Dynchia

Starport	A	Excellent: Starship Construction, Overhaul, Refined fuel
Size	6	Medium (9,600 km, 0.60g - 0.81g)
Atmosphere	6	Standard
Hydrographics	6	Wet World 60%
Population	9	High (4 billion)
Government	C	Charismatic Oligarchy
Law	7	Moderate Law (no firearms)
Tech Level	C	Average Stellar (robots)

Primary Star

Atmosphere

Standard

Off-world presence

Yes

Zoetic individuals

Yes

Source

Reference

"Contact: The Dynchia." Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society 24 44-48.

Canon

Yes

Also see

Dynchia Comitia

The Dynchia of Melantris (Leonidae 2733) are a technologically advanced Minor Human Race with a humanoid appearance.

Physiology & Environment[edit]

Dynchia are about 2.2m in height and weigh about 100 kg. They are slender and long-limbed. Skin tones range from pale to bronze-tan; hair color is usually brown or black, but snowy white hair is not uncommon. The Dynchia have six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot. Their teeth actually consist of two bony “jaws” (as if their teeth had been fused into one upper and one lower “jaw”) with fang-like extrusions.

History & Background (Dossier)[edit]

The physiological differences between mainstream species of Humaniti and Dynchia appear to have been geneered (genetically engineered) by the Ancients.

Culture & Society[edit]

The Dynchia have a rare and unusual quality: they are warrior individualists in an un-warlike culture. That is, they never make war upon their own race, although fights, duels, and challenges are common, as is a warrior ethic. Their culture is completely independent of territory. The social basis of Dynchia mentality is a deep sense of honor, both personal and as part of their clan or tribe. The general religion of the Dynchia is reverence for ancestors and worship of tribal heroes. To be false to one’s honor is to forfeit a chance to become a revered ancestor. Their architecture is famous for its beauty and perfection.

Social Organization[edit]

As well as the physical divergence, two elements of human psychology (to protect females from danger, and to possess land) appear to have been left out of or modified in the Dynchia.

Firstly, the Dynchia have absolute equality of the sexes; prejudice against or protection of one sex is psychologically impossible.
Secondly, a Dynchia is not a citizen of a particular world; he is a member of a clan, which in turn is a member of a tribe. A tribe may rule anywhere, as territory is not important.
A low rate of population expansion gives them time to fully develop a world before they are forced to expand by population pressure.
As an example of the degree of perfection Dynchia designers have achieved, it may be mentioned that their homeworld, Melantris, has a population of over 4 billion, but has no pollution problems.

Government & Politics[edit]

The government of the Dynchia is known as the Dynchia Comitia. The Dynchia Comitia government is characterized as having an average degree of centralization, which gives local/regional/planetary governments more power than most governments, but sacrifices uniformity on many issues. The Dynchia Comitia government is usually classified as a Assembly, a form of a Federation.

Government Structure[edit]

Dynchia government is based on councils, each consisting of the top ranking members of each tribe present. The highest of these councils is the Council of the Twelve, which rules all of the Comitia, and speaks for all the tribes. The highest ranking clan of each tribe is the Prince of that tribe, and sits on the Council. The military is subject only to the Council of the Twelve, and exempt from responsibility to clan or tribe.

Languages[edit]

Dynchia Standard

Naming[edit]

A Dynchia name follows a simple pattern: ‘xx of yy, called zz,’ where xx is the personal name, yy is the current place of residence, and zz is an honorific name, bestowed upon completing the traditional coming-of-age trials. The tribe of the individual is noted by the ending of the personal name; thus, Astolian is a member of the Lian Tribe, Estravel is of the Avel Tribe and so on.

The current Twelve Tribes of the Dynchia are as follows:

Avel
Dera
Erol
Kila
Kirest
Lian
Nast
Otir
Rhes
Saro
Sime
Tros

The current place of residence is always given as part or the name. The place of residence often gives a clue as to the individual’s clan, since it is traditional to give reference to the nearest clan shrine if it is close enough to one’s home. Thus, Astolian might be “Astolian of White Ford”, a reference to a town near Astolian’s residence, in which his clan maintained its principal shrine. If Astolian lived far from this shrine, he might call himself “Astolian of Rhyden” in reference to his current home city, or even “Astolian of the trade ship Farvelre” if he was a starship crewman.

The honourific name is chosen by an individual’s clan elders after he finishes the coming-of-age ordeals. This name is descriptive and is intended to represent the individual’s personality, or some notable event in his life. Sometimes a Dynchia will take a new honorific name later in life, but this is socially risky (a self-chosen honorific could be very embarassing if it was too grandiose).

When on active duty with the Comitia military, Dynchia drop the tribal reference in their personal names. They always give their current duty post as their place of residence, omitting this when actually at their post. They also drop their honorifics in favour of their titles of rank. Thus if Astolian was currently at his duty position on the bridge of a Comitia warship, he would simply be referred to as “Lieutenant Asto.” When at a naval base or otherwise not on board his ship, he would be “Lieutenant Asto of the warship Banners Flew.”

Dynchia society includes a Solomani minority. Solomani citizens of the Comitia name themselves similarly, but they use the usual Solomani custom of surnames in place of the tribal reference in their personal names. Solomani are so physically different from other Comitia citizens that their “tribe” is always obvious. For example, a Solomani living in the city of Tiren who was known for his mathematical expertise might be named “John Smith of Tiren, called the Reckoner.”

Technology & Trade[edit]

Not only is the Dynchia tech level higher than most TLs in the region, but the Dynchia have an added advantage - they have refined their designs for maximum efficiency. They may not have fusion guns, but they have the best laser rifles in all of known space, and the same applies of the rest of their industry.

Military & Intelligence[edit]

At coming-of-age, all individuals go through an extensive series of trials, to determine their right to the status of adulthood. Seven percent fail - and die. Thus, all adults are skilled warriors. The military are merely the cream of the crop, specializing in combat arts. For this reason, it is generally considered impossible to conquer a Dynchia world.

Astrography[edit]

This race is primarily located in the following areas:

Leonidae Sector

Homeworld[edit]

The homeworld of this race is:

Melantris (Leonidae 2733)

World Listing[edit]

Significant communities of this race are known to exist within the following systems and worlds:

1 of 1 World articles in Dynchia

Melantris •

startbacknext(1 listed)

References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

Loren Wiseman. "Contact: The Dynchia." Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society 24 (1985): 44-48.
Loren Wiseman, Jon F. Zeigler. Humaniti (Steve Jackson Games, 2003), 50-59.
Matthew Sprange. Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society volume 1 (Mongoose Publishing, 2019), 49-56.