Anime Let's Discuss! - Githyanki

[Night Goat]

I think we can all agree that Githyanki are cool, but how do you use them in a campaign? I'd like to use them in mine, but I'm not seeing any reason why they'd come into conflict with the PCs, at least without dropping a Silver Sword into their hands. They live on a little-visited plane and their greatest enemy is also everyone else's enemy. So, how have you used them or seen them used in campaigns you've run or played in? What are some ideas you've had regarding them?

 

[nikolokolus]

I ran a campaign long ago (right after Spelljammer came out) where the PCs ended up basically the henchmen to a powerful wizard. In time it turned out the wizard was an incognito Githzerai who had been hiding out on the prime material plane for hundreds of years - he gets revealed, Githyanki hit-squad abducts him, players go into the astral plane to try and rescue him and they all get killed in spectacular fashion by Slaad (Fiend Folio was my jam back then). I was in my late teens, so I'm pretty sure I ran a shitty game, but everybody seemed to enjoy it right up until their 9th-11th level characters got whacked. Plus let's be honest, I was getting bored of running a slightly high-level game; my sweet spot for a running a game was always in that 3rd-7th level range.

How would I handle Githyanki now? I'd probably make them dimensional raiders wielding super-science in a DCC RPG game. Make them some constant background threat that gathers force and occasionally bumps into the PCs -- maybe they could be con men who try to peddle useless astral tat or try to shake down the PCs for the magical goods, etc.? Beyond that, they're basically just psychic humans warped by millennia of enslavement by the Illithid, so aside from a racial tendency to extreme paranoia and psychotic outbursts, you can do whatever you want with them as an NPC if they are encountered as a single individual. If they are encountered en masse, then all they need is a mission.

 

[Norfleet]

I think we can all agree that Githyanki are cool, but how do you use them in a campaign? I'd like to use them in mine, but I'm not seeing any reason why they'd come into conflict with the PCs, at least without dropping a Silver Sword into their hands. They live on a little-visited plane and their greatest enemy is also everyone else's enemy. So, how have you used them or seen them used in campaigns you've run or played in? What are some ideas you've had regarding them?

Put them in conflict with the player over some MacGuffin. Because, as you pointed out, their greatest enemy is also everyone else's enemy, when the players win, they've actually made the situation worse. Turns out the puny local agenda of the players wasn't significant in the grand scheme of things, after all. Nice job breaking it, Hero.

You may then address this in some future adventure when the players are higher level.

 

[BBMorti]

Let your crew be mind controlled by some elder brain, and in working for that draw the attention of gith, or have them work for an illithid (Maybe in disguise) with the same result (drawing attention of gith)

 

[Azrael the cat]

Let your crew be mind controlled by some elder brain, and in working for that draw the attention of gith, or have them work for an illithid (Maybe in disguise) with the same result (drawing attention of gith)

Crew has never met before, wake up after pulling an Ocean's 11 major heist/assassination but with only vague memories of it, because they were being mind-controlled by an elder brain who was orchestrating it, party is on the run and first lead is a guy who turns out to be the leader of a small squad of Githzerai doing recon on the elder brain at the time of the assassination, who would now like you to fix the mess you just made. Except that you were innately greedy enough that, even in your mind-controlled state, you kept the shiny mcgufifn that the elder brain/githzerai are after having swapped it out for a fake, and once that gets revealed you're on the run from the elder brain, the githzerai and the local human villain-political-leader (controls the local guards) who you stole the mcguffin from in the first place.

 

[Space Insect]

You could have some quest to get something off the dead god they live on.

 

[Caim]

They're North Koreans IN SPACE THE ASTRAL PLANE. They worship their Lich-Queen and do everything for her glory, being condescending dickbags at best and murderous fucks at worst. They're pirates, raiders and slavers and are played as such. They are tightly linked to red dragons and often ally for a mutual goal, working together with the red dragonspawn of Tiamat as well. Because the only thing worse than an attack by an army of dragonspawn is one supported by Githyanki raiders.

 

[Night Goat]

My setting already has North Koreans: the Elves. The Complete Book of Elves is an in-universe work of propaganda.

 

[Caim]

My setting already has North Koreans: the Elves. The Complete Book of Elves is an in-universe work of propaganda.

According to that book Elves don't sweat.

Therefore, to cool their bodies down they have to pant like dogs.

 

[Neanderthal]

Old campaign I ran wi a couple o mates had one playin a young Githyanki, part o a raiding party that hit a Mind Flayer slave trading city called Freedoms Reach. In midst o battle while Red Dragons were roasting Illithid an everyone else this young Githyanki were knocked unconscious an left behind, found by an escaped slave he tried to get back to is people, while tryin to not gettin corrupted by lesser species o Greyhawk. Went rogue eventually, good endin for character, then again he'd die if he went back to One in Void.

He were played like me granfatha, bitter old hard fucker who'd seen a lotta shit but were a stoic repressed beggar. Fighter Mage by trade, bit Batmanish, man wi a plan an all that. Worked well wi Half Orc Barbarian ex slave who rescued im, that fucker just wanted to relish life an freedom from Illithid slave pits, happy, simple an vulgar, livin life to max.

 

[Dustin DePenning]

Do githyanki need a reason to want to kill someone? They might even just be looking for slaves.

 

[Caim]

Do githyanki need a reason to want to kill someone? They might even just be looking for slaves.

Githyanki will invade to take resources, humanoid or otherwise, for the glory and well-being of their state, are all about personal freedom at the cost of others, don't take anyone else into consideration when doing their thing, see their millitary as the greatest thing ever, are extremely wary of visitors to their nation and consider people of different skin color than them to be stupid at best and dangerous terrorists that need to be killed at worst.

You know, yankis.

 

[Ulminati]

I never used gith in any of my campaigns come to think of it. If I was going to, the obvious hook is that the players are being manipulated into doing the bidding of mind flayers and the gith are out to stop them. Bonus points because githyanki are a bunch of assholes to begin with, so players are less likely to question why they attack or of nowhere.

 

[Dustin DePenning]

Do githyanki need a reason to want to kill someone? They might even just be looking for slaves.

Githyanki will invade to take resources, humanoid or otherwise, for the glory and well-being of their state, are all about personal freedom at the cost of others, don't take anyone else into consideration when doing their thing, see their millitary as the greatest thing ever, are extremely wary of visitors to their nation and consider people of different skin color than them to be stupid at best and dangerous terrorists that need to be killed at worst.

You know, yankis.

I wanted to come up with a clever response to join the joke but this is about as clever as it gets. Kudos.

 

[Ninjerk]

Do githyanki need a reason to want to kill someone? They might even just be looking for slaves.

Githyanki will invade to take resources, humanoid or otherwise, for the glory and well-being of their state, are all about personal freedom at the cost of others, don't take anyone else into consideration when doing their thing, see their millitary as the greatest thing ever, are extremely wary of visitors to their nation and consider people of different skin color than them to be stupid at best and dangerous terrorists that need to be killed at worst.

You know, yankis.

:mrpresident:

 

[laclongquan]

One or a few giths are looking for information in your city and you keep bothering them with your inane activity. Why? Because they are strange and mysterious so you are curious and/or light-fingered around them.

They want to attack the local gangboss because bugger has something of value to them, or some knowledge. You join them for the loot, and/or bump off the boss to ascend. When the bugger use that knowledge/loot as leverage to turn the giths against you, you have to fight them.

Mysterious recruit, hidden last boss.