Githyanki Cerebremancer help [Archive] - Wizards Community

Githyanki Cerebremancer help [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Yokinobu
06-28-07, 03:46 AM I'm trying to come up with a character concept for a Githyanki evoker/psion that lives in Gathchorof in the Underdark of the Realms. I need to know what good feats to take to make a good cerebremancer out of this guy, and what discipline to specialize in. I was thinking seer at first, but since divination is not a spell school that can banned from a specialist mages repetoire and I'll have to have access to it anyway, I figured I should choose telepath or shaper, so I can save a feat I would have spent on learning either Astral Construct or Schism, which is really important cause this guy is going to be starving for feats. What do you think? Any ideas will help, including spells/powers to choose, skills, and maybe even character background ideas if you don't mind.

By the way, does anyone who is well aquainted with old Realmslore know who the Githyanki came about in the Realms? I was reading Realmspace about the planet Glyth, but I couldn't find anything. Were they descended from humans, or some type of general humanoid like the XPH says?
SlanderPanic
06-28-07, 11:32 AM Githyanki in the Realms are immigrants or visitors from the Astral Plane, like they are anywhere else. While they've established a few semi-permanent enclaves, they're not as powerful a presence as Vlaakith would like them to be. The githyanki are concerned with the large number of illithids in Faerun, but aren't yet strong enough to start the bloody war of flayer extermination that they'd like.

As for your character... I've always -since first edition- advocated against becoming a specialist wizard. One extra spell per level per day doesn't make up for the loss of versatility you suffer. Cerebremancers are all about maximum versatility at the cost of overall power; you really don't want to exacerbate that if you can avoid it. For your discipline, I'd likely go with shaper. You get some good offensive and defensive powers, in addition to the ever-popular astral construct.

No matter what you do, that +2 LA is going to hurt a lot, as will the loss of caster and manifester levels from multiclassing. If I were you, I'd seriously reconsider going the cerebremancer route and go for either psion/Illithid Slayer, straight psion, straight wizard, or wizard/Alienist.
Zarreth_Nessad
06-28-07, 12:03 PM For feats I would suggest at the minimum Practiced Manifester, and Practiced Spellcaster if you can fit it in.

For the Psion discipline, Telepath and Shaper are good, but as a Githyanki you might also want to look at the Egoist. Definitely would be a good compatibility with going wizard as well (Egoists can do things that generally don't exist in spell form for wizards). If you don't go Shaper, though, I wouldn't recommend burning a feat for Astral Construct: just don't deny yourself conjuration spells and you can get more summoned creatures out at once than you could with Astral Construct. Not worth a feat, especially with a Cerebremancer build.

As far as being a specialist wizard, that extra spell per day helps alot with versatility, but if it isn't important to you, there are things you can do to replace them (see PHBII and the Unearthed Arcana). Evokers get some nice alternatives.

Origins of the Gith: Unknown. As far as I've been able to tell (from reading about the Illithids in the Lords of Madness book) they were a primitive race that the Illithids chose as slaves when they first relocated themselves in time. Other than that, not much I know outside the XPH.
yarethon
06-28-07, 12:50 PM I had a character like that.
He was an outcast githyanki that was captured in the realm o toril for experimentation.
Later on, after managing to escape he created a mercenary band of outcast gith who decided to try find their native homeworld.

his levels and feats:

kineticist10/wizard5/cerebramind 7

True neutral githyanki

1 mental resistance
3 expanded knowledge
6 overchannel
9 practiced manifester ( complete psionic)
12 dampen spell ( PHB II)
15 craft contingent spell (complete arcane)
18 expanded knowledge

1 quicken power
5 craft psionic arms and armor
10 talented
scribe sroll
5 craf wondorous itmes
extra feat from flaw( not having psicrystal) : improved counterspell

His favored spells were Assay spell resistance ( spell compendium), force orb( spell compendium), anticipate teleportation ( which he used in combination with the divert teleport power), rary's arcane conversion ( complete mage), indomitability ( spell compendium), ruin delver's fortune ( spell compendium) e acid rain ( heroes of battle).
Favored powers :
dispelling buffer , telekinetic maneuver, concussion blast, damp power ( complete psionic), ego whip, reddopsi, psychometry ( complete psionics), anticipatory strike ( complete psionic) and divert teleport.
I never bothered with the astral constuct, because it was out of fllavor with his particular personality.

