Orcs
The mind-addled remains of a once-mighty people, who cling tenaciously to life in a world that no longer wants them
Base Racial Traits
Ability Score Modifiers: (+4 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma): Orcish bodies are brawny and durable, yet eons of slow degeneration have gradually wracked their minds. Size: Orcs are medium sized creatures and thus have no bonuses or penalties due to their size. Type: Orcs are creatures of the Humanoid type and the Orc subtype. Speed: Orcs have a base land speed of 30ft. Vision: Orcs, though a pale echo of the sight they once possessed, still possess darkvision out to 60ft. Languages: Orcs begin play speaking Common and Orc. Orcs with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Dwarven, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, Gnomish, Halfling, and Necril. Ferocity: Orcs possess the ferocity ability which allows them to remain conscious and continue fighting even if their hit point totals fall below 0. Orcs are still staggered at 0 hit points or lower and lose 1 hit point each round as normal. Moment of Clarity: Once per day as an immediate action, an Orc can momentarily clear the mental fog hindering their minds and catch a brief, chaotic shard of their former mental might that once made an empire that conquered the world - allowing them to select the exact result of one die roll before the roll is made. This effect can alter an action taken by themselves only, and cannot be applied to the rolls of others. An Orc can attempt to force this clarity to take hold more than once per day, but takes 1d3 Constitution Damage each time they do so after the first. An Orc that has no CON score may damage their CHA instead. Using this ability bypasses Ability Damage/Drain immunities. Spark the Sundered Furnace: Though their ancestors were once famed for their mental prowess, modern Orcs are nothing so impressive - however, in small moments of unusual clarity, they can attempt to force their minds back to recognizance. Whenever an Orc would roll a Knowledge Check or INT-based Skill Check for any given purpose or task, they can attempt to push through their mental fog for that skill and roll a d100, taking their result from the below table instead of rolling a d20 as normal. Abusing or using this ability repeatedly may fatigue, exhaust, or otherwise have deleterious effects on the Orc in question.Weapon Familiarity: Orcs are always proficient with greataxes and falchions, and treat any weapon with the word “orc” in its name as a martial weapon. Adapt and Overcome: Orcs, though a pale shadow of their ancestors, are hardy and adaptable in ways few can truly fathom - Orcs, when exposed to any harmful environmental factors, will ALWAYS adapt to them given enough time. This ability effectively allows them to exist in any environment or planar realm regardless of its environmental dangers(Such as a lack of oxygen, an elementally dominant planar trait, an area especially prominent in a single element, etc), provided they can survive long enough to allow their bodies to adapt to it - a process that takes a variable amount of time from Orc to Orc. Secondarily, this also allows Orcs to change their tribal affiliations by spending enough time around others of the same tribe, as their bodies will rapidly adapt to their environment and take on the same "mutations" that their new tribesmen have taken on themselves. Generally, this trait does not grant resistances or immunities to damage or effects caused by another creature - only to damage or harmful effects as a result of passive environmental factors. However, inversely, while this trait offers little protection against attack or hostile effects, it offers near-limitless protection against environmental factors - so long as they are kept alive long enough, Orcish bodies will adapt to nearly any environmental condition and retain those mutations for as long as they continue to be exposed to them and up to a week afterwards(Or permanently, if they are exposed often enough to the same environmental factors). However, in general, Orcish bodies can only have one set of "mutations" or "adaptations" at a time.
- 1-25: Horrific Failure. The information recalled is incorrect or faulty, and the Orc in question is not immediately made aware of this fact as they are, themselves, oddly confident in its correctness.
- 26-50: Failure. The Orc gleams no special knowledge on the topic or purpose at hand, and fails the check.
- 51-75: Success. The Orc suddenly gleams a particular factoid, piece of information, or relevant tidbit about the topic or purpose at hand as if they had succeeded the check.
- 76-100: Overwhelming Success. The Orc is struck by a flash of overwhelming inspiration, and succeeds the relevant check in the best possible way - gleaming information or succeeding the task in a way comparable to rolling a natural 20, even if those ways or tidbits are things they could not normally know or do.
Orcish Tribes
THESE REPLACE ALTERNATE RACIAL TRAITS AND RACIAL FEATS. PLEASE READ. BASE ORC CANNOT BE CHOSEN. ALL ORCS ARE ONE OF THE BELOW, AND MODIFY THE BASE ORC RACE(ABOVE). THE TRIBE RACIAL TRAITS ARE ADDED ONTO THE ABOVE BASE ORC STATBLOCK. HALF ORCS GET ONE OF THE AVAILABLE TRIBAL RACIAL TRAITS FOR THEIR TRIBE. Boneshot Tribe Cavesmasher Tribe Bloodsong Tribe Shadowstalker Tribe Fireaxe Tribe Wyrdnaught Tribe Spearslammer Tribe Iceblasted Tribe Goldaxe Tribe Shieldwall Tribe
Basic Information
Anatomy
Orcish bodes are typified by their enormous amounts of muscle mass, two thick arms and two thick legs, and immensely powerful muscles and bones that give them much better physical abilities across the board. They are generally taller than the average humanoid, and are much more powerful.
