Githyanki Playable Race Guide for D&D 5e

Cold and militaristic, learn how to play as a Githyanki in D&D 5e

What are the Githyanki?

Natural warriors, the githyanki harness psionic power bestowed on them over centuries of living in the astral plane and in captivity to mind flayers. The Githyanki’s hatred for their former overlords runs deep. They will generally attack mind flayers on sight but are often aggressive towards over races too, having a feeling that they are owed for centuries of oppression and enslavement.

The Githyanki are closely related to the Githzerai who share racial similarities but harbour irreconcilable differences of opinion and attitude and generally have a strong dislike for one another. The Githyanki are a playable race in D&D 5e and you can learn how to optimise them with our guide below.

Is a Githyanki the right race for me?

Dungeons and Dragons lets you take a flexible approach to building a character, but if you’re going to stick to typical culture and the best-optimised build for a Githyanki you might consider the following:

Choose a Githyanki if you like…

Innate psychic abilities
Having a flexible skill proficiency
Innate utility spells like mage hand and misty step

A Githyanki might not be for you if…

You don’t want to play a psychic race
Don’t want to deal with spellcasting
Don’t want to play a warmongering race

If you think a Githyanki isn’t for you, not to worry, there are dozens of playable races for you to pick from, just check out our races guide to find out about all of them. For an alternative psychic focused race, you could consider a Githzerai or a Kalashtar.

Racial traits

Ability Scores	+2 to one ability score and +1 to another or +1 to 3 different ability scores
Creature Type	Humanoid
Size	Medium
Speed	30ft
Languages	Common and 1 other
Traits	Astral Knowledge, Githyanki Psionics, Psychic Resilience
Proficiencies	1 of your choice
Resistances	Psychic
Darkvision	No
Innate Spellcasting	Mage Hand, Jump and Misty Step
Book found in	Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes

Tactics

Flexible skills: Githyanki are one of a few races that can have an additional skill that they can change each time they long rest. This can be extremely useful to either fill party skill gaps or to adapt to situations that might arise. As something of a utility race, bards and rogue’s match up nicely as utility classes, especially as they get the best bonuses to their skills with class features like expertise. It extends to weapon proficiencies too if you find a great magical weapon you want to use.

Jump into or out of danger: Misty step is great for pretty much any class. Martials can use it to get into combat quicker or move where they’re needed on the battlefield. Spellcasters and ranged classes can easily escape danger without using their actions using misty step.

Which classes are good for githyanki?

Githyanki have a bit of a range of abilities making them generally decent for any class but often not the most optimal option for any particular race. Psychic resistance is good for anyone though not one of the more common damage types. If you know you’ll be facing a load of mind flayers though, they could be a good option.

Misty step, mage hand and jump are universally useful spells (misty step in particular) and your astral knowledge means you can choose to be proficient with any weapon type and get an extra skill proficiency of whatever you like. These are also universally handy and also mean that magic weapon you just found is always going to be something you can wield competently.

Below I’ve put together a score for how well each class works with a Githyanki based on how well the racial traits work with each class:

Artificer⭐⭐⭐⭐

Barbarian ⭐⭐

Bard ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cleric ⭐⭐⭐

Druid ⭐⭐⭐

Fighter ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Monk ⭐⭐

Paladin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ranger ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rogue ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sorcerer ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Warlock ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wizard ⭐⭐

*Star ratings scored out of 5

Best classes for githyanki

Fighter

Fighters are always in the thick of combat so psychic resistance is more likely to help a fighter than other classes. On top of that, misty step and jump are great spells for getting you into the right place and as fighters get no natural spells (unless you’re an eldritch knight), it’s nice to have a few to cast. Even better, they don’t rely on a spellcasting ability to determine their effectiveness.

Paladin

Githyanki make great paladins for the same reason they make great fighters. Psychic resistance makes them hardier and misty step and jump make them more maneuverable. On top of this, paladins don’t get these spells as standard. That extra skill proficiency is also helpful as you’ve probable invested in charisma related skills and might want to invest in other skill types (though probably not stealth with that armour).

Rogue

Though not dedicated melee combatants, rogues do often find themselves in dangerous situations whether they’re swashbuckling on the front lines or sneaking beyond the front lines, a bit of resistance will help them out in some situations.

On top of this, misty step will really help them escape these dangerous situations when they need to escape quickly and while we might argue a spellcaster might need this spell more for their greater vulnerability, rogues are often in those situations more often.

An extra skill is also great for rogues as they tend to use a lot of skills whether it’s the dexterity based skills or using that silver-tongue, githyanki make great rogues.

Worst classes for githyanki

Githyanki tend not to be a terrible option for any class but barbarians benefit less from some of their traits. They’re already proficient in the weapons they’ll want to use and while misty step can help with mobility, it can’t be used in the same turn as rage (or while you’re enraged).

Monks fare a little worse than barbarians. Typically not needing weapon proficiencies and not having mobility issues of their own (and unlikely to want to use a bonus action on it), a lot of traits feel wasted on this class. At least psychic resistance is still good.

About the Githyanki

Appearance

Githyanki are humanoids with tough skin of a green, grey or yellowish hue and slender, pointed features. Their hair is typically red or black and they have sharp, pointed teeth giving them a fierce countenance (one that they gladly encourage).

Personality

Their constant warring against the illithid and the Githzerai as well as other enemies in the Astral Planes has led to the Githyanki adopting a highly militaristic society. This has made the Githyanki, mostly, rather cold and unsympathetic, and in many instances, brutal and downright cruel.

Githyanki operate on the basis of survival of the fittest. There’s no room for the weak or the unresourceful. While this has bred a race of excellent warriors, it has also bred selfishness and arrogance. To gauge the general temperament of the Githyanki, consider Lae’zel’s personality in Baldur’s Gate 3, and then realise that she is one of the softer Githyanki.

How to roleplay as a Githyanki

While all Githyanki are different, many have similar ideals and characteristics that you can draw on when you roleplay your character. Consider using some of the below ways of roleplaying your Githyanki character:

Self before others: If you don’t look out for yourself, then who else will? This is certainly how a Githyanki would think, and you should think it too. Your party companions are a means to an end. Loyalty is just a way of getting others to have you do what they want. Yes, you can work cooperatively, as long as the needs of the group fit your own plans, but they shouldn’t expect you to go out of your way to help them.

Brash overconfidence: The Githyanki are the race that keeps the terrifying beings of the Astral plane at bay, other races are inferior in comparison! That knowledge gives you confidence to be better than anyone else. Be smug, brash and brave, and make sure everyone knows when you saved their backside. And because others are inferior, make sure they know it with a sarcastic jibe or compliments laced with sarcasm.

Ostentatious: Over the many years of their lives, Githyanki have developed a taste for the finer things of life. As such, you’ll likely want to demonstrate your wealth or status through jewelled weaponry and intricate armor, just in case anyone was in any doubt of your superiority.