How Baldur's Gate 3 Put Dungeons & Dragons' Underrated Githyanki Race In The Spotlight

Set in Dungeons & Dragons' Faerûn, Baldur's Gate 3 includes lots of content based off of the original tabletop game. With its massive popularity reaching far beyond those unfamiliar with pen and paper roleplaying games, it was many people's first experience with the D&D world and gaming system, just in a video game format. It may just be the closest thing to emulating a proper, planned-out campaign.

Baldur's Gate 3 has been praised for its customization options, and how well Larian translated D&D classes and races into the game. Among the playable races is the Githyanki, a lesser utilized choice in other Dungeons & Dragons-based media despite their connections to mind flayers and allyship with red dragons, both creatures being some of the most iconic to the franchise. However, in the release of Baldur's Gate 3, the Githyanki were given a chance to finally shine.

Many Casual Dungeons & Dragons Players Didn't Know Much Of The Gith Before BG3

Baldur's Gate 3 Bolsters The Githyanki Into Public View By Exposing Players To Lore They May Not Have Known Otherwise

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The githyanki are a rarer race in Dungeons & Dragons parties - being extraplanar, they don't tend to fit into a lot of Faerûn settings. They're also not included in the old or current Player's Handbook, though they actually have been around for quite a long time, with their first official appearance being in 1981, in a revised version of 1e DnD called "Fiend Folio."

In 5e, they are a playable race in Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse. With such a complicated background and rarely being exposed to new players, it was unfortunately inevitable that the gith were sidelined.

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Baldur's Gate 3 has 11 playable races, with one being the Githyanki and the rest being the original lineup from the Player's Handbook. Considering Baldur's Gate 3's storyline of the player trying to rid themselves of a mind flayer parasite, it makes perfect sense that they would include a playable race with a history with illithids. Mind flayers are absolute staples of Dungeons & Dragons stories, and Baldur's Gate 3 serves as a great example of weaving the already iconic monsters into a story.

Though still not nearly as popular as other races, it's undeniable that Baldur's Gate 3 has greatly improved the popularity of the Githyanki. Peaking around its official release date in August 2023, the search terms for "Gith" and "Githyanki" (via Google Trends) are now about 4 times more popular compared to before the game came out.

Also, while the githyanki were the least chosen race initially, accroding to Baldur's Gate 3's official site, it soon rose in popularity over the year (via BG3 on X), overtaking all the shorter races. Githyanki can actually be quite overpowered and have a lot of unique dialogue, which may have encouraged players to consider giving them a chance.

Baldur's Gate 3's Story Puts The Githyanki At The Center

BG3's Story Wouldn't Be Complete Without The Githyanki

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Baldur's Gate 3 rewards the player for playing as a githyanki in many ways. The githyanki race shines in Act 1 of the game, with some of the most unique potential for dialogue. There are several items, especially those found in the Githyanki Creche, which provide additional buffs if equipped by a githyanki. The first companion players meet, Lae'zel, also has a much different reaction when meeting a githyanki Tav, so if players want an easier time bonding with Lae'zel, or want unique gith-specific dialogue, then choosing it as their race is a tempting choice.

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Likewise, players see more githyanki where they're most at home, the Astral Plane, in Act 3. Though the lore, history and politics of different races in Baldur's Gate 3 may be hard to keep up with, the player will always have to face off against githyanki warriors due to their perceived allyship with the Emperor, because the githyanki and mind flayers have been at war for eons since the gith broke out of illithid slavery. Later on, whether players choose to free the githyanki prince Orpheus or betray him, is also a main focus of the late game story.

In short, there is no way players can fully leave the githyanki out of their story. Lae'zel is one of two companions who have multiple points where they can be recruited, and even if players entirely miss Lae'zel in Act 1 and the Githyanki Creche, their story will always lead back to the Astral Prism. It's impossible for anyone to play Baldur's Gate 3 without having received some exposition on the gith, and their queen, Vlaakith.

Despite Its Focus On Githyanki, Baldur's Gate 3 Is Missing The Other Half Of Gith Society - The Githzerai

Baldur's Gate 3's Spotlight on Githyanki Overshadows A Huge Part Of Gith Lore

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Though in Baldur's Gate 3, "gith" and "githyanki" are used interchangeably, the term "gith" actually refers to two sub-sets of gith - the githyanki and the githzerai, with the latter not being present in-game. The two are sometimes referred to as subraces, but this should be said tentatively, as they're really just two different cultures of the same species. Whilst the githyanki want vengeance against the mind flayers for what they did to their people, the githzerai want to move on and focus on developing their culture outside their past.

There is technically a third, much rarer, subrace of gith, the "githvyrik," which are featured in a novel published by Wizards of the Coast called "Dawn of Night." This refers to gith who don't fit into the githyanki or githzerai subcategories. However, only a handful of individual githvyrik are known to exist, making this an extremely unlikely race to run into during campaigns.

The gith are known for their cruel nature, topping even that of the drow, one of the most notoriously "evil" aligned societies in Dungeons & Dragons. However, whilst the githyanki lean towards being lawful evil, the githzerai lean towards being lawful neutral. Though they tend to be less inclined towards violence, the githzerai are hardly docile beings - a lot of them are monks, and despite having moved away from actively waging war on mind flayers, still don't take too kindly to them, and can be as formidable as their githyanki cousins - they just prefer psychic attack over physical weaponry.

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After splitting into two groups, the githyanki and githzerai became sworn enemies, raising their young to hate each other - the githyanki see the githzerai as traitors, while the githzerai criticise the githyanki for their needless violence. With that in mind, it's likely that it would complicate the plot of Baldur's Gate 3 to include the gith feud on top of everything else.

Since the githyanki take a more active role in their condemnation of illithids, it's obvious why they were chosen over the githzerai in BG3. However, a githzerai Tav masquerading as a githyanki would've been very fun to play.

"All who call themselves gith shall unite under one sky. Ghith'ka tavkim krash'ht." - Orpheus, "The First Protocol"

There are a few references to the githzerai in BG3 despite their absence. In Act 2's Mind Flayer Colony, a githzerai's "waking mind" can be found in the Necrotic Laboratory and be spoken to, and has different dialogue when addressing a githyanki. In the ending where Lae'zel joins Orpheus in a rebellion against Vlaakith, it will be implied that the newly released prince plans to mend the relationship between the gith. Baldur's Gate 3's promotion of the githyanki has opened up many new ideas for tabletop gamers, and perhaps the githzerai also have a chance to one day take the spotlight.

Sources: Google Trends, Baldur's Gate 3 Community Update #23, BaldursGate3/X

Your changes have been saved Baldur's Gate 3 RPG Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Rating: 96/100 Critics Recommend: 98% Franchise Baldur's Gate Platform(s) PC , macOS , PS5 , Xbox Series X Released August 3, 2023 Developer(s) Larian Studios Publisher(s) Larian Studios Multiplayer Local Multiplayer ESRB M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence How Long To Beat 100+ Hours X|S Optimized yes Metascore 96 Split Screen Orientation Vertical Only Number of Players 1-4 PS Plus Availability N/A Steam Deck Compatibility yes Local Co-Op Support 1-2 Players OpenCritic Rating Mighty Cross Save yes Cross-Platform Play Baldur's Gate 3 doesn't support crossplay Expand