Genie Dark Bargains

Whatever You Wish

"Never mistake a genie's smile for kindness. It is the expression of a creature that has already imagined a thousand endings to your wish, and found every one of them amusing."

— Scholar Nasir ibn Kareth, Treatises on the Peoples of the Inner Planes

Heart's Desire

Genies delight in granting the impossible, not because they are kind, but because they believe the world should occasionally indulge a bold enough wish.

Wish Fulfilled
When you fail an ability check, you can invoke this bargain to declare a fortunate coincidence related to your attempt. The coincidence can't directly harm another creature or solve the challenge outright, but it must create a new opportunity that could reasonably help overcome the challenge. The DM determines the exact nature of the coincidence. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Fleeting Fortune
Until your next Long Rest, the DM may choose one NPC you interact with. That creature becomes convinced fortune favors you above all others and acts accordingly.

Host's Privilege

The tea was poured. The bread was broken. By the oldest laws, they became my guest. Everything that followed was merely hospitality.

Gracious Host
When you offer food, drink, shelter, or safe passage to a creature that willingly accepts, you can invoke this bargain. Until that hospitality naturally ends, the creature instinctively treats your goodwill as genuine and evaluates your words in the most favorable reasonable light. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Unspoken Obligation
Until your next Long Rest, the DM may choose one NPC you interact with. That creature becomes convinced they have unknowingly accepted your hospitality and acts accordingly.

Bottomless Coffers

A mortal counts coins. A genie counts only whether there are enough to fulfill the next desire. There are always more coins.
Lavish Gift
When you freely give away a nonmagical object worth no more than 100 gp, you can invoke this bargain. Before the end of your next Long Rest, you discover a comparable object, wealth, or opportunity of equal or greater value through an improbable but believable coincidence. The DM determines the nature of the replacement. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Whispers of Wealth
Until your next Long Rest, the DM may choose one NPC you interact with. That creature becomes convinced you possess unimaginable riches and acts accordingly.

A Name Remembered

Never tell a genie your name twice. The first time is courtesy. The second is permission.

True Introduction
When you introduce yourself to a creature for the first time, you can invoke this bargain. Until the end of the conversation, the creature instinctively regards you as someone worthy of its time and sincere attention, evaluating your words in the most favorable reasonable light. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Echoing Name
Until your next Long Rest, the DM may choose one NPC you interact with. That creature becomes convinced it has heard your name before under remarkable or mysterious circumstances and acts accordingly.

More Than Enough

A mortal asks for water. A genie gives them a river. It has never understood the difference.

Lavish Excess
When you would provide a creature with food, drink, lodging, information, assistance, or a nonmagical gift, you can invoke this bargain. What you offer is perceived as exceptionally generous, thoughtful, or impressive, regardless of its ordinary nature. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Impossible Expectations
Until your next Long Rest, the DM may choose one NPC you interact with. That creature becomes convinced you are capable of extraordinary generosity and acts accordingly.

Careful What You Wish

The cruelest wishes are never spoken to a genie. They are spoken aloud when a genie happens to be listening.

Idle Wish
When you verbally express a hope, desire, or wish for something that could reasonably occur, you can invoke this bargain. Before your next Long Rest, an improbable but believable opportunity arises that could help bring your wish to pass. The opportunity doesn't fulfill the wish outright, and the DM determines its exact nature. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Unintended Desire
Until your next Long Rest, the DM may choose one NPC you interact with. That creature becomes convinced it knows what you truly desire and acts accordingly.

A Fair Exchange

A genie never takes more than it gives. Mortals simply discover too late that they valued the wrong thing.

Equal Measure
When you willingly give up something meaningful to achieve a goal, you can invoke this bargain. The DM introduces an unexpected opportunity, resource, or stroke of fortune that more than compensates for your sacrifice, though not always in the way you intended. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
The Price Miscounted
Until your next Long Rest, the DM may choose one NPC you interact with. That creature becomes convinced you've received something of great value without paying its proper price and acts accordingly.

The Shortest Road

A genie never understood why mortals insist that every road must pass through all the miles between here and there.

Fortunate Passage
When you begin traveling toward a destination you can reasonably reach, you can invoke this bargain. Before you arrive, the DM introduces an improbable but believable shortcut, guide, conveyance, or circumstance that meaningfully hastens your journey without bypassing it entirely. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Well-Traveled
Until your next Long Rest, the DM may choose one NPC you interact with. That creature becomes convinced you've traveled somewhere remarkable, distant, or impossible and acts accordingly.

The Hidden Door

Every wall contains a door. Mortals simply stop looking after they fail to find the first one.

Unexpected Entrance
When you search for a means of entering, escaping, or reaching a place through ordinary means and fail, you can invoke this bargain. The DM introduces an improbable but believable alternative route, entrance, or passage that could reasonably achieve your goal without bypassing it entirely. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Rumors of Impossible Places
Until your next Long Rest, the DM may choose one NPC you interact with. That creature becomes convinced you've discovered a hidden place that no one else can find and acts accordingly.

Larger Than Life

Never boast within earshot of a genie. They have a troublesome habit of assuming every good story deserves to be true.

Living Legend When you recount one of your own deeds, you can invoke this bargain. Until the conversation ends, the tale takes on a life of its own. The creature hearing it instinctively fills in the gaps with details that make your accomplishment seem more remarkable, though never beyond what could reasonably be believed. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Legend Precedes You
Until your next Long Rest, the DM may choose one NPC you interact with. That creature becomes convinced it has already heard an incredible story about you and acts accordingly.

"A genie grants exactly what you ask for. The tragedy begins when you discover how carelessly you asked it."

— From The Brass Lamp, Act III, Scene I