Gith
The former slaves turned mighty warriors and austere monks
Base Racial Traits
The base racial traits below add onto whichever Gith Subspecies you select. The Ability Score Bonuses are cumulative. Ability Score Increase: (Intelligence +2, Dexterity +2) Gith are universally intelligent creatures, with minds that are intelligent far in excess of the norm, and possess thin, lanky bodies that give them great flexibility. Size: Gith are medium-sized creatures, though they tend to stand at the taller end of the category and are usually quite thin and lanky. Type: Gith are humanoid creatures of the Gith Subtype. Base Speed: Gith have a base land speed of 30ft.
Githyanki:
Ability Score Increase: (Strength +2) Githyanki are powerful and mighty warriors, with strong bodies. Language: Githyanki begin play speaking the Regional Language that reflects their origins only(See Languages of Zheng-Kitar), which is typically Narixian for most Githyanki, and Gith. A Githyanki with high INT can select any non-secret language as a bonus language. Decadent Mastery: Whether they be in their timeless cities or on the material with their timeless bodies, Githyanki have bountiful time to master countless odd bits of knowledge. Githyanki learn an extra language for every point they put into linguistics. They begin play with one extra bonus language, and a free class skill of your choice. Mental Powerhouses: Githyanki, with minds so powerful they can rival even the Illithids, can use their mental fortitude to cast a handful of spells. They can cast Mage Hand and Jump as at-will SLAs with CL equal to their HD. At 5HD, they can teleport up to 30ft to an unoccupied square as a swift action once per day. Astral Bodies: Though the Githyanki on Zheng-Kitar have gone native, their bodies recall their timeless homelands. Githyanki do not age unless they are in combat or a similarly excitable situation with adrenaline pumping or high intensity(GM Discretion). Because of this, they gain a racial +2 to knowledge(planes) and acrobatics checks, and gain both as class skills. Predator's Perfect Defense: Githyanki get resistance 10 to an element of their choice, that they can change at the beginning of each day. They may convert an amount of untyped damage they take equal to their HD into damage of the type they resist from this trait. Inescapable Blade: Whenever they deal HP damage to a creature with a melee or ranged weapon attack, Githyanki can choose to mark them with a bloody mark - an intangible mark only noticable by the Githyanki who placed it. So long as a given creature is marked this way, they are treated as being under a status effect as per the spell in regards to the given creature marked. They may have one creature marked in this way, plus one additional creature per 6HD they possess. Dismissing the mark is a free action. The mark is an extraordinary ability, but a DC 30 Heal Check can notice the faint of stench of blood around a creature, and a subsequent DC 25 Heal check can remove the mark. Blade Rush Blast: Once per combat while wielding a melee weapon as your entire Attack Action, a Githyanki can make an attack that hits all creatures in a 30ft line - they must roll attacks for each creature seperately, but the movement does not provoke. For each creature you hit in that line, each subsequent attack and damage roll made against a creature in that line gets a +1. Aberration Hunters: Githyanki get a +1 to all attack rolls and +2 to all dmg and CMB rolls made vs Aberrations. They gain a racial +1 to all will saves. Martial Prodigies: Githyanki are always proficient with light and medium armor, as well as shortswords, longswords, and greatswords.
