The Descendents of Gith

My githyanki hail from the 1st Edition AD&D Fiend Folio, created by Charles Stross. Just seeing the creatures on the cover made my heart race. Indeed, I found the Fiend Folio indispensable, and its wild exuberance informs my monster creation to this day. Not every creature was equally well realized, but the attempt to do something great often overshadowed an individual creature's failings.

Without further preamble, I present to you my version of the githyanki and their adversarial brethren, the githzerai.

Githyanki: Init +2; Atk two-handed sword +3 melee (1d10) or psychic blast +2 ranged (1d6); AC 14; HD 2d10; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP psychic blast, astral projection, possible special abilities, infravision 60’, +4 to saves vs. magic; SV Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +10; AL C.

The githyanki were a race of evil humans, conquered millennia ago by squid-faced psionic flayers. Bound to service by their conquerors, they were used as slaves and occasional food, for the flayers ate the brains of humanoid creatures. After centuries of servitude, the humans arose against the psionic flayers under the leadership of Gith. Having developed their own psychic and physical powers, they succeeded in throwing off the horrid yoke of slavery to the brain-eating creatures. Taking their name from their leader, they became known as the githyanki.

The githyanki dwell in huge castles floating in the astral plane, but can project themselves to material worlds, where they seek to obtain slaves and riches of their own, or to defeat their former masters wherever they may find them. They are said to worship an immensely powerful lich-queen. In some cases, they have allied with powerful fire-breathing dragon for mutual benefit. Each castle is ruled by a Supreme Leader who automatically carries a silver sword (see below).

Let there be no doubt – the githyanki have a well-deserved reputation for violence. For each githyanki encountered, roll percentile dice and apply the following adjustments:

01-40     No change.

41-56     Tougher: Add +1d3 HD, and raise saves by 1 per 2 full HD increase.

57-60     Superior Psychic Blast: Does +1d6 damage.

61-64     Superior Psychic Shield: Gains a +4 bonus to Will saves.

65-70     Psychic Power: The githyanki possesses a special psionic power. See below.

71-77     Spellcasting: Can cast spells as a (1d3: 1-2 wizard or 3 cleric) of level 1d3. If rolled again, the githyanki may be able to cast spells as if it had two classes. Levels of the same class stack, up to a maximum of 6^th level.

78-80     Illusion Generation: The githyanki can project mental illusions to a range of 60’. These cannot cause damage directly, but can mislead or otherwise cause targets to damage themselves. The githyanki must concentrate to maintain the illusion. Will DC 20 negates when the illusion is interacted with.

81-90     Arcane Blade: The two-handed sword used by the githyanki has a +1 bonus to attack rolls and damage, and can strike creatures as though it were magical.

91-94     Knight: The githyanki gains 2d3 HD, and gains a +1 bonus to all saves per 2 full HD gained. The githyanki knight can cause damage or heal with a touch. Each instance uses the Hit Die type of the target. Each day, the knight can heal or cause damage in dice equal to the knight’s own Hit Dice. Each touch can use a part, or the whole, of this effect. For instance, a 4 HD knight could heal 1 HD to himself, and later cause 3 HD to another. There is a 5% chance per Hit Die that a knight will have a silver sword (see below).

95-99     Silver Sword: The githayanki possesses a silver sword. See below.

00           Roll again twice.

Githzerai: Init +4; Atk open-handed blow +4 melee (1d6+1) or two-handed sword +2 melee (1d10) or psychic blast +3 ranged (1d6); AC 15; HD 1d10; MV 30’; Act 2d20; SP psychic blast, astral projection, possible special abilities, infravision 60’, +8 to saves vs. magic; SV Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +10; AL N.

Another offshoot of the same evil humans who spawned the githyanki, the githzerai dwell on Limbo, but may be found upon material worlds as well. Their war with the githyanki is vicious and eternal, as neither side can gain supremacy for long. The githzerai have an uneasy truce with the psychic flayers which enslaved their ancestors, which is constantly broken in isolated raids and skirmishes. They are said to be ruled by an undying wizard-king.

10% of githzerai have an additional 1d5 Hit Dice (and gain a +1 bonus to all attack rolls per 2 full HD added). 25% of githzerai have 1d3 psychic powers.

