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Jim, the Gith adventure you’re thinking about from 3.5 is called “The Lich Queen’s Beloved,” by Chris Perkins. It was published in Dungeon Magazine #100. It’s pretty epic.
And there are adventures and books in 4e that have some information. Secrets of the Astral Sea from 4e is a TROVE of lore for the gith, explains the dragons, Dragon Magazine #377 has some more info, aswell as the 4e adventure path, Scales of War. Though the ending is decidedly noncanon if 5th is anything to go by. I'd spoil it but ...spoilers.
27:26 They have a group like that in the lore, it's call the Sha'sal Khou It's an insurgent group consisting of members of both subraces working towards reunification
I think I like the Gith because they represent a powerful Outside Context Problem. Whatever your campaign setting's "normal" conflicts, the Gith are foreign and unpredictable. If you as DM use the Gith, this point should be stressed, even to the point of modifying the Gith that appear to be as counter to the setting as possible. Every Conan-style barbarian or chivalrous knight is gangsta, until psychic aliens show up in their flying saucer dungeons.
Ah yes, makes me nostalgic for my early years as Merlin's apprentice when I accidentally released some extra-planer creatures from their stasis in Merlin's menagerie. Surely you've heard my story, A Kinetic Githyanki in King Arthur's Court.
I love the Gith as race mainly because of Dak'kon from Planescape Torment. If you want more Gith action, have some free time and are not turned off by old games (poor graphics and amazing story included), have fun with Planescape Torment. Jim is absolutely on the money about the nature of the Gith being very interesting because their outlook is shaped not by gods but philosophy. This is so rare in D&D that is really makes them one of the most unique playable races. This kind of makes them the thinkers of D&D. It also makes an individual Gith (aka your PC) more malleable on what their exact philosophy is. Because Gith are 'not from around here', it is quite probable they are extremely rarely seen by the general populace. This means the average NPC's first initial reaction is more likely to be "damn you ugly" and not just - kill with extreme prejudice. Which it would (and should) be for most of the monstrous races (especially goblins) in the average campaign. You also look basically human in full armour and a helmet or deep hood. In most D&D campaigns I would never recommend playing a godless character, but once again Gith seem like an exception to this rule. My favourite Gith is a Githyanki Gish who is aligned to a mostly secret faction who wishes to reunite the two races. Creating some enemies and some friends for this otherworldly character, as well as a reason for them to be ostracized and exiled to the prime material plane. Has their own code that combines many of the philosophies of both Gith and Zerthimon. Finally on a mechanical stand point Githyanki make good Gish characters, multi-classing fighter (or barb) to lvl 5-6, then your favourite wizard to 5 (for haste mostly), then go from there. Battlemaster/war wizard being my personal preference. Githzerai on the other hand are obviously best as monks. no dex bonus, but the wis bump very good. Free mage hand and 1/day shield are simply useful for a monk. You could also go cleric or druid on your Githzerai, not my choice from my lore view. However maybe this is why your not still in limbo, because you "found god" or fell in love with the prime material world (could work and create some interesting stories. TL;DR Gith rule and webDM is awesome.
I have a Star Druid Gith (father was Githzerai, mother Githyanki) who seeks to reunify the two people. She searches the stars for portents and clues on how to go about this. Very fun character to play, and she now has a telescope and an astronomy group that comes over to share their collected knowledge on the celestial objects they study.
Probably my favorite game I ever ran was having the party go on a flying ship (think Treasure Planet) adventure in the Astral Plane where they had to fight Githyanki pirates and escape from an Astral Dreadnaught. Githyanki are very fun villains and the lore behind them is awesome.
Excited for another year of awesome Web DM content! I'd love to hear more about original D&D, the OSR, and old school dungeon crawl procedure. Thanks for all the work and passion you guys, including Trev, happy new year!
One of my favorite characters I've ever played is a Githyanki eldritch knight/ war wizard multiclass. His backstory is that he was a gish, fighting against mindflayers, but he suffers from PTSD because mindflayers are fucking terrifying. He was sent to the material plane to gather resources but he discovered that alcohol and drugs help him not think about mindflayers so instead of going back to the astral plane he defected and became a mercenary because killing is the only thing he's good at and the only time he isn't thinking about mindflayers is when he's in combat or drunk.
I am actually working on building a campaign around these guys. And I really appreciate some of this content because there is not a lot of info on them.
Githyanki blade pact warlock makes a lot of sense if you go for the Undying patron; their queen is already on the list of acceptable lich patrons, you get a mix of martial and magical abilities, and any spellcaster appreciates more armor
Love it when Jim has a real hard time holding back a laugh at Pruitt's terrible puns. Take 1- laugh. Take 2- still laughs. Take 3- fuck it we'll use this one.
This was a great covering of the Gith, but that Stinger was just *chef's kiss* I'm glad we've reached a point where we can discuss such things without it being too taboo. I too have contemplated acquiring such a position (phrasing).
With BG3 - Githyanki, and even Vlaakith and the featured githyanki fighter lae'zel gave us a lot of insight and awsome moments of then race and their culutre. Would love for you to do discussions about BG3 and their take on the lore. The end of Lae'zel's story in that game could be great inspiration for a d&d campaign!
"I can't think of an iconic Gith adventurer, I can't think of an iconic Gith moment..." Dak'kon (Planescape: Torment): "Hrm....My blade has shifted. I suppose I shall go fuck myself."
