AW at-will · ENC encounter · DLY daily |
Fields: Req requirement · Trig trigger · Tgt target · Atk attack · Hit/Miss/Eff · 1°/2° primary/secondary · Sust sustain · After aftereffect · Spec special |
Shorthand: Str/Dex/Con/Wis/Int/Cha = ability mod · EONT/SONT = end/start of your next turn · sq = square(s) · CA combat advantage · OA opp. attack · MBA/RBA melee/ranged basic attack · HP hit points · tgt target · [W] weapon dice
| ENC | Iron MindGithzerai Racial PowerImm Intr Pers | Under the brunt of an attack, you use the power of your mind to fortify yourself against harm. Trig You are hit by an attack · Eff You gain a +2 bonus to all defenses until EONT. |
The githzerai are descended from an ancient race once held in thrall by mind flayer overlords. After the bloody uprising that won these people their freedom, ideological differences split them into two races: the githzerai and the githyanki. The githzerai rejected the cruel warmongering of the githyanki and withdrew to the Elemental Chaos and to remote locations in the world to follow a path of self-reflection, harnessing the power of the mind and the soul. Centuries later, the githzerai remain in such locations, leading disciplined lives and observing their surroundings to determine their place in the universe.
Characterized by spare frames and an exotic appearance, githzerai are taller than humans and slender to the point of being gaunt. Their skin tends toward yellow tones, occasionally shading into brown or green. They have distinctive angular features and pointed ears, as well as eyes set in deep sockets and flattened noses set high on their faces.
Male githzerai usually keep their heads shaved or tonsured and braided, and they grow controlled facial hair. A typical style is a shaved pate with a long braid trailing from the back of the head. Females wear their long hair close to the head in braids or tight buns. Githzerai hair is typically russet, but black and gray sometimes occur.
The githzerai commitment to asceticism means that individuals generally disdain displays of wealth. Their clothing is practical, simple in design, and accentuated only by simple jewelry. They indulge their artistic nature through body painting or tattoos. Even these expressions incorporate a functional purpose: Tattoos serve as identifiers, helping githzerai recognize the tradition and location from which a fellow githzerai hails.
Githzerai live about as long as humans.
Githzerai value their heritage. It informs their philosophy, their behavior, and their intolerance for githyanki and mind flayers. Where githyanki crave battle and conquest, githzerai seek inner harmony and self-mastery. They often travel great distances to explore the self and to give up mortal attachments by witnessing the possibilities that existence has to offer. Although githzerai are willing to explore and experience the cosmos, they maintain a worldview centered on personal responsibility and accomplishment. The race’s social hierarchy is based entirely on merit, and each githzerai must earn a place in history. Great heroes, leaders, and teachers are immortalized as revered ancestors, with important techniques and cultural elements bearing their names. The unworthy remain lowly and are forgotten.
Austerity, prudence, pragmatism, and tenacity also run strong in the githzerai persona. Githzerai rarely own more than they need. They don’t speak at length when a brief statement will do. Although githzerai have fiery souls, reflected by their fierce resolve and strong loyalties, they rarely display strong emotions. The trust of a githzerai must be earned, and most githzerai expect weakness and lack of discipline in others. However, githzerai readily make use of any resources at hand, including members of other races, to solve problems or shore up defenses. A githzerai rarely backs down from a challenge in which success seems possible.
Few relationships hold any sway over githzerai. Religion, nationalism, and even familial loyalties are less important than personal seeking and enlightenment. Githzerai place value on proven methods and associates, rather than on those that tradition or dogma might dictate. Githzerai seek out capable teachers, students, and companions, and they are unwavering allies to those who prove worthy. To discover whether someone or something is worthy, githzerai must be open-minded as well as willing to learn and to take risks. The fact that githzerai find it easier to trust other githzerai than they do members of other races tempers this measure of tolerance. Only a member of the race can truly understand the struggles that the githzerai have undergone.
Here are background elements for githzerai.
“The search for enlightenment and the freedom we now possess do not allow us the luxury of quietly suffering our enemies.”
Untold years of slavery shaped your people. Freedom molded them further during the split from those who became the githyanki. In the centuries since the githzerai gained independence, they have struggled to master themselves and prepared themselves against any threat to the liberty they earned so long ago. They will not be enslaved again.
Defense is not enough, however. Your people have always formed war bands to deal with menaces close and far. Highest among these groups is a rrakkma—a vengeance band. Mighty githzerai called rrathmals gather in these elite cadres to hunt those who still watch the free githzerai with covetous eyes. Each rrakkma sets out on a hunt, bringing destruction to mind flayers, githyanki, and other threats wherever they are found.
At times, a rrakkma has a goal, such as hindering ferreting out a hive of mind flayers. Sometimes the members of a rrakkmas wander until they have faced a number of foes sufficient to call the mission a success. To serve in a rrakkma is a great privilege, and githzerai preparing to join such a group receive special training. Even a githzerai who has proven worthy while traveling among nongithzerai might be so honored. You are such a one. You have served your people well, proven yourself worthy of special training, or found a teacher who knows the techniques of the vengeance warriors of the githzerai. You have learned to make assaults decisively, pursue enemies relentlessly, and defeat foes utterly.
| ENC | Trace ChanceRrathmal Attack 11Std Ranged 5Tgt One creature | By peering into the future, you pick through the possibilities to anticipate your enemy’s next action. Eff You gain a +2 bonus to the next melee attack roll you make against tgt with an at-will power before EONT. If that attack hits, it is a critical hit. |
| AW | Rrathmal PursuitRrathmal Utility 12Imm React Pers | Even as your opponent withdraws, you are in motion, cutting off its retreat. Trig An adjacent enemy shifts away from you · Eff You shift your speed to a sq adjacent to the triggering enemy. |
| DLY | Vengeance ShroudRrathmal Attack 20Std Close burst 2Psychic, ZoneTgt Each enemy in burst | Exerting your steely will, you force order onto the chaos of battle and turn the hostility of your adversaries into suffering. Atk Dexterity or Wis + 6 vs Will · Hit 2d10 + Dex or Wis psychic dmg. The first time tgt hits or misses during each of its turns, it takes 10 psychic dmg (save ends). Eff The burst creates a zone that lasts until EONT. While within the zone, any ally can take 10 on the first attack roll of his or her turn, rather than rolling a d20. Miss Half dmg. · Sust Minor The zone persists. |