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.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

It feels weird that they're changing all these creature types, while not changing aasimar and tieflings to celestials and fiends.

Then again, I suspect they might keep all player species as humanoids, while giving the exact same NPC species other creature types.

 

[Corinnguard]

It feels weird that they're changing all these creature types, while not changing aasimar and tieflings to celestials and fiends.

Then again, I suspect they might keep all player species as humanoids, while giving the exact same NPC species other creature types.

That would be equally weird because then you could have an Aasimar PC (Humanoid) and an Aasimar NPC (Celestial), and only one of them would be affected by a Hold Person or a Charm Person spell. It's best if both had the same type.

 

[Weiley31]

It feels weird that they're changing all these creature types, while not changing aasimar and tieflings to celestials and fiends.

Then again, I suspect they might keep all player species as humanoids, while giving the exact same NPC species other creature types.

They are probably doing that because of A. Balance and B. Keeping it simple for players.

When players are mostly Humanoid, you don't have to worry about the difference between "Hold Person" and "Hold Monster". Or have to "mostly" worry about how an Oath of the Ancients paladin can end up causing issues for Fey typed party members.

Balance wise is so that way the PCs aren't completely trivializing spells to the point where the DM gets fed up and makes everything just a smack down with fists/fangs/tentacles/cat paws, whatever.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Funny story, there are no halflings in my campaign world since 86.

Did they turn into oozes and melt away?

 

[Micah Sweet]

I think it’s probably being done to justify creatures being considered monsters. The thinking is, if humanoids are going to be afforded moral agency and all the nuance that comes with it, any creatures represented by a monster stat block as opposed to an NPC stat block need a creature type other than humanoid. This is how they’re attempting to get around the question of “if orcs are people, are devils/illithid/whatever people too?”

100% this. That doesn't make it a terrible change necessarily, but it always helps IMO to understand the lens through which decisions to change are made.

 

[SkidAce]

Did they turn into oozes and melt away?

In the lore, a 10th level genocide spell was cast back near the beginning of history.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Personally I have no issue with the change itself. Seems fine with Gith lore, makes them more resistant to Mind Flayers (and they are supposed to be the Mind Flayer hunters after all).

I do however agree with Merric that its weird to bring this in to an update that has vaunted backwards compatibility so often. This will have some breaks with older things....and I'm not sure why. WOTC has held off on several other changes in the name of backwards compatibility, I don't see why the need to do it here. Its both so minor I couldn't really care much, but also so minor its like "why are you even bothering with changing it and breaking old stuff?"

Backward compatibility applies mainly to their published adventures. When pressed they have admitted this. In many other ways it is IMO far more than a revision.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Jedi aren't really part of D&D though. Psionics has always been an odd thing in D&D, might as well give it the "slime and tentacles" treatment. At least that's interesting.

Lots of psionics stuff in 2e and 3e, and O don't recall it being indelibly connected with mind flayers, aboleths, and beholders.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

I'm not a fan, but mostly because I don't want everything with psionics to be Aberration-based. I mean, yes, weird crap from beyond reality can mess with people's heads and do telekinetics and see things far away and such.

You know who else can do those things? Jedi. And Jedi aren't aberration-based. The default for psionics should not be "slime and tentacles".

My dude, what do you think midichlorians are?

 

[Charlaquin]

My dude, what do you think midichlorians are?

The powerhouse of the cell… IN SPACE!!!