I have a Githyanki Barbarian player in the group I run, it's a lot of fun to watch someone fully embrace some of the oddities that must logically happen as a part of being essentially immortal on one plane, and being such a fish out of water on the Material plane in a busy city.
I kind of like the idea that an ancient Githzerai - being functionally eternal, millennia old, cosmically attuned, etc - would make an awesome originator for the monk class in any given world setting. Being descended from human stock, perhaps all other humans and human-like beings would be as children. His/her apprentices could have gone out into the world and diverged into differing and possibly conflicting styles/schools/sub-classes of monk. Could make for an interesting character backstory for a monk player seeking to unify their divided bretheren and ultimately seek out the teachings of the, half forgotten, First Master, only to find he/she still lives in (planar) seclusion, and is a being like none of the characters have ever seen or possibly heard of before. Always loved the quirkiness of the material in the Fiend Folio. Owned one since the 80s. Been intrigued by the Gith since i saw the cover art.
Hey guys for the Gith, play Planescape Torment, they have a Gith character in it whose wielding a sword and casting spells. It goes a wee bit more into the lore and its a fun character.
It was a race in one of George Martin's sci-fi books. One of the earlier D&D writers liked the story and added the Githyanki to his game module. When TSR tried to trademark the name, they learned the name was already copyrighted, and they had to negotiate a deal with G.R.R. Martin to keep using the name.
There was a hefty 3rd edition Dungeon Magazine adventure about the Githyanki. It is "The Lich-Queen's Beloved" by Christopher Perkins DM 100 p. 96. Also, the "Campaign Components: Incursion A world Under Siege" by James Wyatt in Dragon Magazine 309 p 70.
I'm playing a githzerai in my current campaign and I find the character very fun to play. She's an arcana cleric of the Raven Queen and has a detailed backstory. I wish there were more githzerai lore available, but what I have access to has created a pretty interesting character.
Neverwinter Nights 2, in the Forgotton Realms, had the Githyanki as a major villain in the first half of the campaign! It was incredible seeing their otherworldly flavour put center-stage; made for a real 'alien' feel to the enemies. Also, who doesn't love blades that can sever your coil/thread that tethers you to the material plane? That's just plain cool.
The story of the Gith always reminds me of the only successful slave revolt in our history- the Haitian Revolution. Because once the slaves were freed and then the colony declared independence, you had different factions vying for control and with different opinions of how to move forward. I really like the Gith, they feel really grounded in terms of a culture informed by history.
Nothing uses Wisdom + Int. This is why we needed the Theurge. I remember lots of people pointing out how it never said "the cleric features use Int instead of Wisdom". It would reinforce needing Both. And hey look. those are your saving throws
One of my players has psionics, I'd been trying to decide where it came from. I had the idea that his family, founding family of this province, where former human experiments of a Mind Flayer ship that crash-landed. I plan on using the hate triangle, with the Mind Flayer as symbols of oppression, the Githyanki a symbol of extremism and proactive behaviour, whilst the Githzerai are symbols of pacifism and reactivity. Asking the deep questions on morality, forgiveness against overwhelming hate.
My love for Gith is their place in classic Forgotten Realms computer games like both Demon Stone, Neverwinter Nights and Nwn2 but I totally get that they probably rarely appear as player characters or in other tables NPC's and foes.
I had a fun time learning about the lore of the Gith and the two factions. For a homebrew campaign. I invented a Githyanki NPC who is pretty straightforward with the party and points them in the direction of dungeons. Generally there to help in combat and get first dibs on the loot. They don't like him, but he never lied to the party and did help them when a local lord hated the Rogue. So much so, that the party had to take a trip through the Helm. The party can't pronounce his name, but I gave this Githyanki a Sylvester Stallone accent. Then made up a historic story of an amazing warrior named Rambo. So the party called this character Rambo. They love to see him time to time.
YES!!! I’ve been WAITING for this one!! Currently making a gith character, and really wanted to hear your guys’ thoughts on the race. You guys are awesome!
And here I was just writing Gith lore for my next campaign setting today. Get out of my head! More seriously, I've been embracing the idea that Gith used to be the absolute masters of magic, and many dungeons and magic items are remnants from their civilization before they were taken by the Illithid. So I've added the character to them of having them essentially being cut off from magic by the Illithid to control them, and psionics are their way of attempting to get around it.
Love the vid! I've had a githyanki character that I'm hoping to use in a future campaign. I thought it would be hilarious for this great warrior to hate eating. Since in the Astral Plane time is stagnant so you don't get hungry. So he thinks eating/chewing in disgusting and primitive but he has to eat to survive in the material plane. So he cries in disgust as he eats food lol 😆
Our campaign ends Saturday with an attack on the kingdoms capital that was raided by githyanki and their red dragon mounts. We've put together an army of Githzerai, Giff pilots, and northern tribes. We also raided Tiamats vault and destroyed Vlakiths phalactory. We brought them to our plane and we're going to kick them out
A very good starting arc that allows some character investment is choosing which side of the gith fued the party chooses to aid. Then have repercussions for that decision. Have bad and good things happen no matter what they choose. A wis int character is any divine caster who wants to play a smarty pants or an investigator type. Diviner, rogue, ranger.
