#depending on how early you get rysir

[deaith]

rysir companion guide, but i feel bad for all the hypothetical fans in my head who got his first sex scene, and were under the impression that that meant they had initiated a romance with him, and subsequently they thought he was 'easy' to romance and didn't understand until later that they did not, in fact, romance him

[deaith]

temporary companion guide until i make a nicer and more coherent one.

ACQUIRING RYSIR. the only way to actually pick rysir up / have the opportunity to take him on as a companion is by having a magic-user in your camp - not your active party, but your camp. something something. either coming back to camp or long-resting triggering a cutscene with him and the magic-user you've left in camp (/violent /threatening). after it becomes clear what he's after [magic], if the player character is a magic-user, they're able to bargain themselves as his juice-box; otherwise, high charisma rolls or the right dialogue options will persuade him to join camp - with the rest initiating combat [which rysir will 'flee' out of boredom after a time]. there's no specific point any of this has to happen, but the earlier the cutscene happens and the earlier he joins the party, the more rysir lore the PC can get their hands on, as he's very much so a slow-burn character, and there's next to no 'outside lore' that can be hunted down, as the gyryth situation is not a sidequest that can organically be found without him.

LOSING RYSIR. 1) if the PC is a magic-user and agreed to let rysir feed off of them, he will come to them every few long rests to feed; as he always asks permission, the PC has the option to decline - which can possibly result in rysir leaving. 2) continuous attempts to 'redeem' rysir, and insinuating he is evil and holds no worth / value in existing, will result in him leaving the party.

LOSING APPROVAL. approval drops in particular are caused by the PC choosing 'i can fix him' dialogue, and trying to sway rysir down the path of changing. even just joking about rysir changing - unless he has already been in your party for awhile, and you have established a good relationship with him / have not had such an offense before - will result in a decent approval drop. while rysir has nothing against confidence, you will also suffer blows to your standing with him for having a wild superiority complex, and treating others as 'lesser' (not in the sense of the sorcerer vs. wizard debate, but in cases of the worth of others); the drop will be particularly sharp in situations involving slaves, and species that are notoriously criticized (re; goblins, orcs, githyanki, drow, etc; which even he recognizes, all are a double edged blade, wrt those cultures and their perception of Lesser / Greater).

GAINING APPROVAL. gaining rysir's approval is easier said than done, and are also typically selfish - meaning you will typically gain more approval in personal conversations than by actions, assuming you choose the correct dialogue options. depending on circumstances, he reacts positively to confidence, independence, and pragmaticism, being more inclined towards those characters who hold themselves well and do not see the world in terms of black and white. although he will usually remain neutral when baseline respect is shown for others (in regards to 'you are a person'), there are a handful of personal dialogue options that you can choose - more or less encompassing the idea 'why would i want to change you?' - which will gain an ounce of his favor.

GIFTS. the concept of gifts is largely lost on rysir. after having him in your party for a certain amount of time, you will gain approval from giving him gifts of jewelry, as well as more gruesome and odd gifts, such as bones and other visceral parts and taxidermied things. he will have no reaction to other gifts.

ROMANCE. rysir's romance is an extreme slow-burn and difficult to properly achieve, and is something that most people would absolutely get locked out of. if you do not have rysir as a companion early on, it is incredibly easy to be unable to access his romance path, no matter how well you end up doing with his approval. although he will sleep with female characters, he will not pursue romances with them. his sex scenes do not count towards developing a romance with him. if the player character does not explicitly ask to begin a romantic relationship with rysir, and if he does not accept their courtship, then they will not be romantically involved.

COMBAT. rysir being an absolute tank and a beast of a character with insane stats, but also suffering from 'pokémon you caught that is a higher level than what you're authorized to control' syndrome; he will actively avoid joining the fray if he's in your active party, especially if there are no magic-users present (at which point, it's entirely random when he joins combat) - if there are magic-users present, he'll mostly tank hits for them / periodically attack whomsoever attacks them ('dog protecting its food' style). massive damage, great protection, extremely finicky. sidebar being, he definitely gets more engaged the longer he's with the party, but his effectiveness is also heavily determined by his approval with the PC. his stats are not readily available to be viewed by the PC, including his abilities.