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A githzerai, by me:

"Romain Schmitter"
Date: Mon Oct 22, 2001 5:27 pm
Subject: Honor the_rom_s@...
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Ok, here's something a little different on which I'm working

Githyanki and honor (githzerai have another version of it, sometimes similar,
sometines opposed)
Githyanki have a strong sense of honor, albeit a strange one, one found illogical at times by outsiders
An individual strive to gain honor, to be viewed by his peer as someone superior.

Honor can be gained in two ways: deeds and possession.
Deeds: defeating a single foe in duel, or a superior force within one's band, crafting a
masterwork item (possesion of it also gains honor).
besting a githyanki in a contest (singing, tumbling, ...)
Humiliating a non-githyanki (worth more than a mere killing)
Foiling Githzerai or illithids activities, or raiding a fortress

Possessions: of every sort, the rarest and the most valuable, the more honor. Illithids items
or parts (skulls, preserved tentacles) are worth quite a lot, especially if they were killed by
the owner or his band.
Gold has little importance of its owns, coins being all the same, the same is not true of jewels or gems.
crafted item are more valued than magic items, only the work of the item, not its powers are important
(Githyanki think they don't the need the help of magic items, except if they have crafted them themselves)


One can lose honor several ways: acknowledging openly someone as superior (whether by
his deeds or possessions).
Backing away from a fight, refusing to fight or oppose illithids, displaying fear
killing someone far less powerful than oneself while humiliating him/them was possible
A Githyanki losing honor because of someone will try to regain it by humiliating or besting
the responsible, but killing the responsible outright results in a loss of honor, except
if the first loss was really great.

Attacking a Githyanki is one of the most ashaming thing a Githyanki can do,
as is disobeying the Lich Queen.

Honor gives the social status of the individual, a powerrful warlock or fughter without honor will
be scorned by all, and will accept orders from less powerful githyanki.

Hone Blade

Transmutation
Level: Sor/Wiz 3, Mlar 2
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 full round
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: 1 weapon or fifty projectiles, all of which must be in contact with each other at the time of casting

Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None

Spell Resistance: No

What’s better than a sword? A bloody good sword, that’s what! If you hone a blade enough, use only the finest metals, it ceases to be a weapon and becomes an extension of the will; it’ll slice bone and part flesh without so much as an effort. You’ll know the difference between a normal weapon and an exceptional weapon, young githwarrior. You’ll know.

While not as immediately effective as, say, magic weapon or keen edge, hone blade has one important advantage over other weapon-affecting spells; it permanently alters a weapon. A weapon under the effect of a hone blade spell is permanently altered; its balance and temper are improved, transforming it into a masterwork weapon, giving it a +1 bonus to attack rolls. A weapon so affected is then eligible for transformation into a magic weapon by means of the Craft Magic Arms and Armour feat,

Once the spell is cast, the affected weapon may not be de-honed by means of a Mordenkainen’s disjunction or dispel magic spell; the weapon itself is not magical.

Material Component: a finely-wrought gold ring, worth 300 gold pieces.

From: "Phil Smith"
Date: Fri Dec 14, 2001 7:30 am
Subject: Another Githzerai spell night-gaunt
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Fists of Falranth

Evocation [Force]
Level: Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft. / level)
Effect: Up to five rays
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

"Know, student, that Sensei Falranth was the first monk to teach the ways of the Zerth Cenobite in the open, rather than in the cloisters, kept secret from the People.
"His actions drew the emnity of other masters of the Way who did not wish for all People to know their art. Some sought to discredit him, claiming that in breaking with tradition, he had ceased to know them. Others feared his openness and declared him a danger to the People. They demanded his death, and their will was that they would kill him themselves.
"Falranth knew the teachings of the Cenobites, however, and met like with like, using neither excess nor insufficient force. Those who argued with him were met with cunning arguments. They came to know that the teachings of the Zerth Cenobites were of value to all people, since they taught the twin lessons of control and precision. All those who came to kill him were struck down by those loyal to him, before they were able to lay a single hand upon him. Although none claimed to have done this, all agreed that in each case Falranth struck them, whether with arguments, or from afar, through those loyal to him
"And so it is that one who knows when to use reason, when to will, and when to fight and does each only when required and strikes with control and precision fights with the fists of Faranth."