@jim RE0:2:36 "descended or magically bread" good one, but I've always seen them TenenT style as reverse humans, makes for a greater sense of causal dread, and an increasingly greater reason to fear the Illithid far more than any mundane dragon:)
I was very meh about the Gith, but after seeing how Larian portrays the Githyanki fighter in the BG3 gameplay I really like the concept. They're a very "kinetic" race - meaning some physical prowess above all else even if they are a wizard. Thematically, the "jump" spell they get makes more sense in thinking it's just using the jump spell to manifest they're ability to use innate ability to jump really high. I like it.
As a Off Type Githyanki I have a interesting idea for a bard. While this Githyanki was searching for Tu'narath he found a Instrument and playing it it just lit a spark in him and he started to learn music, art and to study music. From his reaserch into art and art he found stories and songs about the horrors and terrors of war on Innocent people and the soilder witch caused him to realize the evil of his society Dizzt style. Unlike Drizzt when he ran away he became a Bard that writes stories about the truth of war and about monstrous races being human and some even good "Toss A Coin To Your Witcher Style". Definitely not the most original but I think it sounds fun and I always liked monstrous characters trying to be good
Watching this I just thought they would make a great intelligence based (would need DM permission) great old one pact of the blade. Reflavour it to be just standard Gith mind abilities rather then a patron and use the medium armor. Maybe with a war mage dip for extra spell slots and a few extra spells. That would be a pretty cool Gish actually.
Super pumped that the new Baldurs gate 3 will feature Githyanki, Illithid and lore with the astral and spell jamming! I’m really hoping this is going to be the precursor for Spelljammer compendiums!
5e needs a psionic option that Gith can use well. Since Bladesinging is canonically locked to Elves Wizards are generally locked to one attack, Monks need Dexterity which is unsupported by either subrace, and we're left with Githyanki Eldritch Knights. Which is cool as hell, but that's really it.
In my own homebrew world, I treat the Gith like the Blood Guard from the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. They have pledged themselves to the defense of the leader of the major kingdom, after they marched from a blackened peak to subjugate the peoples of the lands for the Illithids, the ruler welcomed the Gith and freed them from their bondage. Together, they attacked the nearby Illithid, decimating them. Now, factions within the Gith have begun to take root. Some see their bond of service as being the slavery of the Illithid in a kinder form, whereas others see their oath as unquestionable.
With the new Tasha’s racial options, Githyanki Druid is now attainable and I am playing the hell out of it in Rime of the Frostmaiden. Circle of Stars is really awesome reflavoured as a psionic (nomad mystic) kind of subclass.
I always figured that having a two handed sword functioned as a shield in regard to melee attacks. Being old school AD&D, it was something that only factored as a normal sized shield in combat. It never lowered the armor class and could count against two attacks per round.
If y'all are gonna buy a Witcher audiobook, if you consider Blood of Elves, Get the Booktrack Edition if it's available. The entire book is scored with a soundtrack and ambient environment and it is amazing!
Random notes from when I ran a 5E Planescape campaign: 1. The PC Mystic took control briefly of a Githyanki Kith'rak during a fight and made him kill 2 of his soldiers. Given their history with the Illithid, I felt like Mind Control was like "the thing" to really piss them off, so the first chance he got the Kith'rak leaped at the Mystic, knocked him to 0, then finished him off with 2 more crits. 2. The Great Old One Warlock Patron is a great way to poke a PC to mess with either Gith group, as their patron could easily be of Illithid origin (Maanzecorian was what I used). 3. Assisting a Githzerai sect on a Rrakkma is a great mid/high level planar quest. Encounters on Limbo (against Slaadi or whatever) are great for random elements to mess up the field of battle. 4. I allowed my PC Monk to train with the Githzerai and gain some of the "Way of Zerthimon" abilities (homebrew found online), like being able to use Ki points to cast Shield, extend their reach, or eventually use Plane Shift. 5. Some of the smarter Githyanki might realize the strongest amongst them don't hang around very long (due to Vlaakith consuming them), and might want a strong PC party to assist in keeping them alive and/or taking her out (good luck). 6. Illithid are more than smart enough to use cunning plans like leaking hints of a colony to both the Githyanki and Githzerai, only for both groups to show up with no Illithids around and kill each other (maybe with some magical "suggesting" from a trap/item or hidden Illithid to set things off). Also, given WotC's concern about "AL balancing" when they release the final versions, they really should think about their +1 rule. With that rule in place, it wouldn't be terrible for the races that you have to use your entire +1 for to be stronger (since MTF doesn't have much else besides races), since you're stuck with only PHB subclass options and spells. Personally I'd give Githzerai an extra +1-2 Dex (they got +6 in 3.5) to make it easier to make them some of the best Monks, which is already a class that most people have trouble finding a reason to play.
The only reason I'd want to play a Gith is if I had a lore-based character idea, rather than for mechanical reasons. Though, if there ever is an officially released psionic class, a Githzerai dual-classing with that and monk could be a really interesting thing to try.