Mainly I used his psionic powers for combat ( offense and defense), while using his magic to solve non combat situations or boosting. Some of his powers and feats were not chosen to maximize him, but rather give him... personality.

I hope it was helpful.
Einvaldurinn_mikli
06-28-07, 06:12 PM Lololol how does i failed for losing five caster/manifester levels?
Asadeseth
06-28-07, 06:20 PM The origins of the Gith are obscure, but their mostly mutatied humans. This has been part of their back story from their creation in the FF. When the Illithids came to our time they made them from baise human stock they took mostly from an prime world (cant rember the name).
Yokinobu
06-29-07, 01:39 AM Thanks everyone, you've all helped. Zarreth_Nessad, I'll take your advice. To SlanderPanic, you make some good points, but those simply aren't the character types I want this guy to go for. The cerebremancer route is a way to do something different and to last longer in fights througout the day. I wouldn't imagine githyanki to always make the best decisons, therefore I figured it would make sense for one to consider the idea of more power from blending wizardly and psionic talent. Also, I think githyanki who go the path of the wizard choosing evoker makes alot of sense, especially since the githyanki are mainly a warrior race. In anycase, this guy has a bunch of psionic powers he can take to make up for what he lacks in magic versatility, and that's partly the idea.

I originally wanted a guy who was powerful enough from cerebremancer levels that he could somehow avoid the fated meeting with the lich queen if he reached 17th level. Whether or not he can pull it off is the DM's call, but I think being able to cast both 13th level spells and manifest 13th level powers as a 16th levels caster/manifester at 16th level can be very helpful.

Anyway, I haven't decided what discipline to specialize in, but I'll definately take the feats Practiced Spellcaster and Practiced Manifester.

Like I said, I appreciate everything. Does anyone happen to know why githyanki seem to prefer magic over psionics? Any insight would be helpful.
Lokiyn
06-29-07, 02:06 AM Actually if i remember correctly, the illithids brought the forrunners with them that later mutated into the gith races.

Of course, on the other hand if i remember right in spell jammer there is a homeworld where illithid developed through some sort of conflict involving sun tapping artifacts. these were different from the illithid from the future.

As far as i can remember the closest reconstruction of illithids were somthing like

Illithids from the future arive in the past
Illithid set up huge empire, build penumbra, bring the gith forrunners with them.
Gith evolve, wipe out empire
Suppoedly future illithids get wiped out entirely
Illithids on the planet evolve, find artifacts of illithids
Illithids build second (first?) empire again
Cataclysm X

Of course there is a good chance i'm misremembering some 2e material, i need to re read some stuff to be sure.

Anyway if your in a game that allows dragon material, then use the Material in DR349 to get a caster level boost (it will cost you two feats) that lets you add a your caster level and your manifester level for a discipline and school of magic.

Use Precocious apprentice to drop your wizard levels to 1, then use Erudite for the manifester side, and pick the beyond awesome (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a) Erudite Substiution, to crank out some pretty severe levels of magic.

(Specialize and take focused specialist to increase your specialty slots to 3 per level (so rather than 4+1 you get 3+3), convert prohibited spells into powers to skirt the restrictions.

But i'm currently in awe of the new substitution so i'm biased.
Zarreth_Nessad
06-29-07, 06:36 AM Note on Precocious Apprentice: It can only be taken at first level, and requires you to have a level of Wizard. It doesn't reset your wizard levels to 1. It's still a good feat to take (extra lvl 2 spell slot once you can cast lvl 2 spells, extra lvl 2 spell known, +2 to Spellcraft). Also good is Collegiate Wizard. Both are from the Complete Arcane.

Note on Erudite (from Complete Psionic): At higher levels it becomes really good, but in all honesty, the number of powers per day is very restrictive. I've tried to play one, and I have played the other Psions (telepath, egoist (twice), seer, etc), and in my opinion the Erudite isn't as good. You also have to watch out for technicalities (Cerebremancer: +1 level manifesting doesn't specify that you get the number of spells per day for an Erudite increased, so you would be learning new powers and gaining power points, but only able to choose 3 (?) per day when you're a 13th level manifester).

Focused Specialist: Where is this feat at? Haven't noticed it before.

