Half-Orc

Whether united under the leadership of a mighty warlock or having fought to a standstill after years of conflict, orc and human tribes sometimes form alliances, joining forces into a larger horde to the terror of civilized lands nearby. When these alliances are sealed by marriages, half-orcs are born. Some half-orcs rise to become proud chiefs of orc tribes, their human blood giving them an edge over their full-blooded orc rivals. Some venture into the world to prove their worth among humans and other more civilized races. Many of these become adventurers, achieving greatness for their mighty deeds and notoriety for their barbaric customs and savage fury. The People. Half-orcs’ grayish pigmentation, sloping foreheads, jutting jaws, prominent teeth, and towering builds make their orcish heritage plain for all to see. Half-orcs stand between 5 and 7 feet tall and usually weigh between 180 and 250 pounds.
Orcs regard battle scars as tokens of pride and ornamental scars as things of beauty. Other scars, though, mark an orc or half-orc as a former slave or a disgraced exile. Any half-orc who has lived among or near orcs has scars, whether they are marks of humiliation or of pride, recounting their past exploits and injuries. Such a half-orc living among humans might display these scars proudly or hide them in shame.
Half-orcs feel emotion powerfully. Rage doesn’t just quicken their pulse, it makes their bodies burn. An insult stings like acid, and sadness saps their strength. But they laugh loudly and heartily, and simple bodily pleasures—feasting, drinking, wrestling, drumming, and wild dancing—fill their hearts with joy. They tend to be short-tempered and sometimes sullen, more inclined to action than contemplation and to fighting than arguing. The most accomplished half-orcs are those with enough self-control to get by in a civilized land.

Culture and Society

Half-orcs most often live among orcs. Of the other races, humans are most likely to accept half-orcs, and half-orcs almost always live in human lands when not living among orc tribes. Whether proving themselves among rough barbarian tribes or scrabbling to survive in the slums of larger cities, half-orcs get by on their physical might, their endurance, and the sheer determination they inherit from their human ancestry.

Religion

Half-Orcs often worship the same gods as their human side if they are living among them, or as their orc side otherwise. They rarely if ever create their own societies and do not have their own gods.

Values and Taboos

Half-orcs adopt their values and taboos from the society they are living with, and as such they can vary wildly.

Half-Orc Names

Half-Orc

Your half-orc character will have the following racial traits.

Ability Score Changes. Your Strength score increases by 2.
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 inherit a tendency toward chaos from their orc parents and are not strongly inclined toward good. Half-orcs raised among orcs and willing to live out their lives among them are usually 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.
Low-light Vision. Thanks to your orc blood, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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.
Relentless 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.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Orc. Orc is a harsh, grating language with hard consonants. It has no script of its own but is written in the Khord script. Subrace. Half-Orcs can come from many different types of orc lineage. Choose one subrace between Green, Crimson, Gold, or Dark orcs.

Half-orcs usually have names appropriate to the culture in which they were raised. A half-orc who wants to fit in among humans might trade an orc name for a human name. Some half-orcs with human names decide to adopt a guttural orc name because they think it makes them more intimidating.
Male Orc Names: Dench, Feng, Gell, Henk, Holg, Imsh, Keth, Krusk, Mhurren, Ront, Shump, Thokk
Female Orc Names: Baggi, Emen, Engong, Kansif, Myev, Neega, Ovak, Ownka, Shautha, Sutha, Vola, Volen, Yevelda

