SHR Main Page | Opera Propria | Vestiges in Sand Introduction
One idea originally considered but never fully developed for Blood and Sand was that of allowing players to generate and play jinn characters. I present a rules set for such characters below.
A jinn character should be played as an alternative to a magus character, being of comparable power. The player will need to decide why the character is at the covenant, although given that jinn flourish best in Magic Auras, this should not be too hard to justify.
Jinn characters have all the innate features listed on pages 82-3 of Blood and Sand. The player should decide whether to play a religious or infernal jinni, and thus whether the character will have Magic or Infernal Might. The character's Might score is generated by rolling a simple die and adding 10 to the total, thus giving the character a Might between 11 and 21.
Might is a defining feature for jinn. It gives the character Magic Resistance and dictates the penetration of any jinn powers. It also affects the experience points available for the purchase of Abilities, and the amount of powers that the character receives, as described below.
As stated in Blood and Sand, page 87, there are said to be 112 tribes of jinn, each of which has common characteristics that distinguish it from the others. Therefore, players are encouraged to make use of the suggestions for Virtues, Flaws and powers given in Blood and Sand, pages 87-9 if they want their characters to be members of the tribes of Marids, 'Ifrits, Shaytans or Ghuls. Players are also encouraged to make up other tribes that might inhabit the local area.
Purchase or roll characteristics as normal.
Jinn choose Virtues and Flaws in the same way as other Companion characters, although they do not choose a Social Class. Players should be prepared to account for any choices that might otherwise raise eyebrows; for example, a jinni with the +1 Educated Virtue is likely to have spent a lot of time sneaking around Qur'an schools. The storyguide should feel free to forbid the character from taking certain Virtues or Flaws. Although not normally available to jinn, the storyguide may also wish to allow certain Hermetic Virtues and Flaws to jinn characters. A jinni could, for example, have the -3 Painful Magic Flaw, indicating that its powers caused it pain when it used them.
Jinn begin the game with the following Abilities:
| Speak Own Language | 5 |
| Second Sight | 2 |
| Magic Sensitivity | 2 |
The character receives experience points equal to 40 + Might. Jinn may choose Abilities in the same way as do other Companion characters.
The character receives a number of points of Rating in jinn powers equal to the character's Might. Thus a jinni with a Might of 15 might have Flight at a Rating of 5, Insubstantial Form at a Rating of 5, Shapechange to Animal at a Rating of 3 and Supernatural Quickness at a Rating of 2 (remember Supernatural Characteristic is limited by the jinni's Might). These powers follow the usual rules given on page 83 of Blood and Sand.
Jinn may gain experience in the same way as do other Companion characters. In addition, every year the character receives one Might Experience Point (MEP). These may be used to increase the character's Might in the same way that experience points are used to increase Abilities. Whenever the character's Might increases, the character receives one additional point of Rating, which may either be added to a power already possessed, or used to develop a new power at a score of 1.
Copyright © Niall Christie 2003.