D&D General Githyanki Incursion

[jgsugden]

Var'ith'n are craftsman. To me, they'd be based upon artificers with some psionic mechanics added to create the 'githyanki' feel to them.

 

[Quickleaf]

Var'ith'n are craftsman. To me, they'd be based upon artificers with some psionic mechanics added to create the 'githyanki' feel to them.

If that's how you see them, could I ask how would you differentiate them from the githyanki mlar which are described as "magical artisans and craftsmen"?

For me, the interesting distinction is that the var'ith'n belong to a different caste, and that caste is all about capturing and channeling astral energies.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Some times I imagine a third (or 4th with the pirates) spin-off of the giths, linked to the rogue group who controls the astral sea next to Athas. Maybe the used the degenerated "gith" to test "new ideas" and someones of these escaped toward the unknown.

Some dragons could catch giths or used their corpses, to create their own transgenic minions.

 

[jgsugden]

If that's how you see them, could I ask how would you differentiate them from the githyanki mlar which are described as "magical artisans and craftsmen"?

For me, the interesting distinction is that the var'ith'n belong to a different caste, and that caste is all about capturing and channeling astral energies.

In A Guide to the Astral Sea (pg 51) they say that the Hr'a'cknir are energy utilizing healers, craftsmen, seers, and transport specialists. Then they give you a paragraph on 4 types, the first being a healer, the third a seer and the 4th a transport specialist. The 2nd, the var'ith'n, are described as working with mlar craftsmen in order to construct special creations like astral ships. To me, this clearly labels them as craftsmen.

In my view, their medium for crafting is energy. Just as a carpenter and stonemason both work in different medium, the two giftyani craftsment work in different mediums but can build similar things. To me, the distinction is generally physical from the mlar and energy/magic from the var'ith'n. However, while each type of craftsmen can build out of their medium, and can often build the same things, there are certain things that each can build more efficiently. The var'ith'n (or my equivalent for them, I should say - the githyanki names are what they're called in the tongue of the gith, but they have different names in common) build spelljammer helms, for example, in my world. They also construct and maintain planar gates, create energy weapons, and enchant the creations of the mlar.

I have not had much use of them in the 4E or 5E eras, but I would make them artificers with some psionic ability overlays to convey their gith nature, and anything they build would appear to be crafted from magic and energy, rather than from a physical source.

 

[Quickleaf]

@jgsugden So you'd just represent var'ith'n as githyanki able to innately cast fabricate and creation?

There's this other part of A Guide to the Astral Plane (p.38) that I was reading as referring to the var'ith'n...

Despite the fact that the gods are “dead,” energies emanate from their corpses, strange even by astral standards. The githyanki attempt to use these energies when possible, but they are careful not to abuse them so as to raise the ire of the Guardian of the Dead Gods. The githyanki hr’a’cknir operate two (and possibly more) essence mines which collect these energies for purposes no non-githyanki has been able to determine or even guess at.

Chant is, bloods can employ some of these energies to create certain magical items, golems, and other artificial animate constructs. Other rumors claim that these essences can be distilled into curatives, powerful stimulants, protective charms, and more.

Of the hr'ack'nir caste – healers, seers, portal specialists, and var'ith'n "craftsmen" – it seems likely this quoted bit is referring to the latter.

 

[jgsugden]

...So you'd just represent var'ith'n as githyanki able to innately cast fabricate and creation?

Just? No. I gave you some examples of things they do that extend beyond those activities in my campaign, right? Spelljammer Helms, Planar Gates, Energy Weapons - essentially, they bring a unique form of magic to their constructions.

There's this other part of A Guide to the Astral Plane (p.38) that I was reading as referring to the var'ith'n...

Of the hr'ack'nir caste – healers, seers, portal specialists, and var'ith'n "craftsmen" – it seems likely this quoted bit is referring to the latter.

While I think that applies primarily to the var'ith'n, it also can apply to the others as well. Regardless, they bring their peculair form of magic to the creation process. A mlar might be able to make a ballista, but the var'ith'n can make it magical - or make one out of nothing but magical force. There is a clearly different feel to them based upon the medium in which they work, and the role in the culture.

However, the last time I ran a campaign where the full Gith culture was front and center was about 20 years ago. They've only made 'secondary' appearances since then. My campaign world has evolved a lot since they were focal parts of a campaign, so I do not have that much present attachment to their cultural structure anymore.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The duthka'gith, or some nerfed offspring should be a PC race. Maybe someone was catched as slaves, and by means of trangenic reverse engeneering other faction would create a new breed.

