The Beginner Bard

The mind flayers weren’t part of the original D&D rules. They only first appeared in the Strategic Review magazine and were later added into the game in the Eldritch Wizardry supplement in 1976. The githyanki and githzerai were not yet part of the canon, in spite of future editions establishing a firm connection between them and the illithid

1981 sees the official introduction of the gith to AD&D in the 1e Fiend Folio.

In some of the Forgotten Realms material you can change the timeline and whatever “the future” is isn’t inevitable. But also the Far Realms are themselves non-linear in time.

ALSO! Here’s a fun fact, the leaders of Githyanki, not Githzerai, society want to first destroy the Mind Flayers but when that’s done they want to, get this, conquer the cosmos. This is the reason the Githzerai split from them actually.

See, this is why I got so mad that “there cannot be two skies” got fuckin’ retconned and they took my Badass Dragon Riding Lich Queen Gith away and replaced her with some god-damn imposter in 5e.

[Listen, illithids are one of my favorite monsters and the fact that they got nerfed between 3.5 and 5 to undermine their interesting af lore makes me bitter. They also used to have dragons. Just saying]

Asking so I can make some myself

I use the Homebrewery for my content (https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/). You can click "New" in the top right corner of the screen to make a new homebrew, and I recommend an account so you can save and share your brews! If you choose "Monster Stat Block" under "PHB" (on the left hand side of the screen) it will generate a random stat block in the style of the 5e creatures. The stat blocks aren't always complete with saving throws, skills, etc., and you need to learn a bit of HTML coding to know how to use it properly, but it's relatively easy. If there is interest, I can share my stat block coding here so you can just copy and paste it for your own creatures! The Homebrewery also has tables, spells, spell list and class tables pregenerated, all in the style of 5e D&D.

I can also recommend the Homebrewery's Reddit page (https://www.reddit.com/r/homebrewery/) for a bunch of resources, including watercolor stains, fonts, and a bunch of other resources.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MpXbkdZhzncOUp8-eRznmwsvgEMRMcAEnKU975VTzNk/edit?usp=sharing

To save the file to your own Drive: choose "File" in the top left and then "Make a copy" or "Download". Then you can simply paste the code in the Homebrewery and start filling it out right away.

The code is for a single-column stat block (with a creature image on the right or left). To turn it into a double-column stat block (with a creature image above or below) simply copy the first line of the coding ("___") and paste it on a new line below, like so:

___ ___ > ## Name >*Size type, alignment* Etc.

This should turn your stat block into a double-column stat block. You don't need to change anything about the rest of your stat block!

You leave a trail of mushrooms in your footsteps.

You have thorns growing out of your skin where the bone is close to the surface.

You have long hooked fingernails.

You are always followed by birds and forest creatures, they deeply disapprove of most of your life choices.

You cause all creatures within five feet to hear faint whispers of bizarre and alien things.

You have the horns of a ram growing from your head.

You are always followed and surrounded by a low glittering mist.

Your eyes - pupils and irises - become entirely white.

You constantly surrounded by swarming butterflies.

You have flower petals for hair.

You can crudely mimic others, like a raven or a jackdaw.

You have mushrooms which grow out of any scars or wounds. They are psychedelic, of course.

You can sing like a bird almost perfectly.

You have golden or amber eyes.

You are covered in a sleek coat of fur, like a hunting hound or a deer.

You have seven-inch-long fingers.

You have pair of elegant and delicate butterfly wings. They are functionally useless and will require clothing to be specially tailored.

Your skin changes colour with mood, like an octopus or a chameleon.

You leave a trail of flowers, growing in your footsteps.

I feel like roll20 and D&D Beyond are the ones that people likely hear about first (at least I did).

I've seen really cool homebrew stuff on Reddit, itch.io, and Tumblr. Dungeon Master's Guild looks intimidating somehow lol but also really useful.

I’ma give you a template that has worked well for me, and should be doable with 4-8 players given 3-5 hours for a session. 

Tutorial D&D Session

Step 1) Build the characters yourself because most new players would rather get introduced to D&D by playing it than by having to read the books and learning how to make characters.  Also, this way you will ensure the PCs are relatively balanced and you know how all their abilities work.

Step 2) Pass out the character sheets and briefly explain what the numbers and stuff are, like “These are your ability stats, they represent your natural strengths and weaknesses.  These are your skills, this is where your equipment is written down, here are your attacks” etc.  Tell your players that they get to choose their own names, appearance and personality.  Don’t get too bogged down explaining the mechanics here, the main thing is to help them know where stuff is on their character sheet so they can find it later and also to get them started getting into character.

Step 3) Introduce the mission.  Inform the players that they are a group of [mercenaries/adventurers/soldiers/investigators/whatever] who have been hired/ordered to [perform x task].  I recommend you start out this way because it very clearly establishes a goal for the players and also helps them feel like they are already cool characters with a cool history who should have some camaraderie together.  It’s way easier than a “You meet in a tavern” kind of introduction and the players are less likely to get paralyzed by endless choices.

Step 4) Start out by having the characters meet with someone who can answer questions about the mission.  You can use this to introduce the idea of talking in character.  This interaction will also be an opportunity to show them how to make skill checks, like maybe put in an opportunity for them to negotiate a higher reward (side note, the bonus to building the characters yourself is you ensure at least some of them have ranks in social skills).

Step 5) The mission requires them to travel, of course!  En route to their objective, they run into a minor combat encounter!  This is your opportunity to teach them how combat mechanics work.  It shouldn’t be a major battle, but it should last long enough that every player has a chance to meaningfully contribute.  

Step 6) Time for a skill challenge!  Put an obstacle in their way and let them puzzle out how to overcome it.  Something simple like a river crossing that can be navigated in more than one way (do they swim, jump over, use a rope, get help from another character or some other ridiculous thing?)

Step 7) Main challenge time!  They’ve arrived at their destination, and they have to defeat an opponent and probably get a thing!  This will let them put together all the skills they’ve used so far.  As the climax of your mini-adventure, it should be challenging and exciting, but keep in mind they are newbies, so don’t be too brutal.  Also, make sure there’s some loot, because players love loot and they deserve a reward if they’ve made it this far.

Step 8) After they complete the main objective, I like to to present the players with an opportunity to make an interesting choice.  Maybe a third party shows up and makes them a compelling offer, but it’s at odds with their original mission.  Here’s where they get a chance to really roleplay and put their own stamp on how the story plays out.

Step 9) Assuming they survive all that, distribute the promised rewards!  If this was a one shot, give them an appropriate epilogue.  If your players decide they want to do this more regularly, now is a good time to talk about their hopes for future games and if they want to stick with their first characters or try something new.