Githzerai:
Ability Score Increase: (Wisdom +2) Githzerai are serene and wise ascetics, with careful study and practice. Language: Githzerai begin play speaking the Regional Language that reflects their origins only(See Languages of Zheng-Kitar), which is typically Veunh for most Githzerai, and Gith. A Githzerai with high INT can select any non-secret language as a bonus language. Mental Discipline: Githzerai spend years learning how to govern their own minds under the tutelage of monastic masters, and as a result gain a +4 on all saves made versus charms, compulsions, and fear effects. Githzerai Mental Might: Githzerai, even moreso than the martial Githyanki, are powerful psionics and masters of mental power - Githzerai can cast Mage Hand and Detect Thoughts as at-will SLAs with a CL equal to their HD. At 5HD, they can cast Shield 1/day. Primordial Connection: Once per day, by performing a ritual that takes 10 minutes, Githzerai can open a corridor to the plane of Limbo as per the gate spell. If they are on the plane of Limbo, they instead can do the same to create a gate to the material plane, at the point at which they entered Limbo. This is a supernatural ability. Timeless Knowledge: Githzerai, in their timeless citadels, spend time untold studying and unlocking the secrets of creation. They gain any two skill of their choice as class skills, and gain the Eldritch Eye or Third Eye feats(Their choice, chosen at character creation) at 1st level even if they do not meet the prerequisites. They may use this ability once per day plus an additional time for every 2 levels beyond the first. At 5HD, using this ability becomes a move action. Planar Savants: Githzerai can see into all planes which overlap the one they are currently on, if any(Allowing them to see into the Ethereal and Shadow Planes on the Material). By concentrating as a standard action, Githzerai can shape the very primordial essence of reality itself(Which works as a Minor Creation effect) - unlike normal Minor creation, this allows them to create any matter so long as it is nonliving matter, and allows them to create and extend stone, wood, etc. Once this ability is used, it cannot be used again for an hour due to the strain it causes. On the plane of Limbo when at 9HD or above, this becomes a Major Creation effect and has no cooldown. Always Ready: Githzerai cannot be surprised. They can always act in the surprise round when one exists, and gain a general +4 to initiative checks. Psionic Defenses: Githzerai, with the power of their mind, can protect themselves with thought alone - they gain DR 5/magic and cold iron.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Gith have a mostly humanoid biology - save for their height and skin tone, their anatomy is consistent with Humans.
Genetics and Reproduction
Gith reproduce sexually - once a female Gith comes down with child, they remain pregnant for anywhere between 6-10 months before giving birth to an infant Gith. Because both Githzerai or Githyanki tend to make their homes in planes that are timeless, they often have to travel to non-timeless planes to give birth.
Growth Rate & Stages
Once born, Gith grow to adulthood by age 14, at which point they are both biologically and mentally adults. They reach middle age around age 50, become old around age 75, and become venerable at age 100 and die shortly thereafter.
Githyanki on Zheng-Kitar, once they hit adulthood, begin to age according to their strange biology and will henceforth only age in stressful or intense situations such as celebrations, parties, battle, war, etc. They tend to have a stigma against old age, seeing it as something of a mystery - not many Githyanki live to old age, and those that do are either mighty and storied warriors and travelers, or cowards.
Ecology and Habitats
Gith tend to inhabit extraplanar homes - usually either the Astral Plane or the Plane of Limbo. The Githyanki in the Astral Plane form massive raiding squadrons on the backs of their astral ships, traveling to the material to conquer planets and raid other planes - while the Githzerai in Limbo sculpt massive, timeless citadels from the raw primordial essence of Limbo where they study and continue their monastic lives.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Gith are omnivores - they can and will eat mostly anything.
Biological Cycle
As they age, Gith age as humans do - their skin begins to turn grey and their bodies gradually decay and fail.
Githyanki on Zheng-Kitar, having gone native, age a bit differently - they only age in stressful situations such as combat or in situations of high tension, stress, or excitement - such as parties, celebrations, or the like.
Additional Information
Facial characteristics
Gith faces are angular and jagged, with pointed ears and sharp chins. Githzerai commonly shave their heads and are often bald, though Githyanki often have long and intricately woven or braided locks of hair.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Githyanki are found exclusively within the borders of the Narixian Empire on the planet of Ea - otherwise, they are found primarily in the Astral Plane and on various others worlds and planes they invade and conquer.
Githzerai are found exclusively within the Vathomi Isles on the planet of Ea, working alongside the "Shadow Caste" that rules over it. Otherwise, they are found only on the plane of Limbo and in rare other locations they deign to visit to on monastic quests.
Average Intelligence
All gith are extremely intelligent, well above the human norm.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Gith have no special visions - though some Githzerai have been known to open third eyes to see beyond the mundane realms.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Gith names tend to be unisex - it is hard for outsiders to tell the difference between male and female Gith Names, both Githyanki and Githzerai. They tend to have harsh sounds and letters, often broken up by one or more apostrophes.
The only discernable difference between Githyanki and Githzerai names is their length - Githzerai tend to have longer names, and Githyanki tend to have shorter ones with less apostrophes. Githyanki also sometimes take on epithets or monikers for the sake of others, such as 'Slim' or 'Red', to save others the trouble of pronouncing and butchering their name.
Gith have no family names - merely descriptive titles. Bloodlines are a wholly foreign concept to both Githyanki and Githzerai, and thus family names are not a thing in their society or naming scheme.
