Gith bard possible?

[Brian Sirith]

Lore wise how would one justify it? Its the first game where I can actually play a Gith and I think it would be fun but kinda set on playing a bard too. Any ideas? Not too good with lore.

Thanks :)

Edit: Clarification: Neutral Gith bard that doesn’t sing battle hymns to the dragon queen thing possible?

[everybe2]

Hmm, i think that Gith culture has music and magic, so it should be normal that they have bards.

[Incunabulum]

Gith Bards - https://i.redd.it/y2otsvu2yrd21.jpg

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by everybe2:

Hmm, i think that Gith culture has music and magic, so it should be normal that they have bards.

We know very little about Gith culture, other than the fact that

Githyanki - are inter dimensional space pirates, who hate every other race, and REALLY HATE ILLITHIDS.


Githzerai - Are pacifist monks, who reside in the plane of Limbo.

That's pretty much it. It's been 40 something years, and WotC never saw fit to expand upon any of their lore regarding the Gith.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Originally posted by GrandMajora:

Originally posted by everybe2:

Hmm, i think that Gith culture has music and magic, so it should be normal that they have bards.

We know very little about Gith culture, other than the fact that

Githyanki - are inter dimensional space pirates, who hate every other race, and REALLY HATE ILLITHIDS.


Githzerai - Are pacifist monks, who reside in the plane of Limbo.

That's pretty much it. It's been 40 something years, and WotC never saw fit to expand upon any of their lore regarding the Gith.

I mean, I guess that's what they're doing now...

That said, I've never had much interest in the Gith. Emaciated, frog faced losers if you ask me.

I far prefer the more traditional fantasy races. A story about the Leshay or Raven Queen would have been far more interesting to me than the Gith. That said, I think I can just sorta ignore the Gith (and Tieflings) in BG3, kill them when I encounter them, and go about my business.

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by Pan Darius Kairos:

I far prefer the more traditional fantasy races. A story about the Leshay or Raven Queen would have been far more interesting to me than the Gith. That said, I think I can just sorta ignore the Gith (and Tieflings) in BG3, kill them when I encounter them, and go about my business.

You don't need to feel bad about killing the Githyanki. They would do the same thing to you, provided they didn't decide to enslave you first.

Gith is the name of the race as a whole. Githyanki and Githzerai are the name of the cultural groups they've divided themselves up into.

In the case of the Githyanki, the are radically isolationists. They want absolutely nothing to do with any other race in the multiverse, unless such interactions involve killing and enslaving.

[Brian Sirith]

Thanks guys but… adventuring Gith bard ideas?

Originally posted by Incunabulum:

Gith Bards - https://i.redd.it/y2otsvu2yrd21.jpg

This has potential. Could be playing some alien weird music no one but the party likes after suffering through it for a while.

[ExcaliburV]

The only thing that really comes to mind is like... some kind of Material Plane enthusiast. Like at some point, the Gith ended up on the material plane and sampled some of the local culture and just completely fell in love with it, the music and poetry and such.

Just make your Gith a tourist, I guess is my answer. XD

I'll take your question and raise you this, though. How does one justify a Gith druid? I've been struggling with that one for a while.

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by Brian Sirith:

Thanks guys but… adventuring Gith bard ideas?

If you want ideas:

1 - Don't play recreational music. Save it exclusively for spell casting.

2 - Spam the absolute hell out of Vicious Mockery.

3 - Join the College of Valor, and dedicate yourself to immortalizing the stories of great warriors.

This is the most lore friendly way I can think of bringing a Githyanki Bard into the party.

[Heu, Iterum Id Feci]

I had a drow bard in the tabletops once...basically he was build around social engineering and manipulating others. Backstorywise he was a spy. Deep inside the music of the overworld, however he learned and used it for cover and getting access as part of the "partyband" etc.
Disguising himself over and over again, so his drow heritage obviously was part of that as well...

[RealDealBreaker]

Originally posted by Brian Sirith:

Lore wise how would one justify it? Its the first game where I can actually play a Gith and I think it would be fun but kinda set on playing a bard too. Any ideas? Not too good with lore.