The fists of Falranth allow the caster to strike a target from a distance, projecting one ray per caster level, up to a maximum of five rays. The rays may be directed at up to five targets, and on successful hits each inflict 1d8 points of force damage. All five attacks are made at the caster's base attack bonus, modified for Weapon Focus feats, high Dexterity, and so on.
Focus: an arrow whose head has been forged in the shape of a clenched fist.

From: "Phil Smith"
Date: Thu Dec 27, 2001 9:49 am
Subject: Zerth freebooters, part 2 night-gaunt
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And the other part -- Monster Manual stats...

Phil

Zerth Freebooter

Medium-Size Humanoid (Gith)

Hit Dice: 1d8+3 (7 hp)

Initiative: +0

Speed: 30 ft.

AC: 15 (+4 chain shirt, +1 buckler)

Attacks: Shortspear +1 melee or light crossbow +2 ranged

Damage: Shortspear 1d8 or light crossbow 1d8

Face/Reach: 5 ft. × 5 ft. / 5 ft.

Special Attacks: None

Special Qualities: Zerth freebooter traits, spell-like abilities, spell resistance

Saves: Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +1

Abilities: Str 10, Dex 11, Con 10, Int 11, Wis 13, Cha 12.

Skills: Gather Information +3, Intimidate +3, Profession (void sailor) +4, Sense Motive +3, Spot +5, Wilderness Lore +3

Feats: Toughness

Climate/Terrain: Wildspace

Organization: Company (2 to 4 3rd-level fighters), boarding party (11 to 20 3rd level fighters, plus 2 7th-level officers, 1 9th-level mate), or crew (30 to 100 3rd-level fighters, plus 1 7th-level leader per 10 members, 5 7th-level officers, 3 9th-level mates, 1 16th-level captain)

Challenge Rating: 1

Treasure: Standard

Alignment: Usually chaotic neutral

Advancement: By character class

Zerth freebooters are another branch of the race that evolved into the githyanki and githzerai. They diverged from their githzerai kin shortly after the Pronouncement of Two Skies, electing to pursue the pirates of Gith into arcane space rather than follow the githzerai people’s wizard-king into Limbo. Before they went, however, they learned enough of chaos to realise its value in disrupting the order and tactics of the Gith pirates, thereby becoming more resourceful than their more numerous quarry.

Zerth freebooters have a rather peculiar appearance. They are tall and thin – heights of seven feet often occurring, and tend on the whole to be pale-skinned. Darker skin tones are not unknown, but are rather rare. Hair is often dark, although many Zerth freebooters shave their heads and sport tattoos on their scalps. Their faces have a somewhat eldritch cast, with pointed ears, long noses and jaws and high cheekbones, leading many to suggest that they are related to elves, although this theory is hotly denied by the elves themselves. They favour spacefaring fashions – bandannas, jerkins and so forth – although they prefer dark, conservative colours, giving them a rather grim countenance.

The Zerth freebooter tongue is a dialect of Githzerai combined with nautical code-words, and is distinct enough to be considered a creole form of its root language. Many Zerth freebooters also speak Common or Elven, given that these races are their more frequent allies. In addition they often speak the language of the pirates of Gith too.

COMBAT

Zerth freebooters will use many different weapons in combat, although they prefer to use simple weapons that inflict large amounts of damage, leaving more to intuition than actual training and habit. They prefer light armour as it allows them to move quickly, and does not hamper the stealth abilities of their rangers and rogues. As far as heroic feats go, Zerth freebooters favour those with a defensive effect; their numbers are limited, and as such anything that keeps them alive long enough to continue hunting pirates of Gith and illithids long enough is considered most useful. As such, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes and Toughness are most common among the Zerth freebooters.