Edit: Focused Specialist: found it. silly me... haven't really read the Complete Mage yet. is not a feat, lol.
Yokinobu
06-29-07, 07:11 PM Thanks again guys.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Yokinobu 06-28-07, 03:46 AM	I'm trying to come up with a character concept for a Githyanki evoker/psion that lives in Gathchorof in the Underdark of the Realms. I need to know what good feats to take to make a good cerebremancer out of this guy, and what discipline to specialize in. I was thinking seer at first, but since divination is not a spell school that can banned from a specialist mages repetoire and I'll have to have access to it anyway, I figured I should choose telepath or shaper, so I can save a feat I would have spent on learning either Astral Construct or Schism, which is really important cause this guy is going to be starving for feats. What do you think? Any ideas will help, including spells/powers to choose, skills, and maybe even character background ideas if you don't mind. By the way, does anyone who is well aquainted with old Realmslore know who the Githyanki came about in the Realms? I was reading Realmspace about the planet Glyth, but I couldn't find anything. Were they descended from humans, or some type of general humanoid like the XPH says?
SlanderPanic 06-28-07, 11:32 AM	Githyanki in the Realms are immigrants or visitors from the Astral Plane, like they are anywhere else. While they've established a few semi-permanent enclaves, they're not as powerful a presence as Vlaakith would like them to be. The githyanki are concerned with the large number of illithids in Faerun, but aren't yet strong enough to start the bloody war of flayer extermination that they'd like. As for your character... I've always -since first edition- advocated against becoming a specialist wizard. One extra spell per level per day doesn't make up for the loss of versatility you suffer. Cerebremancers are all about maximum versatility at the cost of overall power; you really don't want to exacerbate that if you can avoid it. For your discipline, I'd likely go with shaper. You get some good offensive and defensive powers, in addition to the ever-popular astral construct. No matter what you do, that +2 LA is going to hurt a lot, as will the loss of caster and manifester levels from multiclassing. If I were you, I'd seriously reconsider going the cerebremancer route and go for either psion/Illithid Slayer, straight psion, straight wizard, or wizard/Alienist.
Zarreth_Nessad 06-28-07, 12:03 PM	For feats I would suggest at the minimum Practiced Manifester, and Practiced Spellcaster if you can fit it in. For the Psion discipline, Telepath and Shaper are good, but as a Githyanki you might also want to look at the Egoist. Definitely would be a good compatibility with going wizard as well (Egoists can do things that generally don't exist in spell form for wizards). If you don't go Shaper, though, I wouldn't recommend burning a feat for Astral Construct: just don't deny yourself conjuration spells and you can get more summoned creatures out at once than you could with Astral Construct. Not worth a feat, especially with a Cerebremancer build. As far as being a specialist wizard, that extra spell per day helps alot with versatility, but if it isn't important to you, there are things you can do to replace them (see PHBII and the Unearthed Arcana). Evokers get some nice alternatives. Origins of the Gith: Unknown. As far as I've been able to tell (from reading about the Illithids in the Lords of Madness book) they were a primitive race that the Illithids chose as slaves when they first relocated themselves in time. Other than that, not much I know outside the XPH.
yarethon 06-28-07, 12:50 PM	I had a character like that. He was an outcast githyanki that was captured in the realm o toril for experimentation. Later on, after managing to escape he created a mercenary band of outcast gith who decided to try find their native homeworld. his levels and feats: kineticist10/wizard5/cerebramind 7 True neutral githyanki 1 mental resistance 3 expanded knowledge 6 overchannel 9 practiced manifester ( complete psionic) 12 dampen spell ( PHB II) 15 craft contingent spell (complete arcane) 18 expanded knowledge 1 quicken power 5 craft psionic arms and armor 10 talented scribe sroll 5 craf wondorous itmes extra feat from flaw( not having psicrystal) : improved counterspell His favored spells were Assay spell resistance ( spell compendium), force orb( spell compendium), anticipate teleportation ( which he used in combination with the divert teleport power), rary's arcane conversion ( complete mage), indomitability ( spell compendium), ruin delver's fortune ( spell compendium) e acid rain ( heroes of battle). Favored powers : dispelling buffer , telekinetic maneuver, concussion blast, damp power ( complete psionic), ego whip, reddopsi, psychometry ( complete psionics), anticipatory strike ( complete psionic) and divert teleport. I never bothered with the astral constuct, because it was out of fllavor with his particular personality. Mainly I used his psionic powers for combat ( offense and defense), while using his magic to solve non combat situations or boosting. Some of his powers and feats were not chosen to maximize him, but rather give him... personality. I hope it was helpful.
