How would you go about making a Genie-like alien?

[TheBoisterousAnomaly]

Hello there! I'm a new GM who has gathered a couple of friends to figure out DWAITAS. I've been lurking around the boards for a little while, trying to get my bearings. Since this is my first time GM-ing, I figured I would use one of the story seeds in the 50th Anniversary edition: The Mirror of Nine.

I'm now trying to work up a species of alien not unlike a Jinn (or Genie) that inhabits this vast and desert filled planet. I've been trying to do some research on the mythology of Jinn, as well as other games on how they make their Jinn. So far, they are strong, intelligent, and good at illusions. I'm thinking Ingenuity, Presence, and Strength would be their highest attributes. However, I'm a little lost as to what Traits I should use. Hypnosis? Teleportation? Shapeshift?

So what should their stats look like? What kind of traits would I use for them?

Any kind of help would be MUCH appreciated!

[jennysfan]

Hypnosis, Psychic and Telepathy would all be nice addtions to your Jinn. If you have the Heroes of the Solar System book for Rocket Age, then the Nightmare Projection Trait is a great one! (requires all of the above to get anyway) It causes hallucinations in those targeted by it.

Downside, (aside from not being in DWAiTaS), is that it designed just to be a special attack/distraction. But I'd be willing to bend the rules a little and let it also double as an odd varient of Boffin, allowing the GM-controlled Jinn to 'Jiggery-Pokery' illusions. No damage (at least not all the time), just the distraction or false readings (via Transmit gadget trait).

Cloud Men's Minds from Pulp Fantastic is also a nice choice.

Keep in mind, as an antagonist (not even the main one), it doesn't have to strictly abide by the rules. As long as it doesn't cheat the players out of their victory and/or fun, then it works.

[misterharry]

Depending on your interpretation of them, you might also include Flight, Shapeshift, Teleport, maybe Invisibility. How about Immunity - can they be injured by normal, physical weapons? And Environmental - do they need to breathe?

Djinn are very powerful beings. But on the counter side, do they have a Weakness to exploit? Must they obey whoever owns the ring or rubs the lamp or whatever (the Enslaved trait)? Will they obey their instructions strictly to the letter but not the spirit (By the Book - maybe a Major version)?

Oh, and welcome aboard!

[TheBoisterousAnomaly]

Oooh! These are all really good suggestions! I don't have the Rocket Age books, jennysfan, but that sounds like a neat trait. I'll have to look into those... The Boffin variant sounds useful too.

I never thought of using the By The Book trait in that sense, misterharry. I'll definitely use that on top of the Enslaved trait. Thanks!

Sooooo glad I found this forum.

[Doctor X]

Thinking something along the lines of the Morpho Brains from The Keys of Marinus. That they'd use advanced telepathic and hypnotic powers so that their subjects are, in their minds, experiencing their hearts' desire, while they bodies are slaves of the Jinn. Maybe they have to maintain a symbol of their presence in their victims' fantasies (A lamp, ring, etc.) which, if the victim is aware of it and takes control of it in the fantasy, allows them to turn the tables on the Jinn, releasing the victim and allowing them to control the Jinn instead.

SIDE THOUGHT: Recalling an issue of Knights of the Dinner Table where Brian is granted a wish. An "official ruling" on the game says that a wish may be prepared in advance as long as it is a single sentence. In his briefcase, Brian has kept for the past ten years, a 10-page document written with the help of a paralegal for the day he gets a wish. (He wishes to be made a god, and when the GM finds a way to take it away, it turns out that a clause in the wish grants him a powerful magic item in compensation.)