Half-Orc
Basic Information
Biological Traits
Half-orcs’ grayish pigmentation, sloping foreheads, jutting jaws, prominent teeth, and towering builds make their orcish heritage plain for all to see, though their canines were noticeably smaller than a full-blooded orc’s tusks. Half-orcs as such appear bestial to humans, though amongst orcs they are considered human-like physically. Half-orc hair is most often black, though it grays very quickly with age. Half-orcs that have lived amongst orcs have often picked up the common orcish tradition of ritual scarring. Half-orcs with such a background do not look upon scars as marks of shame or as unattractive blemishes, but rather as marks of pride that demonstrate their skill and bravery in battle. On occasion, however, scars are used for a darker purpose, with orcs marking half-orc slaves with scars in the same manner a rancher might brand cattle.
Ability Score Increase: Strength score increases by 2, and Constitution score increases by 1.
Speed: Base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision: See in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light.
Manacing: Gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
Relentless Endurance: When reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, one can drop to 1 hit point instead. This feature can be used once until long rest.
Savage Attacks: When scoring a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, one can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
Language: Speak, read, and write Common and Orc.
Additional Information
Social Structure
In most cultures, half-orcs suffer prejudice. Within the lands of their human ancestors, half-orcs are commonly seen as savage thugs and looked down upon. As a result, most half-orcs in human society are forced into menial labor or violence for a career. Some choose to take on the life of an adventurer, perhaps merely as another acceptable means to wealth and power or sometimes as a way to throw off the shackles of other people's perceptions.
Within orc society, half-orcs are often looked down upon as weaker and inferior creatures, but overall they tend to fare better. Most orcs grudgingly acknowledge the superiority of the half-orc's intellect as well as their comparable strength. As a result, it is not entirely unusual for a half-orc raised amongst orcs to rise to a position of power within their own tribe.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Half-orcs has no home to truly call their own in most places, not unlike other half-breeds, except Palischuk in Vaasa, where a half-orc community thrived. That was a ruin rebuilt during the Era of Upheaval by half-orc settlers. Another city with a great number of half-orc members is Phsant in Thesk, which has strong ties to the gray orcs of the east. Half-orcs are also common in Northwest Faerûn. There is also the possible exception of Many-Arrows, an orcish kingdom whose borders are laid along with several human nations. As such half-orcs have no common culture, most half-orcs grow up amongst either humans or orcs, either in urban environments or—more often—along the outskirts of civilization, taking on many of the qualities of their home culture.
Famous Half-orc Settlements
- Many-Arrows
- Chessenta
- Amn
- along the coast of Moonsea
- Waterdeep
- Palischuk
- Phsant
- The Hordelands
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
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
Beauty Ideals
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.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Orc is a harsh, grating language with hard consonants. It has no script of its own but is written in the Dwarvish script.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Like other half-breeds, half-orcs combined the natures of both their lineages into a unique whole, a trait which extended into their mentality as well as their physical qualities. Half-orcs are quick to action, tenacious and bold, and possess adaptability that is unusual among most races. This is useful to the race given that they are considered outsiders just about everywhere; they have the ability to thrive in unwelcome or unusual locations, which is a necessity for a half-orc’s welfare. Few half-orcs have the patience for the etiquette or protocol that civilization has often imposed and they are far from quiet about their opinions on the subject. As a result, half-orcs are often perceived as uncouth savages, a reputation accentuated by the orcish love of physical pleasures such as eating, drinking, or dancing. Impatient and ill-tempered are stereotypes that are not too far off the mark for most half-orcs, but these qualities have not been necessarily negative. Sometimes, a brash and straight-to-business attitude has been precisely what is required.
The half-orc personality tends to be short-tempered and sullen, though half-orc mental capabilities have often been underestimated and they are significantly more cunning than full-blooded orcs. More often than not, half-orcs prefer simple pleasures such as feasting, singing, wrestling, or wild dancing to refined pursuits such as poetry or philosophy. Most half-orcs are free-spirited like their orcish brethren, though they have fewer of the evil tendencies that blemished the reputation of orcs and are as likely good as they are evil. Half-orcs are also reputed to be unintelligent and, though this is not true for the entire race.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Half-orcs who lived among orcs commonly take to worshiping the orc pantheon, sometimes with even greater zeal than their orcish brethren, feeling the need to prove themselves worthy. Half-orcs raised among humans, on the other hand, typically worship other deities including Garagos, Hoar, Loviatar, Malar, Talona, and Tempus. Tyr is also commonly worshiped by many half-orcs.
History
Half-orcs have existed in the world for many, many centuries, although like most half-breeds they have never had an independent cultural history. Half-orcs of historical note have made their impact not through a civilization of their own, but by excelling at whatever path they’ve taken within another people’s culture. Since the Era of Upheaval, however, half-orcs have come somewhat more unto their own, with the founding of Many-Arrows by Obould in 1371 DR. Since then, relations between orcs and humans have eased.
Common Myths and Legends
The one-eyed god Gruumsh created the orcs, and even those orcs who turn away from his worship can’t fully escape his influence. The same is true of half-orcs, though their human blood moderates the impact of their orcish heritage. Some half-orcs hear the whispers of Gruumsh in their dreams, calling them to unleash the rage that simmers within them. Others feel Gruumsh’s exultation when they join in melee combat—and either exult along with him or shiver with fear and loathing. Half-orcs are not evil by nature, but evil does lurk within them, whether they embrace it or rebel against it.
Beyond the rage of Gruumsh, 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.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Half-orcs often have poor relations with other races, in particular the Tel-quessir or dwarves, due to mutual racial enmity. Halflings and gnomes are also typically distrusting half-orcs, although not to the degree of dwarves or Tel-quessir. Even among their human brethren, half-orcs are generally distrusted or feared.
Half-orcs react to this distrust in a number of ways. Some half-orcs fall into introverted behavior, trying to attract as little attention to themselves as possible in a manner paradoxical to the image of boisterous barbarian half-orcs typically evoke. Others have tried their hardest to do good unto others, whether out of sincere charity or simply a desire for approval and acceptance. Some half-orcs have taken neither approach, accepting who they are and instead will give others no choice but to accept them or leave.
The troubles that their heritage has brought them teach most half-orcs to be mistrusting and suspicious. Some half-orcs have as much trouble forming bonds with others as other races have had to accept them, making friends with great difficulty and losing them with much greater ease.
Why go on an adventure?
- Is it hard to seek a career other than adventuring in your homeland?
- Do you seek acceptance from people outside your homeland?
- Maybe it is a way for you to prove your worth to your community?
- Or you are a disgraced exile from your tribe?
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