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.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

they are very human-like barely any change, cultural genocide is fairly likely for anything going through chattel slavery and mindflayers can wipe your mind and did it far longer than any human civilisation has ever managed thus the data loss of origin and name was both likely and deeply deliberate.

no both lay eggs rather the yanki are forced to raise kids on the prime material as the astral does not let things age properly, zerai living in limbo do not have this problem what with some flow of time being a thing there.

I checked sources the Zerai do not lay eggs it seems.

 

[dave2008]

do we know that or are we guessing?

We haven't seen the 5e24 lore, nor do I remember what, if anything, they said about the appearance changes. What they said in the video was that their minds were significantly altered by the Far Realm influence of the Mind Flayers.

So again, I will point out to you that it has little if anything to do with the morphology of the Gith. I really can't understand how you continue to make this error.

 

[Azzy]

Heh heh... which begs the question why should anyone actually be all that concerned by any of it? Every single thing in D&D has been changed multiple times throughout the last 50 years... some going back and forth, others changing to something completely new each time... and will easily get changed again multiple times down the line in the future whenever a new designer comes in and wants to put their stamp on things.

So why be bothered by what TSR/WotC/Paizo/Kobold/EN Pub put down as their version of "current" lore for D&D? Their views are just their views, same way all our views are all our views. Just keep using whatever (general) you prefer for your own game and to heck with what anyone else writes down. It's not worth the concern.

Right. There' very little mechanical impact (if any) aside from certain spells and magic items with creature type, so treating gith or whatever else as humanoids (whether wholesale or just for certain spells) is not something that's going to have a negative impact on the game.

 

[jasper]

"Hold Person" can be renamed "Hold Nothing". :/

Here at Monster International were upset that you took some our beloved colleagues and turn them into player races. So we decided to change, so a monster is a monster so you can slay us with little trauma. Well except for us trying to eat your brains.

 

[hunter1828]

Yeah, I kind see where they are coming from, but I don't agree with it. It's not a deal breaker for me, though. Know why? Because I can still classify them as humanoids in my games. Weird how that works, huh?

 

[abirdcall]

I said biology is not what makes an aberration and you came back and said their biology wasn't different enough to make them Aberrations?! What am I to do with that!

Listen, I think your interpretation is a narrow understanding of what an Aberration can be and is clearly not how the designers of WotC are viewing it or describing them. So, that is fine to have your own way of doing things (I know I do), but it is not supported by what the game is telling us. Maybe we will get a more clarity in the MM, but I feel the designers are being very clear Aberration =/= strange biology!

And I also want to clarify I am not sold on this idea either. I am just explaining what was said because a lot of false information is going around IMO. I admit I am beginning to like the implications of this broadening (and also clarifying for me) idea of what an Abberation is. For me it seems to have some potential and I am willing to ride it for a bit and see where it goes. I can always decided whether to fully accept or reject it later.

Yeah, D&D uses magical logic not real science.

They are aberrations because their story is of the far realm. That makes perfect sense, just not scientific sense.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I hope they eventually bring back the Elan as a PC species, and then explain why they're aberrations. As they were aberrations since they first appeared in 3e.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I hope they eventually bring back the Elan as a PC species, and then explain why they're aberrations. As they were aberrations since they first appeared in 3e.

they have never felt like aberrations

We haven't seen the 5e24 lore, nor do I remember what, if anything, they said about the appearance changes. What they said in the video was that their minds were significantly altered by the Far Realm influence of the Mind Flayers.

So again, I will point out to you that it has little if anything to do with the morphology of the Gith. I really can't understand how you continue to make this error.

we know what they will say it is psionic powers.
gods I hate how utterly fixated they are about mindlessly tying it to the far realm, do they ever do this for arcane magic no.

 

[Corinnguard]

do they ever do this for arcane magic no.

Isn't use of arcane magic in the FR still tied to the Weave and the Shadow Weave?

 

[Mind of tempest]

Isn't use of arcane magic in the FR still tied to the Weave and the Shadow Weave?

shadow weave blow up causing 4e.

new weave got built for 5e.

I more hate that it is just some god built project