Githzerai and Illithid Campaign

[Voltage89]

Hey everyone! Planning a new campaign, and the primary premise is that their is a growing conflict between Githzerai and Illithid. The Githzerai have been constantly jumping onto the material plane to scout for said war, and this is causing chaos to literally leak into the material plane. Crazy things happening all around. However, I am struggling to find a reason for the githzerai to actually war the Illithid. Any ideas? I'm really open to anything at this point!

[JackPhoenix]

Well, there's this ancient enmity for being enslaved and eaten for who knows how long, and killing each other on sight.... the answer is right in the MM: "As disciplined as they are, the githzerai have never forgotten their long imprisonment by the mind flayers. As a special devotion, they organize a rrakkma-an illithid hunting party-to other planes, not returning to their monasteries until they slay at least as many illithids as there are hunters in the party."

[Quoz]

You dont really need a reason for a background war, it's just a thing that is happening. If you ask 3 people of the cause you will get 4 answers. What matters is how that fight is spilling over to affect your world.

I would offer an Alien Invasion scenario: The Gith ships crashed into the mountainside in the middle of the night. When the adventurers get there to investigate, they find a few dead but not nearly enough to be the ships' crew, and a quick survey of the wreckage indicates a large number of passengers living in close quarters for an extended period. The damage to the ships is severe, and not caused by the crash. It doesnt take a master tracker to tell that a large number of people left the ships to descend into the forest at the base of the mountains.

As the party leaves the crash site, the first Illithid opens a portal in. One mind flayer, but supported by slaves and beasts suited for tracking and traveling in rough terrain.


The Gith are refugees and their soldier guard. Their short term goal is to find a stable and defensible position, their long term goal is to find a permanent place to resettle away from the war. They may be carrying a maguffin of significant importance to the Mind Flayers that must be kept hidden. They will come into conflict with most local groups, notably the goblin tribe that they displace while establishing their defensive fortifications

The Mind Flayers are hunting the Gith. This is (for now) a small but well equipped operation, most of what they can bring to bear is slaves and servants. If left unchecked they will acquire more thralls locally, up to the point of enslaving an entire town. They are focused on their goal of finding and eliminating the Gith, and while they dont particularly care about the natives as anything other than a source of food they recognize that they do not have the numbers to repel a sustained attack and will seek to avoid directly confronting any local populations with large numbers or a standing armed guard.

A whole lot of room to fill in details and respond to player actions. You can play many aspects from intrigue and alliance building to a wild west style defend the town scenario. Good luck!

[Particle_Man]

Also, there would be strong reasons for most third parties to support the Githzerai, chaos issues and all, over the Illithids. Because Mind Flayers want to eat your brain and enslave your children and, later, eat their brains.

[TyGuy]

However, I am struggling to find a reason for the githzerai to actually war the Illithid.
It's straight up woven into their being. If you can get your hands on copies of Volo's Guide and Mordenkainen's Tome they have sections with tons of useful info and lore on the illithid and gith.

Edit p.s.
Githyanki and Githzerai are united in their cause of annihilating the illithid. They just have differing philosophies on everything else.

[Luccan]

It's straight up woven into their being. If you can get your hands on copies of Volo's Guide and Mordenkainen's Tome they have sections with tons of useful info and lore on the illithid and gith.

Edit p.s.
Githyanki and Githzerai are united in their cause of annihilating the illithid. They just have differing philosophies on everything else.

Yep. The two factions will pretty much only ever unite over this. One of the other things mentioned, I think in Tome of Foes, is a faction in both groups attempting to reunite the gith. A full on war with the Illithid will probably serve them well, so that might be something else for the characters to do, as a sort of secondary quest.

[Voltage89]

I actually really like this idea and will definitely be using something similar, so thanks for that! This will not be a background war though. This is the main event that is happening in the world and is causing so much destruction.

[Vessyra]

I think that the motivations for the Githzerai going to war against the Mind Flayers are fairly well-explained in MM, Volo's, and Tome of Foes, as well as above. It should be noted as to how they can actually engage in a war against Mind Flayers. The Mind Flayers, for the most part, are in hiding in the Underdark, not having the strength to engage in overt warfare. So it should be considered that the Githzerai can't just stick a flag on a battlefield and go to war; it's a matter of finding out where the squid-faces are hiding.

[TyGuy]

I think that the motivations for the Githzerai going to war against the Mind Flayers are fairly well-explained in MM, Volo's, and Tome of Foes, as well as above. It should be noted as to how they can actually engage in a war against Mind Flayers. The Mind Flayers, for the most part, are in hiding in the Underdark, not having the strength to engage in overt warfare. So it should be considered that the Githzerai can't just stick a flag on a battlefield and go to war; it's a matter of finding out where the squid-faces are hiding.
Unless in his/her setting the illithid have spent the past millennia building forces and are ready to make a major assault

[Particle_Man]

Or unless the campaign is set in the time where the Gith rebellion has just happened?