D&D General Githyanki Incursion

[Redwizard007]

About a hundred years ago, the magazine Dragon #309(?) ran an article revolving around an invasion of Githyanki on existing campaigns. Its always looked like a great concept, and the author did most of the strategic planning, but I never got around to using it. That will soon change.

Between the various stat blocks for githyanki, and the NPC stat blocks that can easily be adapted to add gith specifics, I won't even need to homebrew much. The general campaign outline is already there. I just need to flesh out the details and set the sand box up for my players to stomp around in. That is where I get to add my personal touches.

What I could use a hand with is adding some variety to my plans. While Vlaakith does control much of the strategy, I'd like to add some "creative implementation" from her unit commanders in the form of things I might not normally consider as a DM. So, if anyone has run a similar campaign, or has ideas on how they would do so, I'd love to hear about them.

 

[Quickleaf]

A githyanki caster with bones of the earth would make for an interesting foe when accompanied by githyanki warriors, who could cast jump on themselves, be lifted aloft on the conjured pillars (I'd narrate them as appearing from a silver void/conjured from the Astral & flavored as ruined temple pillars), leap down to attack, then misty step back atop the pillars.

Is that the kind of strategic input you're looking for? Tactics that a githyanki unit commander could use?

 

[MonsterEnvy]

They have Airships and Red Dragons. They have a ton of options.

 

[Redwizard007]

A githyanki caster with bones of the earth would make for an interesting foe when accompanied by githyanki warriors, who could cast jump on themselves, be lifted aloft on the conjured pillars (I'd narrate them as appearing from a silver void/conjured from the Astral & flavored as ruined temple pillars), leap down to attack, then misty step back atop the pillars.

Is that the kind of strategic input you're looking for? Tactics that a githyanki unit commander could use?

That's brilliant, and certainly not something I would have come up with. Exactly what I am looking for. Thank you.

They have Airships and Red Dragons. They have a ton of options.

Right. Like what?

I'm already throwing 90% of the monster manual out the window with a campaign like this. To compensate, I'd like to add some variety in encounter building. Different win conditions, unusual environs, interesting spell/ability combinations. Stuff like that.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Giving your Red Dragons Variant Spellcasting can be helpful. A Young Red Dragon will get 4 Spells up to Level 3 to Cast.

 

[Ancalagon]

As a DM, you don't want your NPCs to be too complex in a battle, you have a lot to look after. I think that the psi warrior could be a good source of inspiration for new/interesting powers for githyanki warriors - they are very flavorful and very straightforward.

 

[Quickleaf]

That's brilliant, and certainly not something I would have come up with. Exactly what I am looking for. Thank you.


Right. Like what?

I'm already throwing 90% of the monster manual out the window with a campaign like this. To compensate, I'd like to add some variety in encounter building. Different win conditions, unusual environs, interesting spell/ability combinations. Stuff like that.

You bet. I actually am pretty familiar with Dragon #309 and Polyhedron #159 (in which the Incursion storyline and supporting rules were laid out) and was planning on running my own version of the campaign at some point. So I've done a bit of brainstorming and converting.

I'll try to post some of my stuff if I can dig it up on my old drive.

I do have a list of suitable beasties that I assembled (mix of existing and stuff I was homebrewing). Stuff in bold already exists in the 5e rules. Stuff in italics is non-githyanki and non-red dragon.

Monster	CR	Source
Astral Streaker	1/4	*
Ambush Drake	1/2	HotDQ
Githyanki Youngling	1	see below
Guard Drake	2	VGtM
Githyanki Pirate	#	*
Spectral Hound / Kaoulgrim	2	*
Githyanki Warrior	3	MM
Githyanki Varsh (caretaker/tutor)	5	see below
Astral Whitewing	#	*
Githyanki Sarth (captain = githyanki warrior variant)	4	see below
Githyanki Kajorr (mage)	#	*
Githyanki Mindslicer/Mindslayer	#	*
Githyanki Pirate Captain	#	*
Githyanki Knight	8	MM
Young Deep Dragon	#	FToD
Githyanki Ghustil (healer)	#	*
Githyanki Gish (fighter/mage)	10	MToF
Young Red Dragon	10	MM
Githyanki Warlock (blackweaver)	5	see below
Tl’a’ikith (sword spirit)	#	*
Duthka’gith (half-dragon)	13	see below
Githyanki Kith’rak (general)	12	MToF
Githyanki Hr’ack’nir/Senja’si	#	*
Githyanki Ch’r’ai (inquisitor)	#	*
Githyanki Supreme Commander	14	MToF
Adult Deep Dragon	#	FToD
Adult Red Dragon	17	MM
Death Knight	17	MM
Lich	21(22)	MM
Ancient Deep Dragon	#	FToD
Vlaakith CLVII the Lich Queen	23	Dragon+ 19
Ancient Red Dragon	24	MM