Biological Traits
Powerfully built, orcs typically stand just a few inches taller than most humans but have much greater muscle mass, their broad shoulders and thick, brawny hips often giving them a slightly lurching gait. They typically have dull green skin, coarse dark hair, beady red eyes, and protruding, tusk-like teeth. Orcs consider scars a mark of distinction and frequently use them as a form of body art.
Genetics and Reproduction
Orcs reproduce through sexual reproduction, whereupon females carry the children within their wombs for 2-4 months before the children are born.
Growth Rate & Stages
Orcs grow incredibly quickly, and by the humble age of 12 they are fully grown adults, ready to begin breaking noses and asserting their place in the world. They often die of violent causes long before they grow old, but those of who live long enough typically enter middle age around age 26, become old around age 40, and become venerable at age 55, where they die not long afterwards.
Ecology and Habitats
Orcs are a brutal and hardy people, and are capable of surviving in most of the roughest conditions in the world. They can be found almost anywhere, but they tend to be found in wastelands or rolling plains, where they can set up camps and pillage nearby villages or cities easily enough. They tend to live near population centers of some kind or near traveled trade routes, where they can strike at and plunder those that journey nearby. They are almost always a brutal burden on the environment they live within, and brutalize and crush all threats nearby and enslave them(If they are living creatures) or use them up with reckless abandon until they dry up and wither away(in the case of resources).
Dietary Needs and Habits
Orcs have constantly been likened to garbage disposals in regards to their eating habits...so long as it is edible and available, they will consume it without much if any regard to themselves or their health. Thankfully, their bodies are capable of digesting just about anything it is made to consume, allowing them to eat the meats of animals they hunt and domesticate, the roots and crops their slaves sometimes tend to, or any other manner of food they consume.
Biological Cycle
Like all humanoids, Orcs become more and more infirm as they age, and the more savage among them are often beaten to death by their own tribesmen long before they die of old age. Their skin grows paler and paler as they age, and their hair begins to wither away and turn white, signifying the weakening of age.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Traditionally, Orcs usually have lived amid squalor and constant mayhem, and intimidation and brutal violence are the glue that holds orc culture together. They settle disputes by making increasingly grisly threats until, when a rival fails to back down, the conflict escalates into actual bloodshed. Orcs who win these ferocious brawls not only feel free to take whatever they want from the loser, but also frequently indulge in humiliating physical violation, casual mutilation, and even outright murder. Orcs rarely spend much time improving their homes or belongings since doing so merely encourages a stronger orc to seize them. In fact, whenever possible, they prefer to occupy buildings and communities originally built by other races.
In recent years however, thanks to the efforts of the newly crowned Grand High Chieftain of their people, Titus Goldaxe, they have begun the push towards some semblance of civilization and are slowly but surely growing even somewhat accustomed to a more civilized existence. Even the simple first step of holding conversations with non-orcs is a chore for them, but with the guidance of their wise king, they are on their way to joining other more civilized races in the light of culture...though they remain incredibly barbaric, they now are content with building homes and settling into centralized villages.
Facial characteristics
Orcish faces are defined by brutal, sharp, and jagged edges and features, and are often brutish and smashed together as if hit by a heavy weight.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Orcs tend to be located in hills, plains, and wastelands, and are often found nearby frequently used roads or trade routes as well as nearby population centers such as villages, towns, and cities.
Average Intelligence
Orcs are a crude and barbaric people, and their minds are simpler compared to other races, though they are uniquely suited to skillful labor thanks to their ancestry, ensuring they are not totally without skill or specialized tasks.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Orcish eyes are adapted and well-suited to the dark, and they are capable of seeing perfectly in the pitch dark out to sixty feet.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Orcs, despite their varied tribal natures, have names in line with what most typically expect of Orcs in fantasy. They have sharp, guttural sounding names that jut sharply off the tongue like a dagger, but, it is not uncommon for an Orc's name to be influenced slightly but the tribe it came from. (Ex. The Goldaxe tribe leans heavily towards Latin themes in their names, The fireaxe use fire-based sounds and words in their names sometimes, etc...)
Male: Arkus, Carrug, Felzak, Murdut, Prabur, Flametooth, Icemaw, Torv, Gork, Mork, Titus, etc…
Female: Durra, Grillgiss, Ilyat, Krugga, Leffit, Olbin, Trisgrak, Helgri, etc…
Beauty Ideals
Although they are advancing in many ways as a people, most Orcs still find beauty in strength and strength alone. To appreciate aesthetic and art is antithesis to most of their ilk, and they rarely care to give profound thought to things beyond strength or convenience.
