'zerai or 'yanki, opinions on Giths

[JellyPooga]

I'm considering playing one of the Gith races for my next character, but am completely undecided as to which one.

Though 'Zerai have insane Dex and a constant effect Mage Armour, they don't have as good Psionic powers (using the non-psionic Spell-Like abilities as listed in the MM) as the 'Yanki. Also, they have the monastic surly attitude thing going as well. On the other hand, the 'Yanki have the whole Lich-Queen slaves thing working against their favour and don't have as good physical stats.

So I was looking for peeps opinions on these two races that share a common heritage...both from fluff and mechanical perspecitives.

Cheers for any help you can give.

[imperialspectre]

Mechanically, the githzerai are way better for a DEX-based character or a druid; a typical cleric is not so great because neither the DEX nor the inertial armor synergize well with real armor, but a cleric that doesn't wear a ton of armor could do just fine. At any rate, there's no way the githyanki could work as a cleric and the fluff explicitly says so.

The githyanki's SLAs aren't that great; the dim door is good, but it and the [i]blur/i] SLA probably don't make up for +4 DEX unless you're playing a non-DEX-based melee'er.

Bottom line: the githzerai is just amazing as a rogue, unarmed swordsage, or druid, particularly the latter two. Unless you're playing a non-DEX based melee character or an arcane caster, the githyanki doesn't even begin to cut it, and why you would play an arcane caster with either of these races is beyond me.

[Ganurath]

...It would really depend on the class. Githzerai are more fitting for divine casters with the Wis boost, but anything else I'd say Githyanki. Inertial Armor doesn't stack with meatshield armor, the Githyanki psionics are all great for trap monkeys, and the Githzerai Int penalty is bad for the Batman. Besides, the lich queen sending kill squads after your character would make a nice plot hook and, let's face it, easy XP. After all, since when can a squad of Fighters take on a PC with matching powers and superior gear, let alone a Batman with inate SR or a master assassin with TK?

[Admiral Squish]

I appear to have lost my book on the subject, but I remember thinking the ones with the inertial armor would make for great monks, or pretty much any spellcaster class. Rogue, too, if you're going more for an infiltrator than a sneak. The other guys seemed sub-par, comparatively.

[skywalker]

I vote githzerai.

Notice that the only positive mentioned for 'yankis is that the kill squads are easy xp, and some vague stuff about their powers. There are specific examples of why the githzerai would be better.

Just my observation.

[Pronounceable]

'zerai for nothing else but Dakkon.

[Zincorium]

'Zerai are cooler fluffwise, I'd rather be a monk creating order out of the ultimate chaos using my brain than a pawn of some undead chick (even if riding dragons is involved).

[Crimson Avenger]

Don't push off the githyanki death squads so lightly. It's not a group of four melee types lookin for a rumble, it's an intergrated party usually with one caster, one gish (or rogue), and two melee types. And that has only gotten more frightening since PHB II came out. I fear the Beguiler or Duskblade party members of a radically xenophobic race of extraplanar humanoids.

They don't belong here! Kill, kill them all!

(I'm channeling for my party. In my campaign I've had the githyanki invade the prime material, and try to take over. So far, the githyanki are doing quite well.)

oh yeah......ya want to see something funny. Wait until the party gets good and buffed up.....and then hit them with Chain Dispel (PHB II). Ah, the beautiful music of wailing, and the gnashing of teeth.

[Telok]

Don't push off the githyanki death squads so lightly.

Note also that an old school GM will remember that the gankers have a racial pact with red dragons (AD&D MM p.154).

Classes mentioned include, fighter, mage, fighter/mage, illusionist, knight (anti-paladin), warlock (just a title for mage really), and 'gish' (fighter/mage). This is, in fact, the origin of the term 'gish' in D&D. So you could reasonably expect to face any primary melee class, knights, blackguards, any gish build, any gish style base class, wizards, sorcerers, and warlocks. Mounted on up to two red dragons per encounter.

And don't think you're getting treasure from those dragons either. The pact explicitly excludes them fighting to the death. For that matter gankers aren't exactly dumb brutes either, they won't hang around if they're losing the fight. Expect them to retreat, gather more intel on you, and come back later.

[Overlard]

The zerai make great rogues, ninjas and other dex-based fighters. I hate having an Int penalty with them though.

The guy in my avatar is a githzerai psychic warrior. With an insane Dex, and a good Wis, he uses a monk's belt along with inertial armour to have the same AC as the dwarvern defender on a good day.

If you can, use the psionic versions. That way the abilities scale with level. Not great if you've only got one HD, but the long term benefits are greater.

[Jayngfet]

depends, a non meatshield would fit the 'zerai racials, but the 'yanki have that whole silver sword thing

gotta go with the one some random kid that waits for you to go to sleep or rigs a distraction.

[Dan_Hemmens]

'zerai for nothing else but Dakkon.

Know that I agree with cnsvnc.

Perhaps it's just residual affection from Torment, but the Githzerai do strike me as being the cooler of the two. "We were a slave race, so now we strive for absolute self-mastery" strikes me as cool. "We were a slave race so now we rampage around killing stuff" strikes me as less so.

[Charles Phipps]

Know that I agree with cnsvnc.

Perhaps it's just residual affection from Torment, but the Githzerai do strike me as being the cooler of the two. "We were a slave race, so now we strive for absolute self-mastery" strikes me as cool. "We were a slave race so now we rampage around killing stuff" strikes me as less so.

To fair, it depends what sort of Yanki you are. Githyanki out to overthrow their insane Lich Demigoddess are also cool.

[Amiria]

To fair, it depends what sort of Yanki you are. Githyanki out to overthrow their insane Lich Demigoddess are also cool.

... because they quickly float dead through the astral plane.