Orcs & Half-Orcs
“O people, know that you have committed great sins. If you ask me what proof I have for these words, I say it is because I am the punishment of God. If you were not guilty of great sins, God would not have sent you a punishment like me.”
Horns blare as a hulking warband descends on a village, burning whatever they cannot seize. A child hits a sudden growth spurt, her broad shoulders and awkward frame inviting cruel nicknames from former friends. The questing knight strains against his enemy's blade, gray muscles bulging as he proves his virtue and strength.
Scourge of God
At the dawn of time, the gods divided up the world. The gods of the elves claimed the forests and seas, the dwarven gods seized the mountains and caves, and the human gods laid claim to the fields and plains. The orcish gods alone were left bereft, their children condemned to wander forever.
This is the first story of the orcs, often interwoven with tales of divine war or trickery, and it drives a culture that combines brutal, rapacious meritocracy with devotion to a dizzying array of gods. The orcs have divine license to claim all that the world denied them, from land to luxury, and those unwilling to fight them off deserve only contempt.
Among the more infamous aspects of orcish vitality is their ability to interbreed. While some races are known to create occasional hybrids, orcs seem almost universally fertile, capable of producing children with humans, dwarves, ogres, elves, demons, and more besides. This biological quirk is the origin of many dark stories concerning orcish warfare, not all of them untrue.
Muscle And Might
Orcs are tall humanoids with broad and heavy frames layered by bulging muscle and thick fat. Orcs are known for high cheekbones, pointed ears, heavy brows, and flat noses, but the most iconic orcish characteristic is a powerful, wide jawline, set with prominent tusks that curve upwards and may even protrude over the upper lip.
Orc skin ranges between shades of grey, from pale ash to dark slate. Tribes that have heavily interbred with other races may develop subdued hues of tan or green.
Half-orcs often inherit brighter shades of hair, eyes, or skin from their non-orc parent, with softer features and less exceptionally broad frames. However, they fully share in the notorious drive and vitality of their cousins, combining it with greater natural patience and attention to detail.
Suffer What They Must
Within orcish culture, it is the duty of the strong to educate and improve the weak. In most tribes, this manifests as relentless bullying and extracting tribute until the weaker party learns to stand up for itself or dies.
This is an attitude that plays poorly on a political stage, where orcish heralds dismiss the grievances of pillaged villages as the fault of their own complacency. Their own misfortune justified similarly: their many gods love them, so it is only natural that they test and punish their weakness.
Half-orcs form a resentful subculture in most lands, where they are presumed to be thugs and face stigma over the crimes, real or supposed, of their parents. Some defiantly adopt fragments of orcish culture, while others loathe and deny their ancestry at every turn.
Fear the Strong
Half-orc adventurers seldom stand out except in the most conservative regions of the world, but full-blooded orcs have more trouble moving freely. Some find it easier to adopt a "human name" and accept the paper-thin facade of being a half-orc, but in militant border-towns or sheltered cities even the sight of a visiting orc might cause a panic.
While orcs are welcome as mercenaries, orcish adventurers are often driven by some divine mission or prophecy, or are impetuous youths who have abandoned tribe or home to prove themselves in the world.
Orc Names
Orc tribes absorb elements from a tremendous variety of cultures, including the naming schemes of their current neighbours. The styles of orc names therefore vary greatly between generations.
An orc's family name refers to some great ancestral feat, such that founding a new family requires an act of similar renown to establish its patriarch or matriarch. An orc tribe generally takes the name of its ruling family.
Male Orc Names: Feng, Gell, Griggor, Henk, Holg, Imsh, Keth, Krusk, Mhurren, Ront, Shump, Thokk, Yaisog
Female Orc Names: Baggi, Bel, Draka, Emen, Engong, Kansif, Larga, Myev, Ownka, Sutha, Vansi, Volen, Yevelda
Orc Family Names: Bladebreaker, Demonbane, Firefist, Godson, Queenshand, Riverspite, Shatterspear, Wolfbrother
Art Credit:
Wizards of the Coast
Orc Traits
Your orc character has various natural abilities stemming from its powerful build and violent upbringing.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2.
Age. Orcs reach adulthood at age 12 and live up to 50 years.
Alignment. Orcs respect strength and prolificacy above all else, and believe weakness must be stomped out lest it infect an entire tribe. As such, they tend toward chaotic evil.
Size. Orcs are usually over 6 feet tall and weigh between 250 and 300 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Endurance. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Orcish. Orcish long ago adapted the Dwarvish alphabet to its own purposes, and is similarly full of hard consonants.
Subrace. Orcs have spread far and wide. Choose one of these subraces.
Mountain Orc
Defensible terrain is the primary concern for any orc tribe that establishes a nation of its own, for orcs see every neighbour as a rival to be tested or conquered. Proud and powerful, these orcs offer divine tribute on a colossal scale. The warlike northern orcs of Faerûn are mountain orcs, as are citizens of the Pomarj Empire in the Greyhawk setting.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Menacing. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
Savagery. You can roll one additional weapon damage die when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee attack.
Steppe Orc
Eons ago the orcish people were denied a home, and many tribes attribute a sacred signifance to nomadic life. Without a permanent home, these orcs are even more attuned to the gods that watch over them wherever they go. The gray orcs of Faerûn's Moonsea are steppe orcs, as are the isolationist Shadow Marches tribes in the Eberron setting.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Aggression. At the start of each of your turns, you can move up to 10 feet toward an enemy of your choice that you can see or hear. This does not cost you any movement.
Nomadic. You gain proficiency in the Survival skill.
The Seed Is Strong
The majority of half-orcs are not first generation hybrids, but can trace their ancestry through orcs, humans, elves, dwarves, ogres, and any number of other races. "Half-orc" refers primarily to a child with clear orcish ancestry, whether a true hybrid or the result of genetics skipping a generation or two.
The extent to which orc-blood manifests itself in a child varies wildly. Some half-orcs can pass as bulky ahumans, elves, or dwarves with poor dentistry, and may use the game traits of that race instead of a half-orc. Others exemplify the blood of their orcish parent, and can use the game traits of orcs.
Half-Orc Traits
Your half-orc character has certain traits deriving from its orc ancestry.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2, and two other ability scores of your choice increase by 1.
Age. Half-orcs mature a little faster than humans, reaching adulthood around age 14. They age noticeably faster and rarely live longer than 75 years.
Alignment. Half-orcs are often inclined toward chaos by a troubled upbringing and poor temperament, but only those raised among orcs have a particular inclination toward evil.
Size. Half-orcs are somewhat larger and bulkier than humans, and they range from 5 to well over 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Endurance. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Versatility. You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and two other languages of your choice. Half-orcs who were not raised by an orc parent seldom feel compelled to learn Orcish, but often become itinerant workers or mercenaries who pick up several tongues.
Art Credit:
Wizards of the Coast