Silver Swords

The silver swords of the githyanki act as +3 weapons, but they are not magical. They have a critical range of 19-20. On a “20”, instead of rolling for effect, a silver sword severs the astral cord of an astral traveller unless it succeeds in a DC 20 Will save, or decapitates a material foe unless it succeeds in a DC 20 Fort save. If either save succeeds, the attack instead does double normal damage. If a silver sword falls into non-githyanki hands, they will go to any length to recover it.

Psychic Powers

If psychic powers are indicated, the judge is encouraged to consider the psionics systems presented in The Wizardarium of Calabraxis or Crawljammer#3, both of which are resources that any self-respecting judge should own in any event. Barring those resources, roll 1d7 and consult the following table:

1d7	Psychic Power	Effect
1	Teleportation	Can use an Action Die to move instantly 1d6 x 10 feet away in a direction chosen by the creature.
2	Telekinesis	Can move up to HD x 10 pounds up to 30’ away, as if the object where in hand. Attacks require an Action Die.
3	Pyrokinesis	Start a normal fire with an Action Die, or inflict 1d6 to a target within 30’; Reflex DC 10 or catch fire (1d6 damage each round until a DC 10 Agility check puts the fire out). Uses an Action Die
4	Telepathy	Can speak silently to all, or selected, targets within line of sight.
5	Telekinetic Blast	Can attack all targets in a cone 60’ long with a 30’ base, by hurling a myriad of small objects. All within need to make a DC 10 Reflex save or suffer 1d6+1 damage. Uses an Action Die.
6	Psychic Defence	Spend 1 Action Die to gain a +1d12 bonus to AC for one round.
7	Fear	Target within 30’ must make a DC 10 Will save or take a –1d penalty on the dice chain to all die rolls for 1d5 rounds. Multiple instances stack. This uses an Action Die.

L is for Lava Children

I have to admit, this is a monster that I have never used.

There aren’t many monsters from the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1^st Edition game that I haven’t ever made use of, in any form.  In the Monster Manual, there is only the Floating Eye, the Masher, and the Morkoth that I can say I never used with any certainty.  They are simply monsters that I was unsure what to do with.

When the Fiend Folio came out in 1981, it quickly became as important to me as the Monster Manual.  I loved the illustrations, and I loved many of the creatures therein.  I still do.  But, when I got to page 61, and saw Alfred E. Neuman staring at me from the monster illustration….well, I just never found a use for the creature.  I could never imagine the mascot of MAD Magazine rampaging through dungeon halls and being effective at….well, at anything.

Now, none of this is the fault of the monster’s creator, listed in the appendix as Jim Donohoe.  Actually, the idea of the lava child is fairly clever.  These guys are the result of an unnatural “union between spirits of earth and fire”.  They live deep beneath the earth, and have the ability to pass through metal (and, apparently, stone, if the illustration is taken as a guide!) as though they were not there.  If you imagine them as having a child-like mindset, you can picture them giggling in dark corridors, where they mean no harm, really, as they rip your arms off.  They’re just curious about you.  They are neutral, after all.

Looking back through the 1e monster books, I actually think that the monsters I failed to use were lost opportunities.  They were things I didn’t see the potential in, either because of youth, or lack of creativity, or some other factor that I still don’t see.  They didn’t fit the images in my mind’s eye then.  They are creatures that I think I will make a conscious effort to use in the future.

In many ways, lava children have taught me humility.  Admittedly, it is a lesson I’m not really equipped to learn, and it hasn't taken hold all that well.  But, when I look through later editions of Dungeons & Dragons, or other game systems, I try to remember how I felt about the lava children then, and how my views have changed.  Can the 3e digester really be as lame as I think it is?  Is it even possible for the dragonborn to really be as blech! as my current view would have them be?

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In other news, the "C is For" series of articles have been somewhat expanded and republished (by permission) in Hungarian, thanks to Melan (late of EN World, and now mostly of elsewhere).  You can join in this lively discussion here:  http://lfg.hu/43954/meseloknek/dontesek-kovetkezmenyek/ or here: http://fomalhaut.lfg.hu/2011/06/21/dontesek-es-kovetkezmenyek/