Einvaldurinn_mikli 06-28-07, 06:12 PM	Lololol how does i failed for losing five caster/manifester levels?
Asadeseth 06-28-07, 06:20 PM	The origins of the Gith are obscure, but their mostly mutatied humans. This has been part of their back story from their creation in the FF. When the Illithids came to our time they made them from baise human stock they took mostly from an prime world (cant rember the name).
Yokinobu 06-29-07, 01:39 AM	Thanks everyone, you've all helped. Zarreth_Nessad, I'll take your advice. To SlanderPanic, you make some good points, but those simply aren't the character types I want this guy to go for. The cerebremancer route is a way to do something different and to last longer in fights througout the day. I wouldn't imagine githyanki to always make the best decisons, therefore I figured it would make sense for one to consider the idea of more power from blending wizardly and psionic talent. Also, I think githyanki who go the path of the wizard choosing evoker makes alot of sense, especially since the githyanki are mainly a warrior race. In anycase, this guy has a bunch of psionic powers he can take to make up for what he lacks in magic versatility, and that's partly the idea. I originally wanted a guy who was powerful enough from cerebremancer levels that he could somehow avoid the fated meeting with the lich queen if he reached 17th level. Whether or not he can pull it off is the DM's call, but I think being able to cast both 13th level spells and manifest 13th level powers as a 16th levels caster/manifester at 16th level can be very helpful. Anyway, I haven't decided what discipline to specialize in, but I'll definately take the feats Practiced Spellcaster and Practiced Manifester. Like I said, I appreciate everything. Does anyone happen to know why githyanki seem to prefer magic over psionics? Any insight would be helpful.
Lokiyn 06-29-07, 02:06 AM	Actually if i remember correctly, the illithids brought the forrunners with them that later mutated into the gith races. Of course, on the other hand if i remember right in spell jammer there is a homeworld where illithid developed through some sort of conflict involving sun tapping artifacts. these were different from the illithid from the future. As far as i can remember the closest reconstruction of illithids were somthing like Illithids from the future arive in the past Illithid set up huge empire, build penumbra, bring the gith forrunners with them. Gith evolve, wipe out empire Suppoedly future illithids get wiped out entirely Illithids on the planet evolve, find artifacts of illithids Illithids build second (first?) empire again Cataclysm X Of course there is a good chance i'm misremembering some 2e material, i need to re read some stuff to be sure. Anyway if your in a game that allows dragon material, then use the Material in DR349 to get a caster level boost (it will cost you two feats) that lets you add a your caster level and your manifester level for a discipline and school of magic. Use Precocious apprentice to drop your wizard levels to 1, then use Erudite for the manifester side, and pick the beyond awesome (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a) Erudite Substiution, to crank out some pretty severe levels of magic. (Specialize and take focused specialist to increase your specialty slots to 3 per level (so rather than 4+1 you get 3+3), convert prohibited spells into powers to skirt the restrictions. But i'm currently in awe of the new substitution so i'm biased.
Zarreth_Nessad 06-29-07, 06:36 AM	Note on Precocious Apprentice: It can only be taken at first level, and requires you to have a level of Wizard. It doesn't reset your wizard levels to 1. It's still a good feat to take (extra lvl 2 spell slot once you can cast lvl 2 spells, extra lvl 2 spell known, +2 to Spellcraft). Also good is Collegiate Wizard. Both are from the Complete Arcane. Note on Erudite (from Complete Psionic): At higher levels it becomes really good, but in all honesty, the number of powers per day is very restrictive. I've tried to play one, and I have played the other Psions (telepath, egoist (twice), seer, etc), and in my opinion the Erudite isn't as good. You also have to watch out for technicalities (Cerebremancer: +1 level manifesting doesn't specify that you get the number of spells per day for an Erudite increased, so you would be learning new powers and gaining power points, but only able to choose 3 (?) per day when you're a 13th level manifester). Focused Specialist: Where is this feat at? Haven't noticed it before. Edit: Focused Specialist: found it. silly me... haven't really read the Complete Mage yet. is not a feat, lol.
Yokinobu 06-29-07, 07:11 PM	Thanks again guys.