Thanks :)

Edit: Clarification: Neutral Gith bard that doesn’t sing battle hymns to the dragon queen thing possible?

Literally ever single culture in the the real world has had some form of music, song, and/or poetry. I cannot imagine any kind of society of intelligent beings without some kind of musical culture. Like even mind flayers make art the evokes strong emotions within mind flayers who view it, so it seems quite likely that they would also make some kind of music (though my quick search didn't find any obvious references to mind flayer music).

[Cutlass Jack]

I don't think having a nose is a requirement to being a Bard. Just ears, and Gith have those. So I don't see the problem.

[Artist@Play]

Armies often had drummers playing to help them keep time while marching, start with that and make it Gith.

[t-PointBlank-j]

Originally posted by Brian Sirith:

Lore wise how would one justify it? Its the first game where I can actually play a Gith and I think it would be fun but kinda set on playing a bard too. Any ideas? Not too good with lore.

Thanks :)

Edit: Clarification: Neutral Gith bard that doesn’t sing battle hymns to the dragon queen thing possible?

Bards don't always play instruments, some are orators, or storytellers. A Githyanki Bard that keeps a record of his peoples stories and legends. If you're looking for character flavor.

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by t-PointBlank-j:

Bards don't always play instruments, some are orators, or storytellers. A Githyanki Bard that keeps a record of his peoples stories and legends. If you're looking for character flavor.

Except Bards in this game explicitly play music to cast their spells. You even get your choice of instrument.

Flute

Hand Drum

Lyre

Lute

Violin

[God Queen 158]

Originally posted by Brian Sirith:

Lore wise how would one justify it? Its the first game where I can actually play a Gith and I think it would be fun but kinda set on playing a bard too. Any ideas? Not too good with lore.

Thanks :)

Edit: Clarification: Neutral Gith bard that doesn’t sing battle hymns to the dragon queen thing possible?

I've done a lot of reading of Githyanki lore from older editions and have a Gith OC whose job is adjacent to acting as the standardbearer of the fighting force. He tries to rile up kin to eviscerate the enemy. Secretly he's lawful neutral, but I can't give away my entire character concept. 😉 Ultimately I didn't stick with this class, but I did consider it. The following are headcanons.

Originally posted by Artist@Play:

Armies often had drummers playing to help them keep time while marching, start with that and make it Gith.

Pretty much this. Basically, while gith are individualistic to a fault, they are also lawful to a fault. A lawful evil gith bard who still follows Vlaakith is probably a wardrummer whose job is probably to support and buff allies to spill more blood. He/she/they probably consider the art of war... well.. an art! Beautiful isn't it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLq5Zs1T2Yk

Imagine your Gish Captain is piloting a spelljammer psionically and has tasked YOU with beating war drums to relay messages that help the ship navigate. Your beats were always in tune to your Captain. In tune with the ship. You are a weapon of war.

Githyanki also have castes, and I can see a gith mlar (artisan) as a tinkerer of objects. Maybe a gith got their hands on an istik instrument and grew OBSESSED with it! Gith are big evil nerds as far as I'm concerned. Intense and violent. I can see them getting obsessed with ♥♥♥♥ like when they chase after silver swords.
After getting abducted by the nautiloid, this gith might find it perplexing at first that the istik crowd around them when they're just practicing their art. 🙄 Can't they practice in peace?

Now if you want something a little different. I like to see Gith as weirdo aliens where ♥♥♥♥ is just weird. So let me introduce you to the hurdy gurdy. In-game equivalent would probably be one of the string instruments. It sounds borderline terrible - something like a duck or a moose.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtvpXr9O0J4

This guy has basically made this bizarre instrument like an electric guitar. And here me out - if this is a native instrument on Tu'narath (the Githyanki homeworld), maybe the thing sounds different in different worlds?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypWEk4UO3pw
Same artist. But if you make a neutral gith who won't kill me on sight and plays this song in a tavern? - I'm stopping by to have a listen! And toss some coin!