Thanks to @MonsterEnvy for the tip on Deep Dragons and Vlaakith!

 

[MonsterEnvy]

You bet. I actually am pretty familiar with Dragon #309 and Polyhedron #159 (in which the Incursion storyline and supporting rules were laid out) and was planning on running my own version of the campaign at some point. So I've done a bit of brainstorming and converting.

I'll try to post some of my stuff if I can dig it up on my old drive.

I do have a list of suitable beasties that I assembled (mix of existing and stuff I was homebrewing). Stuff in bold already exists in the 5e rules. Stuff in italics is non-githyanki and non-red dragon.

Monster	CR	Source
Astral Streaker	1/4	*
Ambush Drake	1/2	HotDQ
Githyanki Youngling	1/2	*
Guard Drake	2	VGtM
Githyanki Pirate	#	*
Spectral Hound / Kaoulgrim	2	*
Githyanki Warrior	3	MM
Githyanki Varsh (caretaker/tutor)	#	*
Astral Whitewing	#	*
Githyanki Sarth (captain)	6	*
Githyanki Kajorr (mage)	#	*
Githyanki Mindslicer/Mindslayer	#	*
Githyanki Pirate Captain	#	*
Githyanki Knight	8	MM
Young Deep Dragon	8	*
Githyanki Ghustil (healer)	#	*
Githyanki Gish (fighter/mage)	10	MToF
Young Red Dragon	10	MM
Githyanki Blackweaver (warlock)	10	*
Tl’a’ikith (sword spirit)	#	*
Duthka’gith (half-dragon)	12	*
Githyanki Kith’rak (general)	12	MToF
Githyanki Hr’ack’nir/Senja’si	#	*
Githyanki Ch’r’ai (inquisitor)	#	*
Githyanki Supreme Commander	14	MToF
Adult Deep Dragon	15	*
Adult Red Dragon	17	MM
Death Knight	17	MM
Lich	21(22)	MM
Ancient Deep Dragon	22	*
Vlaakith CLVIII (Gith)	23	*
Ancient Red Dragon	24	MM

Deep Dragon is coming in Fizban's and Vlaakith actually does exist in 5e. She came in Dragon +

https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/dragon/19/DRA19_LichQueen2.pdf

 

[Mind of tempest]

add some Vlaakith fans who wish to win favour with new types of undead for here army?

dragon egg thieves who wish to add options to their dragon outriders?

both work as subgroup motivations for side quests.

 

[AtomicPope]

I'm already throwing 90% of the monster manual out the window with a campaign like this. To compensate, I'd like to add some variety in encounter building. Different win conditions, unusual environs, interesting spell/ability combinations. Stuff like that.

You can have a lot of variety if you look for NPC classes and build encounters and stories around them. Some NPC classes are quite exotic, even by DnD standards, and can bring welcome surprises for the players. I had a subplot in my Spelljammer campaign where a group of Githzerai Thought Spies and Mind Mages were stealing the dreams of sages to find the location of a lost Githyanki dragon hoard. Coincidentally, the PCs were looking for the location of an Ancient Red Dragon, not to fight but to help (long story). Slowly the PCs, who were on fetch quests, would come back and the sages would forget things. Some of the information was never written down. When they found out something was wrong, it was a race against time to save (retrieve) the memories of the sages so they could reconnect the lost young Red Dragon to her mother. For mechanics I used Mind Mages from Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica (pg 233). It had all of the fluff and mechanics I needed, not to mention a great motive. Quickleaf's monster list is a great primer for a Githyanki-centric campaign.

Beastmaster NPCs and mercenaries are a good way to get other monsters in the game.