Gender Ideals
Orcs do not distinguish between genders for their gender ideals. There is simply an ideal 'Orc' that all Orcs strive to be, who is often a simple thing considered mighty enough to flatten every enemy he faces, lead his subordinates and/or slaves into greatness, and one who has a vast amount of servants and land to rule as his own.
Courtship Ideals
Traditionally, Orcs have had no courtship ideals beyond brutally beating and ravaging those they wished to mate with, but in recent years as they have begun to grow as a people, and now many Orcs consider a proper 'Courting' session to be one where both prospective candidates engage in rough and brutal melee to determine the stronger of the two. Both enjoy this act, and it is considered a now enjoyable part of finding a suitable mate, to find one capable of giving them a proper challenge. They often measure success in these courtship rituals by the difficulty of the melee and the amount of enjoyment they got from it. Thankfully, many have abandoned the ways of brutalizing any viable females to reproduce with in favor of courting and claiming 'victory' over strong females considered 'worthy' of bearing their children...now, females are often treated like valuables by the tribes who take or possess them.
Relationship Ideals
Orcs, though they may have grown, have incredibly simplistic ideas of what a proper 'Relationship' should entail. The only facets of a relationship they consider ideal are that both partners must be strong and worthy of each other, both must produce healthy and strong children, and that both are much more deadly and skilled in the art of slaughter together than they were alone. Orcs consider these things simple and fundamental truths of relationships, and almost never consider anything else worthwhile to pursue in them.
Common Etiquette Rules
'Etiquette' is not a word many orcs even know or understand, much less something any of them know about. A rare few orcs such as their king Titus Goldaxe may learn the ways of Etiquette and manners to better ingratiate themselves with outsiders, but for many, they could care less.
Common Dress Code
Orcs dress pragmatically and for battle, as their lives are ones full of brutal combat and survival at every turn. They dress in protective leathers and metals, and rarely wear anything for show or that has no purpose on their bodies aside from talismans or idols of their faiths or gods.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
The most ancient and greatest of all Orcish traditions is that of destruction and conquest. Strength is everything to them, and ranging out from their villages to conquer and take from the weak and those nearby is the greatest and most commonly observed custom and tradition they follow as a people. Besides that, the other most common tradition of their people is the 'Champion's Challenge', a ritualistic journey where an Orc Warrior from one of the Orcish Tribes who desires the seat of Grand High Chieftain must travel to each of the other tribes, facing their most mighty champion in single combat and killing them. Once they have slain the champions of all tribes this way, they duel and kill the current Grand High Chieftain for the right to take the seat of Grand High Chieftain from them. If successful, they become the new ruler of the entire Orcish people.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Orcs admire strength above all things. Even members of enemy races can sometimes win an orc’s grudging respect, or at least tolerance, if they break his nose enough times. However, in recent times, this notion has begun to change with the guidance of Titus Goldaxe, and Orcs have begun to develop more complex communications and relations with others and foreign powers. Now, it is not unheard to befriend an Orc with simple casual conversation, and even the occasional discussion of philosophy, theology, or other complex topics with more learned or sophisticated Orcs.
Historically, orcs regarded dwarves and elves with an odd mix of fierce hatred, sullen resentment, and a trace of wariness. They respect power, and, on some level, understand that these two races have kept them at bay for countless ages. Though they never miss a chance to torment a dwarf or elf who falls into their clutches, they tend to proceed cautiously unless certain of victory. Orcs dismiss halflings and gnomes as weaklings barely worth the trouble of enslaving. They often regard half-elves, who appear less threatening than full-blooded elves but have many elven features, as particularly appealing targets. Orcs view humans as race of sheep with a few wolves living in their midst. They freely kill or oppress humans too weak to fend them off but always keep one eye on the nearest exit in case they run into a formidable human.
Orcs generally look upon half-orcs with a strange mixture of contempt, envy, and pride. Though weaker than typical orcs, these half-breeds are also usually smarter, more cunning, and better leaders. Tribes led, or at least advised, by half-orcs are often more successful than those led by pure-blooded orcs. On a more fundamental level, orcs believe each half-orc also represents an orc exerting dominance over a weaker race.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Lifespan
55 Years
Conservation Status
Orcs are a plentiful people, and are numerous and widespread.
Average Height
5.58ft - 7.78ft (1.7 - 2.4 Meters), Can grow as tall as 18.37ft, or 5.6 Meters
Average Physique
Orcs are brutally strong and unnaturally durable, and their bodies are capable of dealing and taking much more destruction than other humanoids.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Orcish bodies often have a green coloration to them, and many tribes take pride in the amount of ritualistic scars and tribal tattoos they can decorate their bodies with.
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