Subraces

Gray Orc

Gray orcs, a rare species of orcs found deep underground or high above the other races in the mountains, stand far different than their less civilized cousins. These creatures stand just as tall as your average green or crimson orc, yet lack much of their definition. They have long gaunt limbs and skin that appears to be ill-fitting, hanging in swathes from their limbs and constrictingly tight around their torso. They often have flabby jowels on their face while the top of their head is tight and smooth, as these creatures rarely grow hair of any sort. The creatures appear frail and fragile, but are just as strong if not stronger than humans and other races. The true defining feature of the gray orcs compared to their cousins it their intelligence and the mastery of the power that lies within their minds. Gray orcs are psionically awakened creatures and their spawn are no exception. In the rare cases that a gray orc breeds with a human, a gray half-orc is created. These creatures are shunned by most peoples due to their appearance.
The People: A gray half-orc retains much of its orcish parentage's physical appearance, though some sprout tufts of hair at random intervals across their scalp and over their body. These creatures have the same jutting jaws and prominent teeth of other orcs and half-orcs, but lack the piggish snout of them, having no protruding nose and instead two small slits mark the face that the creatures breathe through.
Gray orcs and half-orcs are often stuck in their own ways, refusing to change as the world does around them. They have a bad tendency to torture creatures who attempt to change them or adamantly disagree with their ways.
Gray half-orcs typically end up living among their orcish lineage, as other peoples are intolerant of things that look like them, shunning them or outright attacking them. Due to this attitude, the half-orcs often develop a similar outlook on other races, seeing them as ignorant and close-minded.
Language: Gray half-orcs speak both the orcish of their parent's distant cousins and vergik, the language of the gray orcs themselves. Orcish is a harsh, grating language with hard consonants. It has no script of its own but is written in the Khord script. Vergik is the language of the gray orcs. It shares the harsh, grating noise of orcish, but unlike orcish, it has many large words. These words typically evolved from entire sentences or descriptions of emotions, objects, or the like.
Culture and Society: Gray orcs decide their leaders through battles of mental fortitude and willpower. They take turns lashing at each other's minds with powerful psionic assaults, and whichever survives is made the ruler. This is often followed by the half-orcs spawned of them as well, and they tend to develop their minds to a great extent.
Gray orcs and half-orcs often believe that emotions are a waste of good brainpower, and tend to ignore them when they are unnecessary, prefering to view things through a logical scope. Due to this, they typically lack the bestial and rageful nature of other orcs.
Religion: Gray orcs and half-orcs are highly intelligent creatures and thus see the benefits of worship. They understand their place in the world and do not see themselves as above the gods - though surely do see themselves as better than many other peoples due to their intellect. Gray half-orcs often worship the same gods as their human side if they live among them, but if they live among their orcish side, they typically worship neutral and evil deities.
Values and Taboos: Gray orcs and half-orcs share many of the same taboos and values. They value strength of mind and the order that comes with it while despising chaos and the rampant destruction it brings.



Ability Score Changes. Your Intelligence score increases by 2, but your Charisma score decreases by 2.
Alignment. Gray half-orcs inherit a tendency toward law and order from their orc parents and are inclined toward evil. Half-orcs raised among orcs and willing to live out their lives among them are usually evil.
Naturally Psionic. You know the brainfog and mind blade talents. Intelligence is your manifesting ability for these talents. In addition, you gain proficiency in the Psionics skill.
Focused Torture. You treat all melee weapons as though they had the Brutal 1 property.

Green Orc

Ability Score Changes. Your Constitution score increases by 2 but your Intelligence score decreases by 2.
War Training. You gain proficiency in Medium armor.
Harsh Life. You gain proficiency in the Carving skill.
Savage Attacks. You treat all melee weapons as though they had the High Critical property.

Crimson Orc

Ability Score Changes. Your Constitution score increases by 1, but your Wisdom skill decreases by 1.
Forgeborn. You gain resistance to fire damage.
Menacing. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
Savage Attacks. You treat all melee weapons as though they had the High Crit property.

Gold Orc

Ability Score Changes. Your Charisma score increases by 1, but your Dexterity score decreases by 1.
Money Wise. You gain proficiency in the Appraisal skill.
Golden Charm. You have advantage on all Charisma skill checks relating to money.

Dark Orc

Ability Score Changes. Your Dexterity score increases by 2, but your Intelligence score decreases by 2.
Darkened Hide. You gain proficiency in the Stealth skill and have advantage on stealth checks while in darkness.
Darkvision. You are able to see in darkness as though it were dim light out to a range of 60 feet. You cannot see color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Ambusher. Any melee attack you make while undetected deals an additional 2d6 damage on a hit.