Daily Art Preview

[Ripzerai]

The similarity is a feature, not a bug.

The ARE supposed to be basically the same people, after all, just recently separated in a schismatic conflict.

They've been separated for tens of thousands of years for those of us who've done the math (there've been over 150 githyanki queens reigning in the timeless Astral, including one whose reigned for 1000 years and her predecessor, who ruled for over 500). The illithid city of Oryndoll in Toril is over 12,000 years old, and the Black Spine boxed set sets githzerai and githyanki at the very dawn of psionics on Athas, which was 14,000 long Athasian years ago. It's not at all clear how much of their present appearances is due to illithid alterations of their original human stock and how much is due to subsequent adaptation to their respective planes.

But of course, it's 4e now and all previous continuity is up in the air. But I say it's a bug, not a feature. I like my githyanki more reptilian and my githzerai more catlike, personally.

 

[Klaus]

Tens of thousands years of separation will give you peoples as similar as Asians and Amerindians.

The fact that zerais are a bit greener and yankis are bit yellower (in addition to their supernatural differences) is more than enough.

 

[JohnSnow]

Look again. Bald-zerai has a two-pointed goatee and a soul patch. Bald-yanki has a four-pointed goatee.

Other way around actually. Bald-yanki has the two-pointed goatee and soul patch. Bald-zerai is the one with the four-pointed goatee.

I rather like that they don't look all that different. With the exception of skin tone, very few phenotypic changes occur in less than 1000 generations. Barring magical interference of course, they shouldn't be much more visibly distinctive than, say, Vulcans and Romulans.

I rather like the idea that one could mistake a githyanki for a githzerai on first glance. It makes for some very interesting potential storylines.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

As well as confrontations. Imagine a tavern in a Dominion that is heavily trafficked by Astral Vessels.

A crew of Githyanki shipmates are milking their drinks, when a group of robed individuals walk by and sit down at the bar. They pay them no heed, till the accent in their voices becomes noticeable their Githzerai. Swords and other weapons spring into their hands as they approach them. A all out brawl is in the works.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

For my part, I like the similarities between the two races, showing common origins.

I just don't like that they look like elves.

 

[WhatGravitas]

...timeless Astral...

And the Limbo isn't a very normal place as well. Given the circumstances, the Gith tribes could be almost identical or completely different, after living on a timeless/chaotic (where basically "mind over matter" applies) plane for such a long "time".

Cheers, LT.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I say, the fewer 25-year-old D&D anachronisms that make no sense to anyone who hasn't been playing for at least that long, the better.

White Raven Onslaught? Golden Wyvern Adept? Fuscia Monkey Explosion?

I'll agree in general, while saying that holding on to some of their IP (like Eberron) means holding onto some of their D&Disms (like tiger rakshasas), at least when they can be vaguely made to work.

 

[Stone Dog]

That said, I'm totally using that picture in my next Eberron game as the image for a Rakshasa Raja.

--G

Just to further muddy the waters a bit... Rajah in Eberron refers to a type of near divine fiendish overlord, not a rakshasa subtype. Sure, the natural form of a rajah CAN look like that, but it is just as likely to look like Demogorgon or Pazuzu or any number of demon princes or devil lords.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Actually, the way Keith Baker writes them, Demogorgon et aliis (if they even exist in Eberron) would be a step below the level of the overlords. In his conversion of the Savage Tide adventure path, the plan was that Demogorgon would be "one of the mightiest fiends that remains unbound", and scheming to usurp the power of the rajahs.

 

[Oni]

I think I'm going to be in the minority, but I'm not really all that keen on the githyanki picture because of the armour. It's crossed the line from cool to cheesy. It looks like it was pulled out of the generic cheesy fantasy props closet. It would have been nice to see more variety in facial features from previous gith picture too, because while their races may be similar there should be differences amoung individuals. The mage guy in the back is cool though, it's a beautiful rendering of fire.