 

[Quickleaf]

Thanks @jgsugden ! It's great to hear your experience using githyanki, as this will be my first time using them in anything more than a cameo role.

Sounds like you kept var'ith'n as more of a "behind the scenes" type, rather than an active adversary the PCs would engage with? That was my initial instinct, but maybe I was trying to artificially make them a "threat" in a stat block sense when that's not really their intended role.

@Redwizard007 Here's that senja'si (seer) stat block I put together. I wanted these guys to feel like a spooky oracle that can use fear as a weapon & even bring their victims to the Astral / dreamscape (as a counterpoint to the githzerai who bring a portion of Limbo with them in their adamantine citadels). Imagining githyanki society as being rife with astrology/fortune-telling since the Astral is this timeless space, with the senja'si being something like an elite caste, something like the Bene Gesserit of Dune. I got some great feedback on the DM Academy Discord, so it's gone through a couple design passes, but no playtesting yet.

 

[jgsugden]

Thanks @jgsugden ! It's great to hear your experience using githyanki, as this will be my first time using them in anything more than a cameo role.

Sounds like you kept var'ith'n as more of a "behind the scenes" type, rather than an active adversary the PCs would engage with? That was my initial instinct, but maybe I was trying to artificially make them a "threat" in a stat block sense when that's not really their intended role.
...

This campaign was about 20 years ago. I'd been running a PC in a game that was using a publiashed series of modules that had a big climax to the adventure in a war with Githyanki. After that completed, I did some looking into the Githyanki and read everything I could get my hands upon. Then, as was my norm, I simplified the situation as much as I could to make it more approachable to the players.

My Githyanki (and Githzerai) live in pocket planes that connect to the Astral Sea via portals. They're almost like islands in a 3 dimensional sea. In that campaign, the PCs did a hex crawl / dungeon delve that took them through ~10th level which culminated in them obtaining an artifact. The artifact had a sort of 'Doomsday Clock' associated with it, so they were seeking to destroy it. It was of ancient Githyanki make, and as is the norm for artifacts in my setting, most mundane magics could not reveal anything about it (artifacts are immune to all but the highest level magics). So, the PCs had to go search out information on the artifact fromGithyanki scholars.

To do this, they had to travel to the Astral Plane, navigate to my equivalent of Sigil (which is a giant city floating in as 'asteroid' in the Astral - that has thousands of gates to different places and planes built into the area - it is highly inspired by Babylon 5 and Hellraiser), negotiate with Githyanki for access to their territory, and then acquire their own Spelljammer style ship to travel there. They then passed into a pocket plane with a series of Githyanki settlements on (essentially) an asteroid belt. Within it, they went to a library, but to gain access to the knowledge they had to gather the favor of certain Gith, which involved a political storyline within the Githyanki (and Githzerai) cultures.

There was conflict, but the Githyanki were not just 'see and kill' enemies. They were a very lawful, very alien, and very well organized fascist culture. The PCs spent about 60(?) hours of RPG time within that pocket plane before they left it, and there was one short dungeon delve, one stealth assassination, and a few 'ship to ship' battles - but the majority of the time was spent outside combat trying to find their answers without being killed for trangressions against the Githyanki.

The var'ith'n were not, as far as I can recall, ever a direct antagonist. The PCs spent a bit of time dealing with a mission that took them to a place that was creating Spelljammer ships for the Githyanki, and in which they had to improve the efficiency of the workers without angering their masters. As a result, the PCs had to interact with a variety of people from different origins within the Githyanki society. Var'ith'n were key players in the situation.

 

[Storyteller Hero]

Here are some potential mind-jobs to add to a Gith Incursion campaign.

Tiamat successfully escaped from Avernus at the end of The Rise of Tiamat. The PCs defeated her avatar while Tiamat sneakily planeshifted away to [Dragon Eyrie?]. In Descent Into Avernus, Tiamat's main goal is to cause trouble that distracts away from her moving her faithful and treasures out of Avernus, possibly through a portal-gate that required Tiamat on both sides of the gate in order to prevent Asmodeus from sensing something was awry, and to bypass Asmodeus' restrictions on Tiamat. Vlaakith might become Tiamat's exarch and serve as the vanguard of a much larger invasion, with Tiamat bringing out her big guns, including five Great Wyrm chromatic dragons who are her sons and her consorts.

The mindflayers have been building a fleet of spelljamming vessels and slave armies to overtake the githyanki, helped along during the Spellplague of Realmspace, when their psionics could keep their ships and shipyards functioning while standard magic helms were disabled.

Atropus, the World Born Dead may stir when the war generates a massive amount of death and magic use.