Githzerai: Psychic Monks, But Not Cool

Lore: Chillin’ in Limbo

While the githyanki are war-mongers, the githzerai are philosophers. They spend their days in Limbo, dwelling on islands and within fortresses of order within the chaos. Using their psychic powers to maintain their homes and defend them in battle, they are a mighty but mostly peaceful people.

The hierarchy of the githzerai is based on social merit. Those who are wise and mighty become leaders. Great heroes and teachers of the past are used as the base of their lives, as the githzerai seek to emulate them in their day-to-day existence.

Although Gith was the one to free their people, the githzerai revere Zerthimon instead. The monks who best exemplify Zerthimon’s teachings are called zerths. Those who earn this rank are capable of traveling between planes with only the power of their minds. Often times, they are at the top of the hierarchy.

While githzerai interference in realms beyond Limbo is rare, it isn’t an impossible thing. They’ll often set up monasteries outside of Limbo to teach or share the teachings of Zerthimon. Every now and then, they’ll go on an ilithid hunt, called a rrakkma, in which every member of the party must kill at least one mind flayer before they return.

This lore is alright. You’ve got some potential threads to work with here. Perhaps the party could get into one of these monasteries on the Material Plane. Or they could join in on a rrakkma. It isn’t much, but the threads should be enough for at least one decently fun session.

Design: Second Verse, Same as the First

God dammit, it’s the same shit! Again!

It’s the exact same design as the githyanki. Only this one is in a less fancy outfit. Hooray! Such diversity!

Still boring. Next.

Stats: I’m Gonna Punch You… With MAGIC

Once again, we have to flavors of stats to choose from. There’s the weaker githzerai monk and the much stronger githzerai zerth. The former works well as an introductory monster while the ladder works better for higher-level parties.

The monk is surprisingly easy to kill. Their AC is only a few digits higher than 10 and their HP is just below 40. Even a weak party should be able to slay one. Meanwhile, the zerth has an AC just shy of 20 and well over double the HP of the monk. If you want something more dangerous, the zerth is the easy choice.

In terms of melee attacks, they’re both the same. They can each punch you twice a turn and each hit has extra psychic damage stacked on top of it. The only real difference is that the zerth hits harder. Go figure.

They do have a fair few spells to make them a bit trickier, though. The monk has:

• At will: mage hand
• 3/day each: feather fall, see invisibility, shield

While the zerth has:

• At will: mage hand
• 3/day each: feather fall, jump, see invisibility, shield
• 1/day each: phantasmal killer, plane shift

Most of those spells are more frustrating than dangerous. Shield alone makes these guys infinitely more difficult to kill. But they don’t really add much to the fight aside from annoyance. If you aren’t careful when using these spells, you’ll find your players being more pissed off than entertained.

Placement

These guys are just a more boring version of the last monster. Their lore is decent, but the design is just as bland as the githyanki and the stats are a recipe for frustration rather than fun. Definitely a disappointing entry.

With all that in mind, let’s put the Githzerai 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. Githzerai <——————
85. Rug of Smothering
86. Bugbear Chief
87. Bugbear
88. Vine Blight
89. Twig Blight
90. Needle Blight
91. Bullywug
92. Ettercap
93. Gas Spore
94. Cockatrice
95. Lemure
96. Solar
97. Deva
98. Cyclops
99. Centaur
100. Ghost
101. Fire Elemental
102. Water Elemental
103. Air Elemental
104. Stone Giant
105. Dinosaurs (All six of them)
106. Earth Elemental
107. Galeb Duhr
108. Flying Sword
109. Crawling Claw
110. Violet Fungus
111. Shrieker
112. Gargoyle