What would an Efreeti exchange for a wish?

[Archade]

Hi all,

It's likely my group of 14th-15th level PCs will be travelling to the Elemental Plane of Fire to seek out some villains and slay them.

As a side adventure, I was thinking of having them run into an Efreeti merchant from the City of Brass. It strikes me that an Efreeti merchant might barter it's wishes to customers.

What might be a price for a wish? I don't mean "x thousand gold pieces", but more story-based exchanges that you might find in Arabian Nights, or even The Monkey's Paw.

Any ideas?

 

[lukelightning]

Easy. They would exchange it for a Plot Device. It makes a great adventure seed. "I will grant you a wish if you destroy my enemy, the Lord of Genies" or something like that.

 

[Hunter In Darkness]

lukelightning is right it will be a favor a side quest to a side quest if u will.... he'll make it sound easyer then it is most likey...oh all i need u to do is fatch a small gem for me from they plain of whater i can show u a gate shouldnt be hard for folks of your power ..

 

[Nifft]

A cold, refreshing Klondike Bar(tm)?

Cheers, -- N

 

[Mark Hope]

I would be sure to have the efreet request something apparently intangible. Rather than simply asking for the PCs to retrieve the Cranial Hip-Ring of Billy, it might instead ask that they bring the regret of Lord Illmire, the ambition of three brothers, or the hope of Avencar tribes.

If you do decide on tangible items, try making them be something other than they seem. I had a campaign where the PCs had to find something called the Heart of the Tehchan. The Heart turned out to be a nine year old girl and not a big shiny gem, as the players had assumed.

If a wish is in the offing, it should only be traded for something out of the ordinary and memorable, and prefferably equally intangible.

 

[WayneLigon]

"Ah, 'tis but a pittance, truly! Long have I desired a simple snuffbox, but I am barred from entering your existance to obtain it. It, frankly, holds great sentimental value for me, so much so that I will part with the granting of your desires should you bring it to me. It has passed through many hands, and now resides in the cubicle of a simple clerk in the palace of Pasha Hasamon."

The snuffbox is just what he says it is and where he says it is. Made of ivory and plain, it's only worth something like 25gp. What he doesn't say is that the clerk is really the Pasha's spymaster who beleives that a thing hidden in plain sight is hidden best of all. The secret bottom of the snuffbox contains the only map to a stronghold of pirates that are set to destroy the Pasha's treasure fleet. Without that gold, the Pasha can't pay his troops and they will desert, leaving the city-state undefended. Pirates will raid the city and kill most of the people there, and turn a center of learning and peace into a hive of scum and villany. All because they took that snuffbox and got a +1 on their Dex or something.

My players always seem to forget that Efreets are evil

 

[lukelightning]

The Efreeti of Oz method:

Player: I ask the efreeti to give me a wish.
DM: What's your wish?
Player: A cloak of Charisma +6
DM: The efreeti sends you on a quest to (insert quest here).

And then the PC returns from the quest, having slain many monsters and stolen their loot.

Player: Your quest is done! Now where's my cloak?
DM: The efreeti says "on your quest you have gained all that you need to purchase or craft such a cloak. The power was with you all along blah blah blah"

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Sounds cool - guess it depends how complicated you want the sidequest to be? Although it seems an ideal opportunity to spring an awkward one on them.

One that might be applicable - in a plane hopping high level game - one DMs had us go and negotiate with some thoroughly chaotic creatures (pixies inhabiting a plane of chaos) on behalf of a lawful type we wanted something from. He couldn't stomach dealing with or even talking to them.

The pixies drove us nuts - made us play strange and slightly lethal games with them. Turned out the aim wasn't to win, just to amuse them.

I liked the one where you had to shoot down baloons that cast random spells on you. A fine mix of amusing and terrifyingly dangerous... but a nice light sidetrack from some heavy plotlines.

The Efreeti of Oz method:

Hehe - the DM might need to invest in a potion of protection from player abuse?

 

[Nifft]

Hehe - the DM might need to invest in a potion of protection from player abuse?

Yeah, we totally need DM Riot Gear.

In the mean time, you could make a DM screen with a transparent shield (acetone?) and the words "Protection from Dice" written on it.

Cheers, -- N

 

[CRGreathouse]

A cold, refreshing Klondike Bar(tm)?

Cheers, -- N

On Elemental Fire? That's evil.