By rolandon
Note: This creature was originally published in AD&D 2nd edition
Githyanki resemble tall, gaunt humanoids with almost skeletal features. Their garb tends to be ornate.
All githyanki children possess minor telekinetic abilities, but only a few work to develop them into something stronger. Githyanki generally prefer psionics over magic.
Githyanki make their homes on the astral plane.
They are usually evil
Githyanki society is martial, with both males and females training heavily in magic and swordfighting. Although they are loyal to each other, they are also fiercely individualistic. Raiding illithid strongholds is considered a rite of passage.
The current queen, Vlaakith CLVII, is an undead wizard who has ruled her people for more than a thousand years. So paranoid is she, that when any githyanki achieves a certain level of power and skill, she summons them to her palace to consume their souls, thus preventing them from ever threatening her power. Most githyanki willingly present themselves out of blind loyalty and pride, whilst those who try to flee this fate are hunted down and dragged before her in shackles. These victims afterwards become some form of undead servant under her direct control.
Vlaakith will sometimes present powerful githyanki with an incredibly rare silver sword. These swords possess several unique properties, most notably the ability to sever the silver cords that act as lifelines to travelers on the astral plane, killing the traveler instantly. These swords are highly sought after, and a cult of githyanki knights called the Sword Stalkers is tasked with recovering any swords that fall into the hands of the unworthy, i.e. non githyanki.
The githyanki use a unique form of writing called tir'su. It is an alphabetical set of runes in which words are formed in circles instead of linearly, with the letters of a given word being linked around a ring clockwise from the top. Sentences are formed from a series of these rings. Much as runes were given a mystical significance, the Githyanki employ the tir'su when creating magical wards and symbols.
The ancestors of the githyanki (the "forerunners") were once slaves to the illithids, a race of powerful telepaths who mentally enslaved sentient humanoids to work as the backbone of their vast worlds-spanning empire. It is believed these slaves were originally humans transformed through selective breeding. Eventually, these slaves developed mental resistance to their masters' mind control and, under the guidance of their leader Gith, revolted, causing the downfall of the illithid empire.
Gith, however, was not satisfied with the destruction of the illithids alone, and sought to spread the war to any race that could potentially enslave her people again. She was opposed in this endeavor by the followers of Zerthimon, who believed that such a path would lead their people to corruption and ruin. Thus, at the Pronouncement of Two Skies, the gith race fractured into the githyanki and the githzerai, the latter founding their own domain in Limbo. The githyanki hate the githzerai because their betrayal allowed the surviving illithids to retreat to isolated subterranean strongholds; the two races have been at war ever since.
After settling her people on the Astral Plane, Gith is said to have visited the Nine Hells, where she made a pact with Tiamat. In exchange for Gith's servitude, the githyanki could call upon red dragons anywhere in the multiverse as allies. Gith's advisor, Vlaakith, became the new queen of the githyanki, and all her heirs were named after her.
Dwelling in the timeless Astral Plane, the Githyanki inhabit numerous fortresses constructed from materials imported to the Astral Plane as well as cities built atop god-isles, the vast stone corpses of deceased gods. Their capital and largest city, Tu'narath, is built on the god-isle of a deceased power known only as "The One in the Void."
| ST:12 | HP:12 | Speed:5,25 |
| DX:11 | Will:12 | Move: |
| IQ:12 | Per:12 | |
| HT:10 | FP:10 | SM:0 |
| Dodge:8 | Parry:12 | DR:3 |
Broadsword (18):2d
Traits: Githyanki G’’lathk: Resistant to disease 8, Hard to Kill (5 levels), Less Sleep (4 levels), Single-Minded, Very Rapid Healing, Resistant to Psionics (variabile), Jumper (World, New World), Damage Resistance (3 levels), Danger Sense, High Pain Threshold, Night Vision (4 levels), Peripheral Vision, Will (3 levels). Odious Personal Habits (raiding other races, -15 punti), Bad Temper (12), Bully (12), Fanaticism (a Gith), Intolerance (the other races), Sadism (12), Major Vow (never fight a member of own race), Ugly Appearance, Reputation (very evil creatures).
Githyanki Milar: add Magery (3 levels).
Githyanki Hr’a’cknir: add Detect, Channeling, Magery (3 livelli).
Skills: Broadsword 18, Shortsword 18, all the spell of one college 16.
Class: Extraplanar Creature
Notes:
Variants
Adventure Ideas
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