In my Homebrew setting the split was caused by how to properly pronounce the name of their Leader. So we have the hard-g Githyanki and the soft-g Githzerai
The Gith remind me of the elves of Warhammer with the Githyanki being the Druchii, even ending in the same letter, and the Githzerai being the Asur. They respect Gith, like Aenarion, who fought back against the Mindflayers, like Chaos
Dark Sun gith are fun too: astral shipwreck survivors that have been mutated and devolved into Athas' barbaric raider culture, since the Orcs are all dead. Great villains, and fun to reintroduce to the mainline gith cultures as a hostile force to be redeemed/exploited by the 'zerai and 'yanki, respectively
I just started a gith centered campaign, I've read all the lore I could find on them. there's a lot more on yanki than zerai. my players are all githyanki and members of the Sha'sal khou, the rebel faction that wants to unite the races and crush the illithids once and for all. I hope it will be a cool campaign. there's a few adventures that are gith centric. the lich queens beloved from 3.5, scales of war from 4e and interlopers of something 3.5. something.
Githzerai bard: Jonathan Richmond Tonight I'm all alone with Manshoon. I'll go insane if I don't Cut your silver Cord, we'll then ... I'll still trap you on the astralnplane. Astral plane, all late at night, Astral plane ... Alright, go insane.
So the game I'm playing in is set on a disk world. The edge of the world is full of mountains and unknown dangers. The underside is where demons and the outsider god and his brood live. It's also where Gith come from. Any Gith that can cross the mountains are instantly celebrated as minor celebraties because in the history of the world, each of the 3 prophets that reinved how people see the world were Gith. Plus everyone is fascinated with the Underside.
-If you're planning to get Med Armor Mastery just get Heavy Armor Proficiency instead if you don't have the dex. (shrug) -Int/Wis works well for resistances and the defensive wiz
How I would change them: Gith: +1 Constitution. Medium sized, 30ft movement. You know the languages Common and Gith. Yanki: +1 Strength, +1 Intelligence. You have proficiency with Shortswords, Longswords, Greatswords, Light Armour, Medium Armour and a choice of one tool or a skill. You know the Draconic language. You have the feats Telepathic and Telekinetic (INTELLIGENCE) without the stat boosts. Zerai: +1 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom. You have resistance to Psychic damage. You have advantage on saving throws against the charmed and frightened conditions. You have advantage on checks to see through illusions and use Wisdom instead of Intelligence for these checks. You know the Deep Speech language. You have the feats Telepathic and Telekinetic (WISDOM) without the stat boosts.
Just finished a campaign where I played a Gith Horizon Walker closely based on the Predator. Eventually got my hands on a cloak of invisibility and spider climb slippers. Nobody was safe...
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I'm sure they appreciated this stinger in particular lol
Jim Davis voice sounds like Jim Gaffigan's. I'm being serious.
“I guess I’m just kinda waiting for the gith to blow up and be popular”
Laezel: hold my mead ishtik
Jim, the Gith adventure you’re thinking about from 3.5 is called “The Lich Queen’s Beloved,” by Chris Perkins. It was published in Dungeon Magazine #100. It’s pretty epic.
Author alone has me interested. I'll have to look it up.
And there are adventures and books in 4e that have some information. Secrets of the Astral Sea from 4e is a TROVE of lore for the gith, explains the dragons, Dragon Magazine #377 has some more info, aswell as the 4e adventure path, Scales of War. Though the ending is decidedly noncanon if 5th is anything to go by. I'd spoil it but ...spoilers.
spoil it
@@Codemaster1138 2nd edition Guide to the Astral Plain is majority dedicated to the Githyanki. It makes the 4e Astral Sea book look like cliff notes.
27:26 They have a group like that in the lore, it's call the Sha'sal Khou
It's an insurgent group consisting of members of both subraces working towards reunification
Awesome, I have a half Githzarai/Githyanki Star Druid who studies constellations looking for clues on how to reunificate the two people. This helps
“Can’t we all just gith along” was almost as bad as the “New Year’s Eve GITH-T” joke on the twitter announcement.
I have never been more proud
We have a rule that we never double up on puns
Web DM that’s just a good rule for life
THAT ENDING THOUGH hahaha “don’t want to lose at dungeons and strap-ons. Why not? You’ll find out” lol
Find out in the dungeon
I think I like the Gith because they represent a powerful Outside Context Problem. Whatever your campaign setting's "normal" conflicts, the Gith are foreign and unpredictable. If you as DM use the Gith, this point should be stressed, even to the point of modifying the Gith that appear to be as counter to the setting as possible. Every Conan-style barbarian or chivalrous knight is gangsta, until psychic aliens show up in their flying saucer dungeons.
@Bluecho4 ...I think you mean flying Dead God dungeons ;)
Here we see yet another chance for pruit to talk about spelljammer
Hey, that's not a bad thing. Spelljammer is awesome.
@@ArchArturo I also love Spelljammer, i long the day where they release a rule set or module for it in 5e so Pruit can explode from excitement
Aye, it’s another Gavin A.
Gavin A or about dungeons and strapons:D
@@gavinanderson4324 we are unstoppable if we combine our powers brother
Thank you for making this last year as amazing as it was. Love y'all, no shit.
Thank you so much, Chris! Have a great 2020!
Slim from the MCDM campaign is a great Githyanki. Worth checking him out!
Kalemas!
Absolutely. One of the best campaigns I have seen as well....
I’m glad gith are one of the stars of bg3
Ah yes, makes me nostalgic for my early years as Merlin's apprentice when I accidentally released some extra-planer creatures from their stasis in Merlin's menagerie. Surely you've heard my story, A Kinetic Githyanki in King Arthur's Court.
t swartzbaugh Ouch, I think I took psychic damage from that :)
When I make Gith in my world they are immune to Illithid mind control. Like no save nothing. I think that fits and boosts them a little.
