Githzerai (PWH)

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The history of the githzerai is one of ancient war and ancient slavery. Once of one race with the githyanki under the en-slavement of the mind flayers, the githzerai broke away from their illithid masters and then from their gith brethren, sparking a racial war that has continued into the present. The two gith factions separated and found new homes: the githyanki in the emptiness of the Astral Plane, and the githzerai in the swirling chaos of Limbo. Githzerai are humanoids, thinner and taller than humans with sharp features, long faces, and eyes of gray or yellow. Severe and serious, the githzerai tend toward sombemess in their clothing and personalities. They're usually close-mouthed, keeping their own council and trusting few outside their own kind.
Only a few things stir the githzerai to passion. Their ancient hatreds for the illithids and githyanki erupt violently in any encounter with those races. Similarly, they are sworn to protect their race on their adopted home of Limbo, since that refuge was only won after millennia of hardship and war; any threat against their haven is met with whatever force is necessary to eliminate that threat.
To the githzerai, there are only three truths: that the githyanki and illithids will never be anything but mortal enemies: that they will allow nothing to hinder the survival of their race; and that no one will ever enslave them again.
Githzerai PCs add +1 to Intelligence and Dexterity and subtract -1 from Strength and Wisdom. They have infravision to 60 feet and may be of any nonlawful alignment.
They can be fighters, fighter/wizards, wizards, or thieves; githzerai have no priests, but revere their ancient wizard-king as a god. Githzerai warriors and thieves possess an always-active magic resistance of 5% per level, to a maximum of 95%. This affects any magical items a githzerai tries to use; if the resistance roll is made, the item is useless to that character for ever after. Note that this type of magic resistance is specific to githzerai only, as most other creatures can drop it at will.
Mages lose their magic resistance in order to learn spellcasting.
Fighter/wizards decide whether or not to keep the magic resistance and its attendant penalties; most purge themselves of it, since it interferes with their ability to use magical armor and items.
Finally, PC githzerai utterly lose their native ability to plane shift, perhaps due to their extended time away from their wizard-king.
: All around you there is stagnation. Rigid thought and restricted personal freedom abound. Everyone you know is a slave but you won't let the shackles of easy conformity and control wrap their seductive chains around you. You'll remain independent, and strike down any who try to enslave you in word or deed. Your people have known oppression in the past, and you'll not bear it again.
Category:PWH Races