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The githyanki playable racial option has the Githyanki Psionics trait, which permits limited casting of a few spells. It is similar to the spellcasting granted to several other racial options, but unlike most other options, this feature also specifies that the spellcasting components are not required:

You know the mage hand cantrip, and the hand is invisible when you cast the cantrip with this trait.

When you reach 3rd level, you can cast jump once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the misty step spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.

Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells. When you cast them with this trait, they don't require components.

—Githyanki, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, pg. 96

Does this mean that the verbal and somatic components for these spells are ignored as well as the material components? Or are just the material components ignored, like those required for the jump spell?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Is there a reason you think not requiring components could be restricted only to not requiring material components? \$\endgroup\$
    – Exempt-Medic
    Jan 6, 2020 at 4:55
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Medix2 It came up during a session I participated in, and I couldn't find an existing question on this subject to upvote instead. \$\endgroup\$
    – Xirema
    Jan 6, 2020 at 5:54

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None of the Components—Verbal, Somatic, nor Material—are required for these spells

In the Player's Handbook, in Chapter 10, Spell Components are explicitly described as encompassing the Verbal, Somatic, and Material costs:

A spell's components are the physical requirements you must meet in order to cast it. Each spell's description indicates whether it requires verbal (V), somatic (S), or material (M) components. If you can't provide one or more of a spell's components, you are unable to cast the spell.

—Components, Player's Handbook, pg. 203

So if a feature, like the Githyanki Psionics feature, grants the ability to cast a spell without requiring components (with no further stipulation on which components being specified), that means no components are required; it does not merely remove the Material Components.

This means that such a character would be able to at-will cast mage hand with this feature without verbal or somatic components, and once per day cast jump with no components, and once per day cast misty step without its verbal components.

This only applies to spells cast through this feature; if a Githyanki Wizard had already cast jump through their racial spellcasting, and then tried to cast jump through their Wizard spellcasting, that second casting would still require all the normal components as expected.

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    \$\begingroup\$ It might be worth noting that the reason they require no components is because they're not spells, they're psionics. This is in line with the Mindflayers who also cast psionics, without requiring components: Innate Spellcasting (Psionics). The mind flayer's innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 15). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components. \$\endgroup\$
    – Theik
    Jan 6, 2020 at 12:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Theik These creatures perhaps aren't casting spells in a flavor sense, but they definitely are according to the mechanical rules sense. Unless otherwise specified or house-ruled, the abilities interact with Counterspell, Antimagic, etc. \$\endgroup\$
    – aschepler
    Jan 6, 2020 at 17:10
  • \$\begingroup\$ @aschepler Nope, while they are still 'spells' in the traditional sense, you can't counterspell them. "1 reaction, which you take when you see a creature within 60 feet of you casting a spell", you can't see somebody casting a spell if it has no components, because they literally don't do anything. See Xanathar's guide: " If the need for a spell’s components has been removed by a special ability, such as the sorcerer’s Subtle Spell feature or the Innate Spellcasting trait possessed by many creatures, the casting of the spell is imperceptible." Antimagic works though. \$\endgroup\$
    – Theik
    Jan 6, 2020 at 22:07

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