When fighting, they will fight pirates of Gith and mind flayers first, even to the exclusion of other enemies. Their old hatreds have remained with them for thousands of years, and are unlikely to die out any time soon. If faced with both enemies at once, however, they are not above proposing a temporary truce with the Gith pirates. Once the mind flayers have all been slain, however, the truce is immediately called off and the Gith pirates are usually attacked as well.

Zerth Freebooter Traits (Ex): Zerth freebooters benefit from a number of traits:

* Darkvision, effective to a range of 60 feet.
* +2 racial bonus to all Gather Information, Intimidate, Sense Motive and Wilderness Lore checks.

Spell-like Abilities (Sp): Zerth freebooters of level 8 or above are able to use the following spell-like effects once per day as 16th-level sorcerers: astral projection, detect thoughts and plane shift. Crews of Gith pirates traditionally save their plane shift and astral projection abilities for a trick they have learned to perform in concert, however. If a crew of at least 30 Zerth freebooters all manifest those powers at the same time, they are able to shunt themselves, the ship and any cargo and prisoners into the Astral Plane. The circumstances under which this particular ability can be performed, however, are limited by the constraints of the ship in their possession. Their ship must be one of the elven living ships, such as a Man o’ War, or a craft of githzerai or their own manufacture. For this reason some Zerth freebooters have been known to steal elven ships, although alliances between the two races are more likely to occur, as Zerth freebooters are fierce marines.

Spell Resistance: Zerth freebooters have a spell resistance of 5 +1 per character level.

ZERTH FREEBOOTER SOCIETY

Zerth freebooters have few ties with any of the other Gith races. While they are not as xenophobic as the Gith pirates, nor are they anywhere near as genocidal, they are still rather insular and enigmatic. They have not severed all ties with the githzerai, and still revere Zerthimon as the liberator of their people. However, Zaerith Menyar-Ag-Gith does not welcome Zerth freebooters in his territories, seeing them as having picked up too many wrong-headed ideas and beliefs during their time outside. He views them as being potentially dangerous mavericks – rather like his view of the zerths. Perhaps because of this, the only real point of contact between Zerth freebooters and the githzerai are the zerths themselves.

Zerth freebooter crews have a rather peculiar structure to them; technically they are anarchists; no single freebooter can be described as their leader. However, the most experienced of their numbers are more respected by dint of their prowess and knowledge, and as such may in times of duress be considered the de facto leaders of a crew of Zerth freebooters. In most other circumstances, each Zerth freebooter has as much influence and seniority as the next. It is only due to their common goals and strong beliefs that they are able to work as a team.

The Zerth freebooters are nomadic, and as such have few colonies. Those that do exist are there to allow children to be conceived and raised, and for basic training in arms, armour and shipboard work to be given. Almost immediately afterward the young freebooters hook up with crews and set off on the ancient mission of their people. While clerics and druids are known among their people, there is no centrally organised church, nor any one favoured deity. Arcane magic is known and used by them too, but the talent is more of an internal one than any form of magic learned in books. As such, sorcerers are far more common among the Zerth freebooters than wizards.

Unlike the pirates of Gith, Zerth freebooters have no problem with phlogiston travel. The chief reason for this is that the pirates of Gith are particularly uncomfortable with the idea; conversely the Zerth freebooters feel they have something to prove. "The only way we can defeat our enemies," they argue, "is to be more resourceful than they are, but above all else to be braver than them." In addition, they see it as the most convenient way to travel between the spheres. While this does keep them from using their plane shift abilities with abandon, they find that on average it helps them outmanoeuvre their enemies more frequently. By spending more time in arcane space, they claim that they have come to know it far better than the pirates of Gith.

ZERTH FREEBOOTER CHARACTERS

Being a race of huntsmen and privateers, the majority of Zerth freebooters prefer the class of ranger. However, given their preference for Wildspace, they are a rather peculiar kind of ranger, favouring the void over the forest. Zerth freebooter clerics are not unknown, although they are rare, but not as rare as monks or paladins, whose lawful codes are seen as an unwelcome constraint.

