on a perfect creature to create for RuneQuest6. spirits, marids know 1d3+12 Sorcery spells page 203 of RuneQuest. Spirit Damage is based Of course the power and scope of jinn vary and their skills start at 150% upon the Jinn’s Willpower skill, whilst its Da- WEAKENING OF BOUND JINN from ’s genie of the lamp to the de- Typical skills for jinn are: Brawn, Conceal, Customs, mage Modifier (used for hand to hand combat) Jinn in the physical world, whether bound sert haunting ghuls of Arabic superstition. Deceit, Evade, Influence, Insight, , is calculated using POWx2 instead of STR+SIZ. to attending the will of a magician or trap- However, for fun we’ll model the following Locale, Perception, Sing, Stealth, Unarmed, ped within an object, are prevented from jinn on those from the popular Bartimaeus Willpower, and one extra professional skill rejuvenating themselves. They can neither Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud (which I highly per Intensity of the jinn as a personal interest. SUMMONING AND BINDING heal any damage suffered, nor recover Magic recommend); treating these supernatural In the Bartimaeus stories the summoning of Points. Unlike normal RuneQuest spirits, jinn entities as spirits which can be summoned jinn is a dangerous activity, with weak willed actually take damage to their POW characte- and bound to the magician’s will. POWERS AND ABILITIES magicians often tricked to their deaths by ristic which can only be recovered if allowed All jinn possess a number of inherent abilities the irritated spirit. Such attempts require to return to their home realm. Running out as the result of their spiritual form. These extremely careful preparation, the use of va- of POW leaves a jinn helpless, open to utter THE HIERARCHY OF THE JINN powers cost no Magic Points, but still require rious paraphernalia to aid concentration and and final destruction. The jinn in the Bartimaeus books are roughly the spirit to spend an Action to perform. Jinn drawing of pentacle or other magical wards Using magic drains jinn of their strength. A in line with the mythological hierarchy of abilities are as follows: to trap the jinn whilst it is being coerced to jinn can replenish its Magic Points if permit- Islamic study. Jinn are categorised by their Invisibility: Jinn are naturally invisible, but can the summoner’s will. ted to feast upon the life-force of a living crea- magical strength and standing within jinni make themselves visible with conscious ef- The most important aspect of jinn sum- ture, effectively recovering a number equal society. Since RuneQuest already possesses fort. Since jinn can see others of their kind, moning is knowing the true name of the to the victim’s POW characteristic. If a jinn a way of categorising spirits based on their invisible or not, they require the use of the entity called. Each jinn holds this name as performs the dubious act of consuming an- magical power, it is an easy matter to uses the Stealth skill to sneak past one another. their most prized secret, for without this, a other jinn, then they absorb whatever Magic same mechanics to describe them. Intangibility: Jinn pass through solid objects un- magician cannot summon them to perform Points were left to the entity before its death. – INT 2d6+6, POW 1d6+6, CHA 1d6. The hindered. This includes trying to lift or move years of enslaved servitude. As any jinn weakest of the jinn, their magical abilities are objects, unless they use their Telekinesis called to the material world is prevented relatively feeble but make good messengers ability (read more about it later in this article). from being summoned again, until they are JINN MAGIC of spies. They are often spiteful and rude. Likewise, they are immune to non-magical released back to the realm from which they Jinn use sorcery to perform their miraculous Intensity 1 spirits, imps know 1d3 Sorcery damage, although they can injure each other originated; most magicians hoard such snip- acts of magic. Whilst imps are barely capable spells and have skills starting at 50%. using ‘physical’ attacks. pets of information, being the basis of their of harming small animals, the largest marids Foliots – INT 2d6+6, POW 1d6+12, CHA 2d6. Shape-Shifting: Since they lack a corporeal body, personal power. can create vast palaces in a single night. Jinn Jinn of more capable strength, they make jinn may change their appearance at will. Conjuring a jinn is similar to the Animism do not use the Shaping skill per se, each spell good servants and labourers, but show little This can be the form of a human, animal, or rules concerning summoning spirits. The costing a single Magic Point to cast with a TEXT PETE NASH imagination; nor even a likable personality, a monstrous hybrid of the two. Imaginative magician uses their Trance skill to perform Range of POW in metres, Duration of POW BILD LUKAS THELIN most being fawning lackeys. Intensity 2 spi- jinn can even take the shape of inanimate the ritual, which calls the named jinn (if av- minutes, a single Target, and a Magnitude of rits, foliots know 1d3+3 Sorcery spells and objects or abstract visual phenomena. Most ailable) to the prepared pentacle. This initial twice the jinn’s spirit Intensity. have skills from 70%. jinn have 1d3 favourite shapes with which stage costs the conjurer a number of Magic The following spells are suitable for jinn Djinn – INT 2d6+6, POW 1d6+18, CHA 3d6. they feel the most comfortable. A jinn can Points equal to the Intensity of the Spirit. with, where known, the associated names Potent spirits able to perform greater deeds of identify another jinn individual if they win Once manifested, the real struggle occurs. utilised in the Bartimaeus books placed in magical creativity, djinn often strain the skills an opposed test of Perception versus Deceit. This comprises of a battle of wits and will parenthesis – most of which are rather de- of a magician to summon and bind to their Size-Shifting: When manifested jinn have si- between the magician and the jinn, repre- structively orientated! will – not least because of their propensity milar proportions to a human of a SIZ equi- sented by the equivalent of a Spirit Combat Abjure, Animate, Banish (Void), Castback, to use their abilities is cunning, resourceful valent to the jinn’s POW. If the jinn desires using the Binding skill of the conjurer and Damage Resistance (Shield), Diminish SIZ ways. Their personalities range from polite they may further enlarge themselves by a the Willpower of the jinn. (Compression), Enhance SIZ, Enlarge, Hide servility to intimidating rebelliousness. In- multiple up to their CHA, or similarly shrink If the jinn is reduced to zero Magic Points Life, Hinder, Holdfast, Imprison (Nexus), tensity 3 spirits, djinn know 1d3+6 Sorcery by applying the same number as a divisor. before their summoner, then they are chained Mystic Vision (Pulse), Neutralise Magic (Flux), spells and have skills of at least 90%. Of course as spirits they possess no true SIZ to the magician’s will and can be forced to Palsy (Spasm), Phantom, Protective Ward, Re- Ifrits – INT 2d6+6, POW 1d6+24, CHA 4d6. characteristic so they can be bound into any personally serve until released from service pulse, Revivify, Sculpt, Sense, Shapechange, Spirits of great ability and generally greater object such as a ring or lamp, but some jinn (or the premature death of the magician); or Shrink, Smother (Convulsion), Spell Resis- maliciousness, ifrit show a particular affinity like to overawe viewers by swelling up to they can be eternally bound into an object tance (Shield), Wrack (Detonation, Plasm, DJINNSPIRITS BETWEEN HEAVEN AND to fire. Whilst thought of as less intelligent gigantic proportions. from which there is no escape (The Indefinite Inferno, Pestilence, Essence Lance) 24 25