Good aligned Githyanki

[Luke]

Hello, there.

I very new to D&D universe so I don't know much about the lore. My question here is: can a Githyanki be good aligned?

I know there are the Githzerai, who are somehow "good" compared to the Githyanki, but we can't play as a Githzerai in BG3, so I wonder if is it possible for a Githyanki not to be a full time angry meanie fanatic ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

[victorvnv]

They aren’t evil , it’s just that most player have very shallow idea of what evil is.

Laezel was never evil, she has a typical brainwashed soldier character, but is loyal to her people and willing to die for them.

Her methods may not be for everyone but do not come out of evil thoughts or intents , she is just trained to follow Military protocol and get stuff done by any means necessary.

Orpheus and Voss are typical examples of that, neither of them is evil or just angry mass murderer, in fact many human nations especially the Asian and middle eastern have similar thinking and culture, it’s just that the US society have been so pussified by gay/ black/ woke agendas that they see everyone who is more assertive or pushy or too expressive in their believes as evil if those beliefs aren’t what the media makes you think is good- smiling at everyone , appreciating everyone and everything etc

[Rex is back, baby!]

Originally posted by Luke:

Hello, there.

I very new to D&D universe so I don't know much about the lore. My question here is: can a Githyanki be good aligned?

I know there are the Githzerai, who are somehow "good" compared to the Githyanki, but we can't play as a Githzerai in BG3, so I wonder if is it possible for a Githyanki not to be a full time angry meanie fanatic ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

Yes.
In fact, that's a huge part of Lae'Zel's story.

[Greenegg]

Githzerai not being in the game at all is still wild to me.

[Nihrahk]

Originally posted by Greenegg:

Githzerai not being in the game at all is still wild to me.

I know what you mean. They are the exact same race as Githyanki, just a different faction but I suppose it's gonna be a definitive edition thing if they're gonna show up at all.

[Noctoculus]

Originally posted by Greenegg:

Githzerai not being in the game at all is still wild to me.

There are some book references to the Githzerai, which just makes it even stranger that all the NPCs are Githyanki. I assume their story took a hit with the last minute cuts.

[Solvem Probler]

There is no alignment in 5e so the question of good or evil is moot.

[Solvem Probler]

Originally posted by Greenegg:

Githzerai not being in the game at all is still wild to me.

Yet somehow they gave us Githyanki monks. Effing why.

[steelcoresoviet]

They are a collective culture, like the Spartans. A Githyanki who was far more moral and conscientious would be just as useless as one who couldn't grip his sword.

Think in terms of your creche, your rank, and your unit, and realize that your individualism is only a tool for advancement therein.

[Rex is back, baby!]

Originally posted by NihilVerum:

Originally posted by Greenegg:

Githzerai not being in the game at all is still wild to me.

Yet somehow they gave us Githyanki monks. Effing why.

I thought the "Honor Guard" WERE Githzerai? :O

[Noctoculus]

Originally posted by Rex:

Originally posted by NihilVerum:

Yet somehow they gave us Githyanki monks. Effing why.

I thought the "Honor Guard" WERE Githzerai? :O

They're clearly meant to be, but they ran out of time I guess?

[wendigo211]

You can read about the Githyanki here: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Githyanki

They do have a lawful evil society, but they are sentient and capable of reason. You can always be a rogue Githyanki but, as long as you aren't sworn to Vlaakith, you'll be considered traitor to the other Githyanki.

[Straybow]

Originally posted by Noctoculus:

Originally posted by Rex:

I thought the "Honor Guard" WERE Githzerai? :O

They're clearly meant to be, but they ran out of time I guess?

Gith lore is far from my forte but my understanding was that the Githzerai were formed in opposition to Gith, Orpheus is Gith's son and merely disputed succession with Vlaakith 1.

[ĥĉŭĝĥĉŭ]

Githyanki live in an absolutist monarchy supposedly descendant from the og leader of their rebellion against the mindflayers (the cthulhu looking dudes) and are a former slave race, they're also fighting a millennia long quasi-religious civil war vs their brethren who dispute their cultural origin story and think that Vlaakith should not be ruler. They also have relatively easy access to the different planes of existence and can live thousands of years unlike most races in D&D, plus since mindflayers weren't fully defeated, they think they need to wage war until they're wiped from existence.

Since they're the only race that was able to both rebel against the mindflayers and master their psionic abilities and planar travel, they have a pretty social darwinist view of each other and other races and have a pretty militaristic society that does a lot of raiding and conquering, explicitly viewing themselves as the masters of the cosmos because only they are strong enough to take it from the mindflayers.

Alignment in D&D is pretty commonly derided because it forces assumptions onto character morality and puts them (or often entire races, as if they're just all inherently like that and its not just cultural bias) in pretty arbitrary boxes, but under that system Githyanki are Lawful Evil at best. BG3 doesn't have alignment because of this, but that won't stop in-game characters, especially your party cleric Shadowheart, from being openly and casually racist against you for being gith because you're literally an alien to the people of Faerun and all they know is stories about the conquering and pillaging the space empire does and Shadowheart in particular is pretty sheltered from anything that isn't her cult's teachings.

[AzureTheGamerKobold]

Originally posted by victorvnv:

They aren’t evil , it’s just that most player have very shallow idea of what evil is.

Laezel was never evil, she has a typical brainwashed soldier character, but is loyal to her people and willing to die for them.

Her methods may not be for everyone but do not come out of evil thoughts or intents , she is just trained to follow Military protocol and get stuff done by any means necessary.

Orpheus and Voss are typical examples of that, neither of them is evil or just angry mass murderer, in fact many human nations especially the Asian and middle eastern have similar thinking and culture, it’s just that the US society have been so pussified by gay/ black/ woke agendas that they see everyone who is more assertive or pushy or too expressive in their believes as evil if those beliefs aren’t what the media makes you think is good- smiling at everyone , appreciating everyone and everything etc

Eh i'd label Laezel Lawful Evil, She's very much willing to hurt others, kill, maim, and torture. Those are not the acts of a good person no matter what your backstory. She doesn't do so without purpose, however. She doesn't even bat an eye if you murder a bunch of hippies after all. She doesn't see a problem with it, and is all for gaining power no matter how you do it (outside of using the ghaik worm).

Good she isn't... not without some coaxing... but like any well written character she is nuanced and complex which is why she is my favorite character in the game.

[MewTressym]

Githyanki and Githzerai are the same species.

Githyanki are a military sect under a Lich Queens orders and is intrinsically evil by nature while some individuals within the Githyanki may not be evil, their military sect is. They are basically astral fascists. Voss's line of "question kill move on" is pretty much the crux of their philosophy when it comes to dealing with other races. It just happens that their main opponents, the Mindflayers, are substantially more so evil then them.

Gitzherai on the other hand are the more good aligned Gith faction.

Some of this has been since retconned by writers trying to be politically correct, but even after retconning it's still very much the case that Githyanki are still very much the evil faction of Gith. Since we don't get the option of playing a Gitzherai, and the only two we ever meet in the series are either reduced to nothing but a brain in a jar and a shackled dude who acts more Yanki then Zerai at first I'm not honestly sure what happened to the Githzerai at this point in the story.