The Gith Are Now Aberrations in Dungeons & Dragons

The githyanki and githzerai are officially reclassified as aberrations in Dungeons & Dragons. In a video released today about the 2025 Monster Manual, D&D designers Jeremy Crawford and F. Wesley Schneider confirmed that the two classic D&D species are now being classified as aberrations. The reasoning given - the two gith species have been so transformed by living in the Astral Plane and Limbo, they've moved beyond being humanoids. Schneider also pointed out that the illithid's role in manipulating the gith also contributed to their new classification.

The video notes that this isn't technically a new change - the Planescape book released in 2023 had several githzerai statblocks that had aberration classifications.

The gith join a growing number of previously playable species that have new classifications. The goblin, kobolds, and kenku have also had their creature classifications changed in the 2025 Monster Manual. While players can currently use the 2014 rules for making characters of those species, it will be interesting to see how these reclassifications affect the character-building rules regarding these species when they are eventually updated for 2024 rules.

 

[Retros_x]

Ghat depends on how many problems it creates and how they tie up loose lore ends.

Hot take: Only problems that will arise are relevant for a minority of players who care about official lore continuity. The rest just continue to run it however they want at their tables. It will be a fart in the wind and in 10 years or more historic articles and videos will have "remember when gith were humanoids" similar to they do now for similar changes like that from earlier editions.

 

[Shardstone]

I guess you missed the Halflings as Oozes part

I did not!

 

[Shardstone]

I think this change is, like many changes, being taken a little to seriously. Some spells don't work anymore, but how is that a bad thing ultimately? It means you need new strategies for these creatures. Why get tied into knots over things like Hold Person, one of the most boring spells in the game, no longer working?

 

[Retros_x]

It wasn't publicly playtested which doesn't mean it wasn't done for a smaller audience.

Yes it seems some people forget that public playtests are not the only playtests.

 

[NotAYakk]

I'm ok with Hold Person being nerfed because it was so useful that it really crowded out other spell choices. Ideally, I think any real paralysis effect should be staved off for higher level spells, so that lower level spells can have more pick diversity. Maybe it won't manifest like that in actuality, but well, we can hope.

Anyway, I like this change, but it really does make Humanoid a little bit meaningless. Let's just cleave all the way to the Realist take and make Elves into Fey, Humans into Beasts, and Halflings into removed from the game. Dwarves can be, uh, Elementals. Hmm....ideas isn't holding up as well as I'd thought.

I'd rather go with dual-classification.

Humanoid Fey
Humanoid Aberration
Humanoid Beast
Humanoid Elemental

Hold Person can freeze a Humanoid. Humanoids who have another type (except beast) gain advantage on the roll.

Weres who turn fully into animal lose the Humanoid type.

 

[Shardstone]

I'd rather go with dual-classification.

Humanoid Fey
Humanoid Aberration
Humanoid Beast
Humanoid Elemental

Hold Person can freeze a Humanoid. Humanoids who have another type (except beast) gain advantage on the roll.

Weres who turn fully into animal lose the Humanoid type.

I agree that dual-classification is, IMO, the most elegant solution. I think WotC fears it might take up space or be too complex, but ultimately it would make the game feel better and could be added to races too (which I prefer).

 

[Mind of tempest]

I mean, D&D can still be considered a toolkit, we’re all free, and encouraged, to hack it and make it our own.

In your campaign setting you can change these things. I know that I certainly will. Gith are still humanoid to me because… well I have reasons.

true however the guy selling the tool kit does tend to define a lot about what is assumed you can make, I am concerned that wizards are walking a bad path to both our and their detriment.

I agree that dual-classification is, IMO, the most elegant solution. I think WotC fears it might take up space or be too complex, but ultimately it would make the game feel better and could be added to races too (which I prefer).

it is an additional word it is not that bad

 

[Shardstone]

true however the guy selling the tool kit does tend to define a lot about what is assumed you can make, I am concerned that wizards are walking a bad path to both our and their detriment.

it is an additional word it is not that bad

We agree, but you know how WotC is.

 

[SkidAce]

Haven't read any of the thread yet.

NO. Gith were humans experimented on by Mind Flayers. While theoretically that could have tipped them over the edge to aberration, there is no precedent that I am aware of.

Now to read the thread.

 

[Shardstone]

Haven't read any of the thread yet.

NO. Gith were humans experimented on by Mind Flayers. While theoretically that could have tipped them over the edge to aberration, there is no precedent that I am aware of.

Now to read the thread.

Aberrations are, according to the video, now any creature transformed by the Far Realm. Gith fall into that category.

Werewolves were human once and now are monstrosities. Most undead were human too before being raised.