Kinda like the elves and sleep/charm.
BG3 really has given me a whole new love for these races. Never really interested me that much before, but now I’m a fan.
The githyanki STR&INT buffs are good for the new artificer subclass with the steel defender. The new psiwarrior UA and Rune knight UA also.
Strength doesn't really matter for Battlesmith, it attacks using Int
Jerome Ace And you need a feat/mc for heavy armor
Or, you know, you could play a fighter with a brain.
Heavy armored Eldritch Knight is great for str and int
I always look forward to the ending banter, this time was premium.
I love the Gith as race mainly because of Dak'kon from Planescape Torment. If you want more Gith action, have some free time and are not turned off by old games (poor graphics and amazing story included), have fun with Planescape Torment.
Jim is absolutely on the money about the nature of the Gith being very interesting because their outlook is shaped not by gods but philosophy. This is so rare in D&D that is really makes them one of the most unique playable races. This kind of makes them the thinkers of D&D. It also makes an individual Gith (aka your PC) more malleable on what their exact philosophy is.
Because Gith are 'not from around here', it is quite probable they are extremely rarely seen by the general populace. This means the average NPC's first initial reaction is more likely to be "damn you ugly" and not just - kill with extreme prejudice. Which it would (and should) be for most of the monstrous races (especially goblins) in the average campaign. You also look basically human in full armour and a helmet or deep hood. In most D&D campaigns I would never recommend playing a godless character, but once again Gith seem like an exception to this rule.
My favourite Gith is a Githyanki Gish who is aligned to a mostly secret faction who wishes to reunite the two races. Creating some enemies and some friends for this otherworldly character, as well as a reason for them to be ostracized and exiled to the prime material plane. Has their own code that combines many of the philosophies of both Gith and Zerthimon.
Finally on a mechanical stand point Githyanki make good Gish characters, multi-classing fighter (or barb) to lvl 5-6, then your favourite wizard to 5 (for haste mostly), then go from there. Battlemaster/war wizard being my personal preference. Githzerai on the other hand are obviously best as monks. no dex bonus, but the wis bump very good. Free mage hand and 1/day shield are simply useful for a monk. You could also go cleric or druid on your Githzerai, not my choice from my lore view. However maybe this is why your not still in limbo, because you "found god" or fell in love with the prime material world (could work and create some interesting stories.
TL;DR Gith rule and webDM is awesome.
I have a Star Druid Gith (father was Githzerai, mother Githyanki) who seeks to reunify the two people. She searches the stars for portents and clues on how to go about this. Very fun character to play, and she now has a telescope and an astronomy group that comes over to share their collected knowledge on the celestial objects they study.
The Int/Wis typing might benefit a Cobalt Soul Monk.
Or inquisitive rogue
Really got into watching your content this year, thanks for helping me improve my campaigns for my friends! Here's to more in 2020.
Githyanki became my favorite race the second I saw the cover of the Fiend Folio in 1981/82. I miss psionics!
Shudder.... what a waste of money that was. Only ever used the carbuncle when it came out.
5e is my first edition and even I crave psionics.
I agree: The Gith/Githzerai always reminded me of Sith/Jedi. I created a Githzerai Jedi type Monk.
Probably my favorite game I ever ran was having the party go on a flying ship (think Treasure Planet) adventure in the Astral Plane where they had to fight Githyanki pirates and escape from an Astral Dreadnaught. Githyanki are very fun villains and the lore behind them is awesome.
Excited for another year of awesome Web DM content! I'd love to hear more about original D&D, the OSR, and old school dungeon crawl procedure.
Thanks for all the work and passion you guys, including Trev, happy new year!
Pruitt's puns crack me up every time.
The only race that I will always read in Mike Tyson's voice.
LOL
One of my favorite characters I've ever played is a Githyanki eldritch knight/ war wizard multiclass. His backstory is that he was a gish, fighting against mindflayers, but he suffers from PTSD because mindflayers are fucking terrifying. He was sent to the material plane to gather resources but he discovered that alcohol and drugs help him not think about mindflayers so instead of going back to the astral plane he defected and became a mercenary because killing is the only thing he's good at and the only time he isn't thinking about mindflayers is when he's in combat or drunk.
I am actually working on building a campaign around these guys. And I really appreciate some of this content because there is not a lot of info on them.
Glad to help!
I love the Githzerai. The bonus to Int and Wis are very useful for rogues and even rangers who act as scouts.
Githyanki blade pact warlock makes a lot of sense if you go for the Undying patron; their queen is already on the list of acceptable lich patrons, you get a mix of martial and magical abilities, and any spellcaster appreciates more armor
Love it when Jim has a real hard time holding back a laugh at Pruitt's terrible puns. Take 1- laugh. Take 2- still laughs. Take 3- fuck it we'll use this one.
This was a great covering of the Gith, but that Stinger was just *chef's kiss*
I'm glad we've reached a point where we can discuss such things without it being too taboo. I too have contemplated acquiring such a position (phrasing).
With BG3 - Githyanki, and even Vlaakith and the featured githyanki fighter lae'zel gave us a lot of insight and awsome moments of then race and their culutre.
Would love for you to do discussions about BG3 and their take on the lore. The end of Lae'zel's story in that game could be great inspiration for a d&d campaign!
I could definitely see potential in a Githzerai Way of Mercy monk. The bump in wisdom pays off.
