Workshopping the Summer Campaign

[LibraryOgre]

So, I'm going to be running a 5e campaign at the library this summer; weekly, Wednesday evenings, starting June 12th, probably through July 31st... so about 8 sessions.

I am figuring to limit things to the 5e Player's Handbook (and my resources including the DMG and MM), because I don't have any other books and don't want to spend money I don't have for them.

My basic plan is based off a forum post... namely, the Githyanki try to take over the Forgotten Realms.

I figure the PCs will be part of a larger battle... like, they'll be fighting on the local level, but the campaign will be global.

What kind of opposition, aside from leveled githyanki, should we be looking at? What kind of tactics would a githyanki invasion do?

[Unoriginal]

Githyanki are raiders, hit-and-runnners, with the support of their flying Astral ships and draconic allies. If they want to conquer the Forgotten Realms, they'll need to hit an hard, debilitating strike on as many important targets as they can, all at once. Then do their best to avoid the heroes, villains and demigods who will object to said conquest until they can establish solid fortresses.

Waterdeep and Thay are probably the places that'll be the best able to counter an invasion of the sort.

Question is: WHY do the Githyanki want to conquer the Forgotten Realms? Do they want something/someone? Is conquest truly their goal? Are they just preparing the terrain so that Tiamat can get out of Hell without people interfering.

In any case, the Githyanki might be petulant and decadent, but they know how to use the tools at their disposal. As they're allied to the evil dragons, they can easily recruit kobolds and lizardfolk to serve them, which would be devastating on any humanoid settlements near those peoples' territories.

In any case, Luskan, the City of Sails and pirate confederacy, and the magi-technological island nation of Lantan, would be very profitable to capture, as they'd grant lots of ressources without the invaders having to worry about those places' allies coming to defend them.

Still, otherwise, we're talking about whole cities reduces to ashes as to neutralize the networking points of whole regions and leaving every little town to fend for themselves, easy picking for later.

[Vogie]

Another option is to give the Githyanki a new technology that spurns this expansion into FR.

Maybe they figure out how to make a massive helicarrier-style floating city/carrier thing. But they need additional resources from the primal plane to make more, hence why they do more than just raid an area and vanish back to the Astral Sea.

[Unoriginal]

Interestingly, it's probably one of the only scenarios where Illithids and Elder Brains would fight on the side of those of the surface.

Bad things happen to Illithids if they let the Gith run the joint.

[LibraryOgre]

Interestingly, it's probably one of the only scenarios where Illithids and Elder Brains would fight on the side of those of the surface.

Bad things happen to Illithids if they let the Gith run the joint.

I'd thought about an eventual alliance with the illithids (and the sudden yet inevitable betrayal) as something that would need to come up.

So, playing with some of the suggestions upthread:

We start the party in a town near a marsh or swamp, preferably in the North (because I know it pretty well), though Cormyr has its attractions, too. First adventure involves a raid by lizardfolk and kobolds, possibly stealing someone or something valuable, for obscure reasons. After the party defeats that, which will have some githyanki support (even if it's just a shadowy boss), you have brilliant lances of light destroying a nearby city, and githyanki raiders on dragonback flying through the sky, based, perhaps, in a flying fortress... maybe the corpse of a dead god that was hauled in from the Astral, allowing it to be multiple places at once (as a god might).

This will set up a few different scenarios... protecting family and friends, increased raids from lizard men and kobolds. Introduce classed Dragonborn as intermediate enemies... present them as githyanki-dragon hybrids, or something.

How does this sound?

[Unoriginal]

Dragonborns in FR are actually anti-dragons, in general. Being descendants from people enslaved by dragons.

You're better off using the half-dragon template in the MM.

Also, I'd advise against using NPCs with PCs classes. You can easily reskin any statblock into a Githyanki or the like, PC classes do a bad job at fighting PCs.

Have you read the Mordenkainen's? There's quite a few info on the Gith and and statblocks for high-ranked members of the Githyanki.

[LibraryOgre]

Dragonborns in FR are actually anti-dragons, in general. Being descendants from people enslaved by dragons.

You're better off using the half-dragon template in the MM.

Also, I'd advise against using NPCs with PCs classes. You can easily reskin any statblock into a Githyanki or the like, PC classes do a bad job at fighting PCs.

Have you read the Mordenkainen's? There's quite a few info on the Gith and and statblocks for high-ranked members of the Githyanki.

I haven't. I am disinclined to spend money on this, but just put it on hold with the library (being a librarian has some advantages)