The Dyr
Dyr are animalistic creatures who live between wild instincts and
civilised societies. For the game, this means that a Dyr character
can have various animal characteristics.
1. Choose animal type
Every player who wants to play a Dyr character must choose an animal species from which the character is descended.
Different Dyr species cannot reproduce with each other under ordinary circumstances. This means that a
wolf dyr cannot produce descendants with a bird dyr. Accordingly, there are no
Dyr that have several animal species in them. Players can choose their animal species at will,
as long as it either exists in reality or is present in the world of Machines and Sorcery or your orn campaign.
Dyr have evolved from their wild relatives and started to live in larger communities.
To do so, however, it was necessary to suppress some of their animal instincts.
As a result, Dyr living in society are inferior in strength, endurance and dexterity to their more savage counterparts.
On the other hand, Therefor they can coexist and cooperate with other species, where others
would have long since given in to their primal urges.
Dyr Wildness
A player must make a choice at the beginning where their character lies on a spectrum from wild to
social fully integrated.
Feral characters are usually dominated by their animal appearance, and they behave a lot more like
animals. Therefor they get many of the physical strength of that animal.
Once a player has chosen their animal species, the character will take on characteristics of the animal species
such as appearance, strengths, weaknesses and behaviour. The more strengths the character wants to take from the animal,
the wilder the Dyr will be in the end, which makes them more controlled by their instincts.
Strengths and weaknesses must be derived from the animal species. A cat dyr has e.g.
sharp claws and night vision, while a frog dyr can jump high and swim well.
can swim. A bird dyr has wings and can fly.
These benefits or weaknesses must be defined as skills, so they can be used for skill-checks.
e.g.: "Nightvision 4".
If the animal species has weaknesses, these must also be adopted. A
rhino dyr, for example, is very strong but has very poor eyesight (perception -3). A
cat dyr does not like water (fear of water -4) etc.
2. The character of the Dyr
As already mentioned, Dyr become stronger the wilder they are. A Dyr is then more
controlled by his instincts. This manifests itself in appearance and behaviour. A wolf dyr gets aggravated quickly,
a sheep dyr is quick to run away from danger, and a spider dyr sits in its nest for hours a day, waiting for its prey.
The more Dyr gather together in societies, the more they suppress their animal instincts,
making their behaviour more moderate and their appearance less animalistic.
However, a dyr can never completely suppress their instincts.
Dyr should mostly show their character on the outside. It is often easy to judge them by their
appearance and posture.
This is not compulsory for players, but it is a point that makes role-playing much more interesting.
A game master should keep this in mind for most of their NPCs.
3. Dyr magic
Dyr are very much carried away by their emotions and urges. This results in the fact that
Dyr often find it easy to have the necessary emotions to work magic,
but they often lack the cool head to control them as desired.
They therefore often use magic in the heat of the moment and without realising it themselves,
for example by strengthening their blows with fire magic
or accelerating themselves with wind magic when running.
The wilder a Dyr is, the more difficult it is for them to control their magic precisely.
However, this unconscious magic becomes very strong, as wild Dyr are often very emotional.
4. Dyr Cultures
The Dyr appear in a wide range of cultures. Here are some of the most prominent.
4.1. The Northern People
The north of Afrat is very cold in winter, and even in summer it is only just warm enough to
grow some crops. Most of the inhabitants are
extremely cold-resistant, rough and tough. They despise weakness
In winter, they often head south to plunder.
Consisting of many small tribes that fight each other a lot, they are quite well
protected from the outside by their harsh environment.
The Northern Realms believe in nature spirits, to whom they devote their rituals.
As the Northern Realms expand, the cold seems to spread with them.
4.2. The River Nomads
These turtle people lead a nomadic lifestyle. They build their village
on the backs of giant turtles. These move independently through
the countryside. The inhabitants can rarely control the giant turtle. So they never know
where their journey will take them.
There are only very few of these tribes in the whole world, because giant tortoises
are born very rarely and take about 100 years to grow big enough
to live on.
The nomads try to live in harmony with their environment and especially
their home turtle. They have a symbiotic relationship with the tortoise. The nomads are known
for being strict and disciplined warriors.
If a river nomad gets separated from his home, it can be difficult to find his way back,
as it is impossible to predict where his village will be.
4.3. Die Bleiksprut
The squid people, often live secluded from the other species. They have
the ability to change their shape to imitate other creatures. Because of this
they are hated in many places.
There are conspiracy theories that they have infiltrated
the highest echelons of every government.
The eyesight of the Bleiksprut is very poor in comparison
to other species. They use their sense of touch to perceive things better
and communicate.
They have an extremely complex braided script, where texts are woven into threads.
These are then read by using their sense of touch. Most of the Bleiksprut
live in the city of Hazelheim, which is shrouded in a deadly Mist,
to which only they are immune.
4.4. The Tyrian Pirates
They are usually independent crews of ships that travel the seas or the skies
and raid merchants. They are made up of all kinds of strong and devious
animal species. Most pirates travel in the tyrian_sea.
Many important trade routes pass through these waters. The greatest enemy of the
pirates is the Tyrian League, an alliance of many trading nations to
protection against piracy.
A pirate strives to become a legend among his peers, amassing treasure
and to enjoy the wild life. There are no rules or laws among pirates.
Alliances are always purpose-bound and highly fragile.
Many pirates hide in Kaldos, when they raised too much attention.
4.5. The Tyrian Merchants
The archipelago in the tyrian_sea is ruled by many small city-states,
which earn a lot of money from trade in the region. The various
merchant families have founded the Tyrian League as a defence against piracy.
This is governed by a council of the eleven most powerful members.
The merchants in this region are crafty and know how to profit from the transport routes of the region.
The tyrian sea is inhabited by a variety of species.
Humans are also very much represented in the region. The initial
exploration voyages of the Nistrian Academy have opened up another source of income
for the traders.
4.6. more Dyr
All over the continent of Aftrat there are other Dyr. They live in kingdoms around Nistria,
on remote islands and sometimes on other continents.
Some Dyr even live in Nistria, although mostly in poor living conditions.
Players can also think of other small cultures where their Dyr comes from.