"I can't think of an iconic Gith adventurer, I can't think of an iconic Gith moment..."
Dak'kon (Planescape: Torment): "Hrm....My blade has shifted. I suppose I shall go fuck myself."
I have a Githyanki Barbarian player in the group I run, it's a lot of fun to watch someone fully embrace some of the oddities that must logically happen as a part of being essentially immortal on one plane, and being such a fish out of water on the Material plane in a busy city.
There was a great Githyanki party member in Planescape: Torment, he was pretty awesome
Dak'kon is a Githzerai.
@@DrPluton Dammit, I knew it was one or the other, and guessed wrong. Ya got me.
...That after credit's scene was something else...
My favorite 5E character is my Githyanki Eldritch Knight Fighter. We need more Gith!
Had me at the opening pun. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
I kind of like the idea that an ancient Githzerai - being functionally eternal, millennia old, cosmically attuned, etc - would make an awesome originator for the monk class in any given world setting. Being descended from human stock, perhaps all other humans and human-like beings would be as children. His/her apprentices could have gone out into the world and diverged into differing and possibly conflicting styles/schools/sub-classes of monk.
Could make for an interesting character backstory for a monk player seeking to unify their divided bretheren and ultimately seek out the teachings of the, half forgotten, First Master, only to find he/she still lives in (planar) seclusion, and is a being like none of the characters have ever seen or possibly heard of before.
Always loved the quirkiness of the material in the Fiend Folio. Owned one since the 80s. Been intrigued by the Gith since i saw the cover art.
Hey guys for the Gith, play Planescape Torment, they have a Gith character in it whose wielding a sword and casting spells. It goes a wee bit more into the lore and its a fun character.
Githyanki sounds like something you request in a disreputable massage parlour. A Githzerai is what you request when you can't afford a Githyanki.
It was a race in one of George Martin's sci-fi books. One of the earlier D&D writers liked the story and added the Githyanki to his game module. When TSR tried to trademark the name, they learned the name was already copyrighted, and they had to negotiate a deal with G.R.R. Martin to keep using the name.
@Groghod en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_of_the_Light
There was a hefty 3rd edition Dungeon Magazine adventure about the Githyanki. It is "The Lich-Queen's Beloved" by Christopher Perkins DM 100 p. 96. Also, the "Campaign Components: Incursion A world Under Siege" by James Wyatt in Dragon Magazine 309 p 70.
I'm playing a githzerai in my current campaign and I find the character very fun to play. She's an arcana cleric of the Raven Queen and has a detailed backstory. I wish there were more githzerai lore available, but what I have access to has created a pretty interesting character.
James Watson gonna be lots of Gith lore coming during the build up to Baldure’s gate 3 and when the game releases.
Neverwinter Nights 2, in the Forgotton Realms, had the Githyanki as a major villain in the first half of the campaign! It was incredible seeing their otherworldly flavour put center-stage; made for a real 'alien' feel to the enemies. Also, who doesn't love blades that can sever your coil/thread that tethers you to the material plane? That's just plain cool.
The story of the Gith always reminds me of the only successful slave revolt in our history- the Haitian Revolution. Because once the slaves were freed and then the colony declared independence, you had different factions vying for control and with different opinions of how to move forward. I really like the Gith, they feel really grounded in terms of a culture informed by history.
Nothing uses Wisdom + Int. This is why we needed the Theurge. I remember lots of people pointing out how it never said "the cleric features use Int instead of Wisdom". It would reinforce needing Both. And hey look. those are your saving throws
One of my players has psionics, I'd been trying to decide where it came from. I had the idea that his family, founding family of this province, where former human experiments of a Mind Flayer ship that crash-landed.
I plan on using the hate triangle, with the Mind Flayer as symbols of oppression, the Githyanki a symbol of extremism and proactive behaviour, whilst the Githzerai are symbols of pacifism and reactivity. Asking the deep questions on morality, forgiveness against overwhelming hate.
My love for Gith is their place in classic Forgotten Realms computer games like both Demon Stone, Neverwinter Nights and Nwn2 but I totally get that they probably rarely appear as player characters or in other tables NPC's and foes.
I had a fun time learning about the lore of the Gith and the two factions.
For a homebrew campaign. I invented a Githyanki NPC who is pretty straightforward with the party and points them in the direction of dungeons. Generally there to help in combat and get first dibs on the loot.
They don't like him, but he never lied to the party and did help them when a local lord hated the Rogue. So much so, that the party had to take a trip through the Helm.
The party can't pronounce his name, but I gave this Githyanki a Sylvester Stallone accent. Then made up a historic story of an amazing warrior named Rambo. So the party called this character Rambo.
They love to see him time to time.
YES!!! I’ve been WAITING for this one!!
Currently making a gith character, and really wanted to hear your guys’ thoughts on the race. You guys are awesome!
Jim was feeling a little loose during this one. Love it.
And here I was just writing Gith lore for my next campaign setting today. Get out of my head!
More seriously, I've been embracing the idea that Gith used to be the absolute masters of magic, and many dungeons and magic items are remnants from their civilization before they were taken by the Illithid. So I've added the character to them of having them essentially being cut off from magic by the Illithid to control them, and psionics are their way of attempting to get around it.
