D&D 5E GM's how do you run Githyanki in your campaigns?

[werecorpse]

I'm in the process of incorporating the Githyanki Incursion campaign into my campaign and I have read a fair bit about the Githyanki but I note that the lore says that essentially Githyanki grow to maturity (at about 16) on the prime plane (because you can't mature on the Astral) and then have to individually kill an illithid before being allowed to join their brethren on the Astral plane.

I'm not sure when this became part of the lore (anyone?) but it seems pretty unlikely given how difficult to find, rare and powerful illithid are. It wasn't in the original fiend folio. Maybe to become a knight you have to kill an illithid on your own - otherwise it doesn't make much sense.

Personally I like the FF write up where they have prime material plane lairs of 21-30 Githyanki of which about half are low level trainees.

how do you play this illithid killing requirement?

 

[Lord_Ira]

The Illithid normally live in hive colonies so I'd say anywhere they find one there would be more. The Githzerai do the same thing for there initiation. But ultimately it's your world so you can alter it as you please to fit the kind of story you want to tell.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I'm in the process of incorporating the Githyanki Incursion campaign into my campaign and I have read a fair bit about the Githyanki but I note that the lore says that essentially Githyanki grow to maturity (at about 16) on the prime plane (because you can't mature on the Astral) and then have to individually kill an illithid before being allowed to join their brethren on the Astral plane.

I'm not sure when this became part of the lore (anyone?) but it seems pretty unlikely given how difficult to find, rare and powerful illithid are. It wasn't in the original fiend folio. Maybe to become a knight you have to kill an illithid on your own - otherwise it doesn't make much sense.

Personally I like the FF write up where they have prime material plane lairs of 21-30 Githyanki of which about half are low level trainees.

how do you play this illithid killing requirement?

Taking inspiration from 2e, my own githyanki are being run with the idea that this isn't a requirement for adulthood. To become a warrior, you need to participate in a hunt of illithids, but you don't personally need to slay one, and slaying an illithid isn't necessarily the only successful outcome of such a hunt - recon, resource destruction, etc., all valuable things. Because of the military mindset of the culture, it's also important that everyone do some time in the military in some capacity.

Since they're a major race of my next campaign, I'm kind of dorking out about them recently.

 

[Jester David]

I'd read it as kill, but not defeat in single combat. Executing a prisoner would count.