Githyanki: The Astral Asshole

There are nine paragraphs of lore to these guys. Surely one of them must be interesting, right? They can’t all be boring! Right?

Lore: Plunderers of the Multiverse

Githyanki ride astral vessels and red dragons to plunder worlds across the plains. Ever since they won their freedom, their sole purpose has been conquest. All because of their leader, the dread lich-queen: Vlaakith.

They loath the other races of the multiverse and will raid them endlessly, no matter what distant plane they may live on. After a raid, they’ll leave their victims with just enough resources to survive. Do not mistake this for kindness. They only keep them alive in order to raid them again at some point in the future.

In the language of their people, ‘githyanki’ means ‘followers of Gith’. Gith was the one to unify them and organize the warfront. When they died, Vlaakith took over and forbade worship of any deity aside from her. She leads them in their xenophobic war efforts against the multiverse, especially against their two worst enemies: the mind flayers and the Githzerai.

During their slavery, gith knights forged swords of silver to combat the mind flayers. Now, these weapons are considered sacred to the Githyanki. They become more powerful in the hands of their master. To them, a silver sword is a sacred thing, one that they’ll go to war in order to claim.

In the uprising, Gith sought out any allies they could find. This lead him to the Seven Hells, where he appealed to Tiamat herself for aide. Only the Queen of Evil knows what really happened in that meeting. All that is known is that when Gith returned, he did so with the red dragon Ephelomon, who proclaimed his kind to be the eternal allies of the githyanki. Not all dragons honor this alliance, but most don’t consider their would-be allies as enemies.

Those who dwell within the Astral Sea do not age. So, in order to raise their young, the Githyanki will build outposts in the Material Plane. These double as military academies, where the young learn to harness their psychic and combat abilities. Once they grow to adulthood, they are given a sacred trial: to slay a mind flayer. When they accomplish this, they are allowed passage back into the Astral Sea.

Okay! There’s some stuff to work with there! Nothing particularly amazing, but there are some fun plot threads to work with! Maybe the players could attack one of these military bases or fight off an invasion. Perhaps a more chaotic party could aide a young Githyanki in slaying a mind flayer! With a little creativity, you can get some fun stuff out of these guys!

Even if they look super boring.

Design: What’s that disease that makes your skin yellow like a lemon?

Yeah, it’s that. It’s like if an elf had that.

What is there to say? This is one of the least interesting designs we’ve seen yet! He’s a yellow motherfucker in ornate armor with a sword. He just looks like an elf that is done with everyone’s shit. This looks more like something a player character would use. One who likes to play gross and somewhat annoying characters.

Even then, there are dozens of better options.

I don’t have anything else to say about this. Just looking at it puts me to sleep. Boring. Next.

Stats: I’ll Kill You With My Mind… And This Sword

We’ve got two flavors to work with here! Do you prefer a classic warrior? Or maybe a knight?

The warrior is the weaker of the two. Their AC is decently high, yes, and their HP sits at a respectable 50ish. The knight is definitely their superior, though; their AC is only one higher, sure, but their HP nearly doubles that of the warrior. If you want something that’ll take time for your players to kill, the ladder is definitely the stronger option.

Offensively, neither one is to be sneezed at. The Warrior’s greatsword is fairly dangerous to lower level parties and the knight’s silver sword is even more dangerous. Plus, both have added psychic damage, which immediately puts the party’s barbarian on the ropes. In a duel, either one is a dangerous foe.

Not to mention their spells. Because they just had to have magic too. These guys don’t want a slice, they want the whole damn pie!

The warrior has:

• At will: mage hand
• 3/day each: jump, misty step, nondetection

Meanwhile, the knight has:

• At will: mage hand
• 3/day each: jump, misty step, nondetection, tongues
• 1/day each: plane shift, telekinesis

Those are some annoying spells right there. Nothing world-shattering. But certainly annoying.

Overall, these guys make for a pretty decent fight. No one member of the party has an advantage over them, be they martial fighter or spellcaster, and their spells make for an extra layer of challenge. It isn’t as terrifying or as memorable as some of the monsters higher up on the list, but it certainly isn’t bad.

Placement

The Githyanki is slightly better than I thought it would be. Their lore is decent and they’ve got some alright stats. Nothing incredible, but not bad. The only aspect that I really don’t like is their design. A decent mid-range monster.

With all that in mind, let’s put the Githyanki on the Best of the Bestiary!

1. Beholder
2. Death Tyrant
3. Dragon Turtle
4. Green Dragons
5. Red Dragons
6. Blue Dragons
7. Black Dragons
8. White Dragons
9. Silver Dragons
10. Couatl
11. Behir
12. Aboleth
13. Bronze Dragons
14. Brass Dragons
15. Copper Dragons
16. Gold Dragons
17. Chuul
18. Gibbering Mouther
19. Chimera
20. Death Knight
21. Fomorian
22. Bone Devil
23. Dracolich
24. Faerie Dragon
25. Ankheg
26. Storm Giant
27. Hill Giant
28. Empyrean
29. Efreeti
30. Dao
31. Cloud Giant
32. Drow (all four of ’em)
33. Shadow Demon
34. Marilith
35. Drider
36. Aarackockra
37. Azer
38. Demilich
39. Spectator
40. Marid
41. Cambion
42. Fire Giant
43. Animated Armor
44. Banshee
45. Basilisk
46. Yochlol
47. Bulette
48. Cloaker
49. Darkmantle
50. Doppelganger
51. Ghoul and Ghast
52. Ettin
53. Pit Fiend
54. Erinyes
55. Chain Devil
56. Bearded Devil
57. Barbed Devil
58. Spined Devil
59. Ice Devil
60. Djinni
61. Nalfeshnee
62. Glabrezu
63. Chasme
64. Barlgura
65. Horned Devil
66. Balor
67. Shadow Dragon
68. Vrock
69. Dretch
70. Goristro
71. Hezrou
72. Manes
73. Frost Giant
74. Duergar
75. Quasit
76. Dryad
77. Flumph
78. Githyanki <—————–
79. Planetar
80. Imp
81. Flameskull
82. Displacer Beast
83. Carrion Crawler
84. Rug of Smothering
85. Bugbear Chief
86. Bugbear
87. Vine Blight
88. Twig Blight
89. Needle Blight
90. Bullywug
91. Ettercap
92. Gas Spore
93. Cockatrice
94. Lemure
95. Solar
96. Deva
97. Cyclops
98. Centaur
99. Ghost
100. Fire Elemental
101. Water Elemental
102. Air Elemental
103. Stone Giant
104. Dinosaurs (All six of them)
105. Earth Elemental
106. Galeb Duhr
107. Flying Sword
108. Crawling Claw
109. Violet Fungus
110. Shrieker
111. Gargoyle