Example Names: Amak, Djakh, M'narr, T'cha, Dla'keth, Ji'li'kai, Ach'ali, Keluk
Alternate Racial Trait List: Githyanki Alternate Racial Traits Githzerai Alternate Racial Traits
Racial Feat List: Githyanki Racial Feats
Lifespan
100 years. Githyanki, notably, do not age unless in situations of high adrenaline or excitement such as combat, stress, celebration, etc.
Conservation Status
On the planet of Ea, the Gith of both variants are extremely rare - Githyanki are a dying breed in Narixia, and the Githzerai of the Vathomi Isles are not numerous to begin with, and are a mysterious bunch who rarely associate with outsiders.
Average Height
5'1" – 7' (1.55m ‒ 2.13 m)
Average Weight
92lbs – 196lbs (42kg ‒ 89 kg)
Average Physique
Gith are typically tall and lanky, with slender bodies and frames that belie their true power.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Gith skin is typically pale yellow with green or brown tones - their hair tends to be black, red, russet, or grey, and their eyes tend to be the same color.
Related Organizations
A race divided
As a race older than time, Gith have existed as long as any can remember - even back before the coming of the Illithid they existed, though the name of this society and species they existed as have all but been lost to time. Instead, they are remembered as being a servitor race of the Illithid - the Mindflayers - who eventually, after numerous escape attempts, threw off the shackles of slavery thanks to the rise of a folk hero known as Gith. A great leader who helped their people throw off their shackles, Gith and their followers rose to lead their people into freedom, but another leader emerged in the aftermath of the battle named Zerthimon, who challenged Gith's notions of martial leadership and bottomless desire for vengeance and claimed they amounted to little more than another form of slavery for their people. This disagreement sparked a rift in the newly freed 'Gith' - and they soon become two offshoots of those original gith whose enmity for each other endures to this day - the Githyanki in the ways and teachings of Gith, and the Githzerai in the teachings of Zerthimon. The githyanki plunder countless worlds from the decks of their astral vessels and the backs of red dragons. Feathers, beads, gems, and precious metals decorate their armor and weapons – the legendary silver swords with which they cut through their foes. Since winning their freedom from the illithids, the githyanki have become ruthless conquerors under the rulership of their great warrior-kings - though the colony on Zheng-Kitar can be attributed to an ancient Githyanki expedition to the planet that crash-landed in a hunt for Illithids, and went native over centuries of searching - only a scant few remembering their purpose there. Focused philosophers and austere ascetics, the githzerai pursue lives of rigid order. Lean and muscular, they wear unadorned clothing free of ornamentation, keeping their own counsel and trusting few creatures outside of their own kind. Having turned their backs on their warlike githyanki kin, the githzerai maintain a strict monastic lifestyle, dwelling on islands of order in the vast sea of chaos that is the plane of Limbo. These two races do not get along, and when they met, their meetings almost always end in bloodshed at the worst or open hostility at the least - Githyanki constantly seek martial perfection and eternal revenge against their former masters, where Githzerai seek lives of asceticism and ascension - to move beyond the past and their biases to live lives of monastic perfection and rigid order.
Githyanki - The Neo-Narixians
Though they are an ancient species on Zheng-Kitar, the Githyanki are slowly dying out there. They have been on Zheng-Kitar since shortly after the Advent of the Spirit Kings some 4,000 years ago, and it was said to be their legendary battle-lust and conquering nature that inspired the Original Neo-Narixians to form and birth the beginning of the Narixian culture that has endured even to the present day - their legacy of carnage and martial perfection inspired an entire culture of warrior-nomads that unknowingly grew up idolizing and copying much of the Githyanki's own culture and ideals, though in time they twisted and became something wholly unique. Ironically, the Githyanki did not realize that they had inspired such a culture until long after the original Neo-Narixians that had seen and copied them had died off and passed on their legacy to the Narixians of today - their chasing of the Illithid across the planet of Ea kept them busy for centuries, and it was only when they began to go native and lose interest in their quest did they return and discover the accidental fruits of their stay there, as many Githyanki saw potential in those that copied them and elected to stay on Ea to live alongside them. Though their numbers have dwindled, Githyanki are still a core part of the Narixian Empire - seen as honored elders and the last of the "Narixians" as a "race" instead of a culture, they are the archetypal Narixian people - though their style of battle and conquest means they have been slowly dwindling in recent years.
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