A gith warrior with a spear. Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast.

This post is part of a series! Click here to see the rest.

The Lore

One of the things we learned about the cosmology of Athas early in the Campaign Setting reading is that its Shadowfell is locally known as the Gray, and it’s suspected to block access to the Astral Sea and any other worlds beyond.

This becomes relevant here, because the people known as the Gith are said to have arrived on Athas long ago, sailing from beyond the Gray in silvery ships. Once here, however, they found out they couldn’t go back. To make matters worse, these alien visitors found out that they were particularly susceptible to the corruptive influences of Athasian arcane magic, which turned them Darker and Sunnier over the generations.

Present-day gith are more monstrous in appearance than the ones you’re used to. Their mindset is also more monstrous, which is saying something considering these were probably githyanki invaders to start with. Despite the mutations they’ve undergone, they retain their psychic abilities.

Gith organize in nomadic hunter communities, wandering through the moutains and the Tablelands region. They make no particular distinction between standard animals and sapient outsiders when it comes to chosing their prey, and think both make fine eating. Some Gith groups are dedicated to gathering the scattered parts of their original ships, hoping to reassemble them so they can get off this rock.

The Numbers

Gith are Medium Natural Humanoids with Speed 6. Their signature power is the same as that of standard githyanki: Telekinetic Leap, an encounter power that lets them fly 5 squares as a move action. Other attacks and abilities vary with training.

Gith Savage

The rank-and-file of any large gith raiding force, the book describes their lives as nasty, brutish, and short. These Level 4 Minion Skirmishers fight with obsidian-tipped spears.

The gith’s basic Spear attack damages and lets it shift 1 square. Once per encounter they can enhance one attack into a Telekinetic Pierce, which targets Fortitude, deals the same damage and pushes the target 1 square. I think this above might be the first psychic power I’ve seen that doesn’t target Will. There are a few others in this entry.

Gith Hobbler

These hunters are level 4 Artillery with 46 HP. They prefer to stay far away throwing Range 20 Javelins. Once per encounter they can throw a particularly well-aimed Pinning Javelin, that does a bit more damage and immobilizes (save ends).

If someone gets too close, they’re subject to the hobbler’s aura (1) of Brain Fog, which inflicts a -2 penalty to attacks and damage to enemies inside. I wonder if there’s one of these near me these days. Someone who insists on attacking them in melee might force the hobbler to use its bone dagger, which does light damage and lets them shift 1 square on a hit.

Gith Spearhead

A front-line fighter wielding a barbed obsidian-headed spear. It’s a Level 5 Brute with 76 HP. The Vicious Spear is pretty strong, as expected of a brute, and can be used in a Focused Stab (recharge 4+) that deals more damage and knocks prone. If the target is bloodied, the attack deals even more damage and dazes (save ends).

If the spearhead is reduced to 0 HP, it lets out an Ancestor’s Appeal, a Close Burst 1 that targets Fortitude and deals psychic damage. In addition to the damage, a hit also inflicts ongoing 5 psychic damage, and a further 5 psychic damage whenever the target uses a daily or encounter power (save ends both).

Git Drone

Drones are gith that show increased psychic aptitude as children, and are subject to a torturous training regimen to further develop their powers. They’re Level 5 Controllers with 62 HP.

Drones emit a Brain Fog aura that works like the hobbler’s, but is much wider in radius (3). They fight with Bone Daggers in melee and with Telekinetic Thrusts at up to range 5. These deal force damage, and slide 2 squares.

Every so often they can use a Psychic Nova (recharge 5+). This is an Area Burst 1 Within 5 that targets Reflex, deals untyped damage, and makes the target suffer 5 psychic damage whenever they use a daily or encounter power (save ends). If the target is bloodied, it instead deals ongoing 5 damage (save ends).

Encounters and Final Impressions

The one time I briefly played a Dark Sun game, one of the PCs was a “standard” gith fighter, so I had thought the gith of Athas were both unchanged from their astral relatives and playable. Turns out I was wrong! Mechanically they’re still similar to githyanki, but their look and feel is pretty different than what I expected, and there are no rules for gith PCs in the Campaign Setting.

Gith are commonly found in all-gith hunting parties, perhaps accompanied by domesticated baazrags or other trained beasties. They can also be found in mixed parties of People, whether as willing members or as slaves commanded to fight.