How to Use The Site

How to Get Started in Agyris

This series of questions and answers is intended to help newcomers to Agyris find their way around. The site has a great deal of depth, but it does take some work to find it. Because of the sheer scale of Agyris.net, many of the most interesting things take some effort to find.

"How do I play in Agyris?"

Agyris was initially created to be a quality setting and reference for a table-top, role playing game. The best way to get started, is to either convince your local GM (Game Master; refered to "Gyrmaster" on this site) that she should be running games in Agyris, or start GMing yourself. Local game stores often have bulletin boards with postings of people wishing to game with you.

If pen & paper roleplaying isn't your style, you can play in our new play-by-post game, called Adventures in Agyris, which is maintained and created by the same people that are bringing you Agyris.net

"What sections of the world are covered on this site?"

Lots. Instead of a site map, you can simply browse the top menu to see what's available. Keep in mind that some sections, like creatures and places, consist of hundreds of web pages, so don't let that fool you. Look around, especially the top navigation to get an idea of what information is available. As always, our hope is to cover every facet of the world, which will likely take years. (So be patient.)

"What races are available for players to play?"

Player character races are called the "MortalKin" races. This title designates them as sentient, self-aware races, with intellect. Drann, Durga, Anthar, Dar, Wythir, Ogra, Galilaen, Faeyan are available races. Go here for MortalKin descriptions. The Archetype section will give you a great idea of what races most people play.

"Where can I get a good overview of the MortalKin races?"

Here are a series of "MortalKin Race Guide" articles, that will give you a good feel for the races, without having to read a book of information. General likes and dislikes are covered in brief lists. You can also check out our Mortalkin Race Guide, which is pretty cool.

"What Classes are available to play?"

We've created a series of "Archetype" kits, to help newcomers to Agyris figure out what is possible. Standard classes are available, but with Agyris culture and flavor. Go Here to see the Archetypes.

"What section would be the best general place to start?"

The best basic place to start would be the How to Use This Site page, found here. After that, I'd come back to this page to examine more links.

"What Game System should I use for Agyris?"

Any fantasy game system will work great for Agyris (Gyr for short) since the world is served in the most universal of terms. If you play and love D20, use that. Anything should work. However, since I play the cool Fudge system, the stats are provided in Fudge terms. Fudge is a free game system created by Steffan O'Sullivan, who has worked professionally in the game industry on several GURPS titles. Fudge is simple and clean, and promotes role-playing and imaginative play. It is easy to convert to your favorite game system, and is very easy to learn. Learn more about Fudge here.

"So, why did you use Fudge?"

Well, it's good, free, people use it, and I know that I won't get sued for using it. (I can get a royalty-free license for my own "Gyr Fudge" game.) Also, I am not remotely interested in creating my own game system, and Fudge is better than anything that I could make up anyway. Plus, it is such a minimal system it really isn't that far from being a "generic" game system. With Fudge, I am able to provide a free game world and free game mechanics; a complete package!

But remember: Use whatever system that you want! If you play 3rd Edition Ruins & Raiders and you love the system, use it! At your table, it's your game.

"Where are the Orcs? (And horses, and wood elves, and Drow, and...")

Well, I hate to disappoint, but there are no orcs found in this official version of Agyris. You're welcome to put them into your own games, for sure, but you just won't find any info for them here. Why? Well, there are literally hundreds of web-based fantasy campaign worlds on the net, and just about every one of them has orcs and all of the other standard fantasy trappings. It has been our aim here at Agyris.net, to provide something new, a world that might just surprise and amuse the players (Explorers) from time to time. Again, for your home-run Agyris games, please feel free to do whatever you'd like... you are the GM, right?

"Is there a Gyr Calendar? Are there Holidays?"

An Agyrian year lasts 360 days, made up of twelve 30-day months. Go here for the calendar, and look for highlighted dates, for the holidays.

"What are the Gods of Agyris?"

Gyr has a whole pantheon of unique Gods, which you can examine here.

"Are there any Gyr desktops or downloads available?"

Shannon Potratz, the lead conceptual artist for Gyr, has created a number of desktops for your pleasure. We also have a Fudge character sheet, and Campaign Questionnaire on the same page. We have also created a number of pdfs that are free to download, which cover places, creatures, and gods.

"How can I help?"

Well, the best thing that you can do, is to talk about the Gyr site with your friends. Introduce them to the world, and try to participate in Gyr games. Also, you can vote daily from the home page, link to us from your site with our banners, or you could write a positive :) Gyr review, and post it to one of the many rpg sites out there. If you're really creative, you could submit fully fleshed out ideas for creatures, places, items, whatever! All submissions become property of Agyris.net, so please don't submit anything that you don't want us to use and own.