"William Ehgoetz"
Date: Thu May 2, 2002 9:43 am
Subject: Redone Martial Art lckedovan
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Ok, still not a final version, but I think you will find it better than the other versions. Comments more than welcome!

Breaking the Bonds

The two figures shrouded in darkness crept stealthily into the heart of the citadel. They made no sound, and moved with purpose through a steel door into a side room. Then, the door clicked behind them and the sound of it locking could be heard. The two threw back their hoods revealing their wizened Githzerai features. The younger turned to the elder, a slight look of rising panic showing on his face, “Xifu! We are trapped! The cursed illithid must have been warned of our approach, the rrakkma must have fallen!” The elder Githzerai, addressed as Xifu, or master, nodded sagely. “Be calm K’el’torath and *know* that The People have not been idle in our learning, *know* that I will not allow us to be held.”

The old master walked calmly to the door and gracefully dropped into a flowing stance, his eyes closed, left hand held above his head, his right pulled back as if about to punch the door, yet his fist was not closed. K’el’torath stood rigid, poised and expecting danger. “Watch and come to *know* the truths of Breaking the Bonds K’el’torath” murmured the Xifu as his right palm flowed towards the door, as if in slow motion. As he touched the door, it exploded outwards with the echoing crack of breaking steel. On the other side stood one of the hated Illithids, its psychic scream echoing as some of the metal shards embedded in its rubbery flesh. The Xifu spoke softly his dark eyes hardening “Come K’el’torath, it is time to finish this”

For years the Gith were enslaved under the tyranny of the Illithids. When it came time to rise up against their masters Zerthimon knew that the Gith must prepare themselves. The Breaking of the Bonds style was developed in secret amongst a number of the colonies. Its movements were hidden amongst the motions of the work that their Illithid masters had them doing. It came to appear as part of their flowing dances and their arts. The focus of this form has developed over time, into a hard/soft form whose primary focus is to prevent the Githzerai ever facing enslavement again. The masters of this form can shatter doors with a touch, or break the chains of enslavement with a twist of their arms.

Feats: Iron Hand, Adamantine Hand, Stunning Fist, Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Critical, Dodge, Mobility, Improved Critical, Weapon Finesse (Unarmed Strike), Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike), Power Attack, Sunder

Other: Balance, Escape Artist

Breaking the Bonds Mastery I

You have mastered the initial secrets of the Breaking the Bonds style. The student has mastered his grasp of this form's philosophy to the point where he can make much more efficient use of a simple strike against an inanimate object.

Prerequisites: Iron Hand, Stunning Fist (or Monk's Stunning attack), Improved Unarmed Strike, Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike), Dodge, Balance (4 or more Ranks), Escape Artist (4 or more Ranks)

Benefit: When attacking any inanimate object you gain a +2 attack bonus to the strike

Breaking the Bonds Mastery II

You have mastered the deeper secrets of the Breaking the Bonds style. The student has mastered his grasp of this form's philosophy to the point where he understands the Breaking the Bonds form to a point where his blows can be used against living opponents. The student realizes that in some cases you must disable your opponent, or to flee in order to escape the enslavement that can follow capture. The master of this level is able to use simple, soft strikes to disable and slow his opponent significantly thus making escape easier, or the final death blow to arrive that much faster.

Prerequisites: Way of the Sundered Skies I, Adamantine Hand, Improved Critical, Weapon Finesse (Unarmed Strike), Escape Artist (8+ ranks)

Benefit: When you make a stunning attack you may choose to inflict 1d4 points of temporary Dexterity Damage instead of stunning your opponent.

I think that's pretty much it. I deleted the stuff in this thread that was already on Planewalker, or that was on the old Planewalker. Most of it, anyway.

I'll probably have to come back to the PrCs and so on and post them directly to the submission machine Clueless made so their formatting is preserved.

Right now I'm exhausted.