Love the vid! I've had a githyanki character that I'm hoping to use in a future campaign. I thought it would be hilarious for this great warrior to hate eating. Since in the Astral Plane time is stagnant so you don't get hungry. So he thinks eating/chewing in disgusting and primitive but he has to eat to survive in the material plane. So he cries in disgust as he eats food lol 😆
Oh wow, this came out just a couple days before I rolled up a new Githzerai character. Beautiful!
I'm surprised you guys didn't talk about the Gith Pirates of Spelljammer or the Gith of Dark Sun, who were descended from the Githyanki.
I'm glad I could gith here while the githin was good.
Our campaign ends Saturday with an attack on the kingdoms capital that was raided by githyanki and their red dragon mounts. We've put together an army of Githzerai, Giff pilots, and northern tribes. We also raided Tiamats vault and destroyed Vlakiths phalactory. We brought them to our plane and we're going to kick them out
Have a great session!!!
A very good starting arc that allows some character investment is choosing which side of the gith fued the party chooses to aid. Then have repercussions for that decision. Have bad and good things happen no matter what they choose.
A wis int character is any divine caster who wants to play a smarty pants or an investigator type. Diviner, rogue, ranger.
@jim RE0:2:36 "descended or magically bread" good one, but I've always seen them TenenT style as reverse humans, makes for a greater sense of causal dread, and an increasingly greater reason to fear the Illithid far more than any mundane dragon:)
I was very meh about the Gith, but after seeing how Larian portrays the Githyanki fighter in the BG3 gameplay I really like the concept. They're a very "kinetic" race - meaning some physical prowess above all else even if they are a wizard. Thematically, the "jump" spell they get makes more sense in thinking it's just using the jump spell to manifest they're ability to use innate ability to jump really high. I like it.
As a Off Type Githyanki I have a interesting idea for a bard. While this Githyanki was searching for Tu'narath he found a Instrument and playing it it just lit a spark in him and he started to learn music, art and to study music. From his reaserch into art and art he found stories and songs about the horrors and terrors of war on Innocent people and the soilder witch caused him to realize the evil of his society Dizzt style. Unlike Drizzt when he ran away he became a Bard that writes stories about the truth of war and about monstrous races being human and some even good "Toss A Coin To Your Witcher Style".
Definitely not the most original but I think it sounds fun and I always liked monstrous characters trying to be good
Watching this I just thought they would make a great intelligence based (would need DM permission) great old one pact of the blade. Reflavour it to be just standard Gith mind abilities rather then a patron and use the medium armor. Maybe with a war mage dip for extra spell slots and a few extra spells. That would be a pretty cool Gish actually.
Super pumped that the new Baldurs gate 3 will feature Githyanki, Illithid and lore with the astral and spell jamming!
I’m really hoping this is going to be the precursor for Spelljammer compendiums!
5e needs a psionic option that Gith can use well. Since Bladesinging is canonically locked to Elves Wizards are generally locked to one attack, Monks need Dexterity which is unsupported by either subrace, and we're left with Githyanki Eldritch Knights. Which is cool as hell, but that's really it.
In my own homebrew world, I treat the Gith like the Blood Guard from the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. They have pledged themselves to the defense of the leader of the major kingdom, after they marched from a blackened peak to subjugate the peoples of the lands for the Illithids, the ruler welcomed the Gith and freed them from their bondage. Together, they attacked the nearby Illithid, decimating them.
Now, factions within the Gith have begun to take root. Some see their bond of service as being the slavery of the Illithid in a kinder form, whereas others see their oath as unquestionable.
I made a Githzerai Battle Smith Artificer that focuses on tachnical skill and blade manipulation to get ahead.
New episode on New Years thanks guys!
I feel like there should be a psionic flavor monk subclass for the Githzerai.
I think the Way of the Astral Self already fills that role nicely
And yes - githyanki are space viking jedi. Love it.
Baldurs gate 3: Givin Gith some love
With the new Tasha’s racial options, Githyanki Druid is now attainable and I am playing the hell out of it in Rime of the Frostmaiden. Circle of Stars is really awesome reflavoured as a psionic (nomad mystic) kind of subclass.
I always figured that having a two handed sword functioned as a shield in regard to melee attacks. Being old school AD&D, it was something that only factored as a normal sized shield in combat. It never lowered the armor class and could count against two attacks per round.
If y'all are gonna buy a Witcher audiobook, if you consider Blood of Elves, Get the Booktrack Edition if it's available. The entire book is scored with a soundtrack and ambient environment and it is amazing!
Did you folks read The Warrior by George RR Martin? The Githyanki are the race that humans spread across the galaxy to fight.
Random notes from when I ran a 5E Planescape campaign:
1. The PC Mystic took control briefly of a Githyanki Kith'rak during a fight and made him kill 2 of his soldiers. Given their history with the Illithid, I felt like Mind Control was like "the thing" to really piss them off, so the first chance he got the Kith'rak leaped at the Mystic, knocked him to 0, then finished him off with 2 more crits.
2. The Great Old One Warlock Patron is a great way to poke a PC to mess with either Gith group, as their patron could easily be of Illithid origin (Maanzecorian was what I used).
3. Assisting a Githzerai sect on a Rrakkma is a great mid/high level planar quest. Encounters on Limbo (against Slaadi or whatever) are great for random elements to mess up the field of battle.
4. I allowed my PC Monk to train with the Githzerai and gain some of the "Way of Zerthimon" abilities (homebrew found online), like being able to use Ki points to cast Shield, extend their reach, or eventually use Plane Shift.
5. Some of the smarter Githyanki might realize the strongest amongst them don't hang around very long (due to Vlaakith consuming them), and might want a strong PC party to assist in keeping them alive and/or taking her out (good luck).
6. Illithid are more than smart enough to use cunning plans like leaking hints of a colony to both the Githyanki and Githzerai, only for both groups to show up with no Illithids around and kill each other (maybe with some magical "suggesting" from a trap/item or hidden Illithid to set things off).
Also, given WotC's concern about "AL balancing" when they release the final versions, they really should think about their +1 rule. With that rule in place, it wouldn't be terrible for the races that you have to use your entire +1 for to be stronger (since MTF doesn't have much else besides races), since you're stuck with only PHB subclass options and spells. Personally I'd give Githzerai an extra +1-2 Dex (they got +6 in 3.5) to make it easier to make them some of the best Monks, which is already a class that most people have trouble finding a reason to play.
An Audible sponsor? Holy fuck, you've finally made it as youtubers!
I think Misty Step is a reference to the Githyanki having Plane Shift in 2E, and they would fight by basically teleporting behind you.
Githzerai is one of my favorites. Can't scoff at a monk with shield
The only reason I'd want to play a Gith is if I had a lore-based character idea, rather than for mechanical reasons.
Though, if there ever is an officially released psionic class, a Githzerai dual-classing with that and monk could be a really interesting thing to try.
Ok....guys that was a great opening I needed that the line at taco John's is crazy long
I have used githyanki as an alternative to the mountain dwarf for a melee wizard
In my Homebrew setting the split was caused by how to properly pronounce the name of their Leader. So we have the hard-g Githyanki and the soft-g Githzerai
The Gith remind me of the elves of Warhammer with the Githyanki being the Druchii, even ending in the same letter, and the Githzerai being the Asur. They respect Gith, like Aenarion, who fought back against the Mindflayers, like Chaos
Dark Sun gith are fun too: astral shipwreck survivors that have been mutated and devolved into Athas' barbaric raider culture, since the Orcs are all dead. Great villains, and fun to reintroduce to the mainline gith cultures as a hostile force to be redeemed/exploited by the 'zerai and 'yanki, respectively
Baldurs Gate 3 might have granted your wish for Gith popularity and interest.
Gith are like my sleeper favorite race. Mind you not my true favorite, ‘sleeper favorite.’
Gives me some great ideas to work with for my campaign I'm running, thank you! The gith are coming
I just started a gith centered campaign, I've read all the lore I could find on them. there's a lot more on yanki than zerai. my players are all githyanki and members of the Sha'sal khou, the rebel faction that wants to unite the races and crush the illithids once and for all. I hope it will be a cool campaign. there's a few adventures that are gith centric. the lich queens beloved from 3.5, scales of war from 4e and interlopers of something 3.5. something.
Githzerai bard: Jonathan Richmond
Tonight I'm all alone with Manshoon.
I'll go insane if I don't
Cut your silver
Cord, we'll then ...
I'll still trap you on the astralnplane.
Astral plane, all late at night,
Astral plane ...
Alright, go insane.
Black Spine in Dark Sun setting is quite gith heavy (all 3)
great reference!
I just wanna say, I really liked the way Baldur's Gate 2 and Planescape: Torment used Gith as subplots/ interesting flavor moments
Neverwinter Nights 2 did as well. (if you can get through the game without it crashing)
So the game I'm playing in is set on a disk world. The edge of the world is full of mountains and unknown dangers. The underside is where demons and the outsider god and his brood live. It's also where Gith come from. Any Gith that can cross the mountains are instantly celebrated as minor celebraties because in the history of the world, each of the 3 prophets that reinved how people see the world were Gith. Plus everyone is fascinated with the Underside.
One half of slaves become slavers themselves.
Do you think they see the irony in that?
racekitty many who fight for freedom deny that freedom to others. See founding fathers of USA denying rights to slaves after the revolution.
That makes sense, because they haven't known any treatment other than slavery
So, did I understand correctly that Web DM is expanding in 2020 to include the new "Pruitt cam-boy" channel?
-If you're planning to get Med Armor Mastery just get Heavy Armor Proficiency instead if you don't have the dex. (shrug)
-Int/Wis works well for resistances and the defensive wiz
How I would change them:
Gith: +1 Constitution. Medium sized, 30ft movement. You know the languages Common and Gith.
Yanki: +1 Strength, +1 Intelligence. You have proficiency with Shortswords, Longswords, Greatswords, Light Armour, Medium Armour and a choice of one tool or a skill. You know the Draconic language. You have the feats Telepathic and Telekinetic (INTELLIGENCE) without the stat boosts.
Zerai: +1 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom. You have resistance to Psychic damage. You have advantage on saving throws against the charmed and frightened conditions. You have advantage on checks to see through illusions and use Wisdom instead of Intelligence for these checks. You know the Deep Speech language. You have the feats Telepathic and Telekinetic (WISDOM) without the stat boosts.
I think this is the first time I've noticed that Pruit isnt his first name O.O
Bronson Kim really?
Just finished a campaign where I played a Gith Horizon Walker closely based on the Predator. Eventually got my hands on a cloak of invisibility and spider climb slippers. Nobody was safe...
War mage Githyanki with the Mage slayer feat, super fun anti-magic gish