The Orcs

The battle hardened warrior who stood before Yril lifted his axe to strike. She could see the rage in his eyes, the scars covering the man’s body from what must have been hundreds of fights against fearsome beasts and men. Just as the young elf was about to close her eyes, ready to die there and then, the orc’s axe hit something behind her, something big, that fell to the ground with a thud. She dared to turn around to see that the warrior’s axe sat firmly lodged between the eyes of a feral direwolf, now less feral and one hundred percent dead. As Yril turned around again, eyes big as she met the hardened gaze of the man before her, he laughed a deep and hearty laugh.
“Don’t be afraid little elf, I don’t hunt weak prey such as you, your fear is insulting”
He walked over to the beast and removed his axe from its skull, swinging it so it sat resting at his shoulder, blood dripping down the sides of the blade’s edge.
“It looks like you need a bodyguard little one. Name’s Brand, and I am at your service”

Orc Traits

Ability Score Increase: Your Strength increases by 2, your wisdom increases by 1.
Age: Orcs reach adulthood in their teens and live less than a century, usually slightly shorter lives than the average human.
Alignment: Orcs tend toward lawful alignments due to their fairly strict tribal societies. The orcs are fond of war, and thus a fair percentage of bad alignments exist, but most strive to further their families and their clans, and thus tend towards neutrality or good alignments.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages: You can speak, read, and write Orcish and Common. Orcs, due to their dwindling numbers have learned common so to better communicate with the other races. (https://lingojam.com/BlackSpeechTranslator)
Vision: 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.
Favoured Time of Day: Midday
Favoured Climate: Temperate to Cold
Favoured Terrain: Plains, Forests

Bonus Proficiencies (Pick 2)

Animal Friend: You have proficiency in the Animal Handling skill.
Medic: You have proficiency in the Medicine skill.
Strong Physique: You have proficiency in the Endurance skill.
Brawn: You have proficiency in the Aethletics skill.
Menacing Presence: You have proficiency in the Intimidation skill.

Orc Weapon Training: 

Simple weapons: Handaxe, Club and light Crossbow. And the Martial weapons: Longsword, Battleaxe, Greataxe, Greatsword and Longbow.
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.

Savage Attacks: 

When you score a critical hit with a meele weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapons damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

Powerful Build:

You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Animal Whisperer: 

Orcs have historically been exceptionally good at connecting with the wildlife of the forests and the plainlands of which they hunt. You have an extraordinary knack for befriending and calming down all types of animals. Once a day you can use this trait to persuade one animal of your choice to do your bidding, granted that you have something for the animal, a toy or a food item of which the animal is known to like. This is limited to simple commands of which the animal must be able to logically understand with the intellect they already possess.

Appearance

With skin tones ranging from light green to dark brown for the northern variety of orcs, and warm sandy shades of brown for the desert variety who live exclusively in the south, a heavily muscular frame, and considerable stature the orcs stand apart amongst most men. They are also the only race to display tusks.  The orcs have developed a strong warrior culture that makes them highly valuable in hand-to-hand combat. They often excel as adventurers, soldiers, and guards due to their muscular frames. Orcs are most often between 180cm and 220cm, and they weigh between 90kg and 150 kg on average. Many orcs wear tattoos, either permanent clan or family tattoos, or semi-permanent war paint of which they wear into battle.
Size and build: Orcs have strong builds. Your size is Medium.
Skintones: Orc skin tones are usually light green, gray, brown or dark brown. The southern variety of orcs; the desert orcs, have sandier skintones.
Haircolor: Orcs typically have brown or black hair which is often kept long and braided. Males and females alike often shave the sides of their head. The desert orcs tend to have white hair kept in the same manner as the northern orcs.
Eye color: Orc eyes are usually gold, amber, orange, brown or red and they have black sclera.
Ears: Orcs have slightly pointier and more upturned ears than the average human.
Clothes and adornments: Orcs tend to wear leather, hide, fur, bone and feathers, mostly taken from the beasts that they hunt. They are also exceptional weapon and armour-forgers however, and as such heavy orcish armour tend to be of great quality. Many wear a combination of lighter leather-based armour, with plates of iron, where shoulder plates are especially popular. Outside of fighting, orcs tend to wear light clothing made from natural materials from beasts. Some orcs weave and make clothing from wool or cotton, for example, but this is less common. 

Diet

Orcs are omnivores, they consume most anything available to them, and they are skilled hunters. Most clans keep livestock of several varieties, due to their natural aptitude for keeping and taming animals. Apart from red meat and fowl, they consume herbs and vegetables which they grow in smaller quantities in their strongholds. Many clans make big sport in hunting the biggest prey on the plains of which they dwell. The mightiest warriors bring home the biggest carcasses, and a feast is held in their honour. Their food is usually grilled or smoked, seasoned with the herbs of the forest and the plain.

History

Orcs are descended from a sub-species of elves called “The Wild Elves”, who during the later parts of the First Age meddled with demonic powers to win the war against the high elves. These elves were changed due to their pact with the demons, and their appearance changed to look like what the orcs look like today. These wild elves received enhanced strength and stamina, but in turn they and their offspring would forever be cursed, having for all the future lost their connection to the gods and to their divine elven ancestry. Orcs as a species also suffer with infertility as a result of the curse. Orcs can and do birth children, but many mothers and babies die in childbirth, and many struggle with getting pregnant in the first place.
Despite their pact, the wild elves lost against the high elves, and although most of their once booming population was eradicated, the few left were allowed to live, although on the fringes of society. Their history from this point onward is categorized by infighting, discrimination by other races and violence. The orcs eventually created societies of their own, but they could never quite rebuild what they lost.

Personality and Reputation

Orcs are not known to be friendly, which is a shame, as this could not be further from the truth. Orcs today are guarded, very distrustful towards strangers, however, if one gets to know an orc, or befriends an orcish stronghold, they are among the most loyal and empathic friends. The average orc values honour and loyalty above anything else. This most often translates to loyalty among their family, but an orcish ally who is truly committed to a cause, is the most valuable ally anyone could possibly hope to find. After historically losing time and time again against any other culture or race they have taken up arms against, the orcs have a fairly bad reputation across Antreia. Other races view them as savage, simple and primitive being who only live for warfare. This reputation has no basis in reality. The modern orcs generally only want to live in peace, and as a race they are actually possessed of a far higherthan-normal wisdom, and an intellect that serves their shamans well in matters of the arcane. Although many orcs still hold warfare in high regard, their culture one that values battle and strength, people tend to misinterpret this. In all actuality, orcs are a very honourable people, who never back down from a promise, or shy away from defending the weak.

Society

Most orcs today live inside Karamornian terriroty, as social outcasts only truly accepted in the reserves of the Northern Plains, or as mercenaries in larger cities across the continent. There’s over a dozen clans who currently inhabit the Plainlands, but most are of dwindling size. These clans often fight amongst themselves for territory and for the right to hunt the game in the area. Some of the clans are nomads who travel the grasslands on their gigantic tamed direwolves, while other clans, especially those of more influence and power, reside in one of the six ancestral strongholds scattered across the Northern Plains. These settlements consist of stone buildings and tents made from hide and fur, as well as stables for the various animals the orcs keep, and ritual sites for the worship of the orcish gods and ancestors. Most orcs stay far away from the business of other races unless they have chosen to leave their strongholds. Some of the settlements and clans have been known to occasionally trade with human merchants, but even that is rare. This has made them highly individualistic as a people, and most orcish clans stay unaware of the wider politics of the world, unless they leave their families to seek glory and honour by fighting for coin or causes they deem worthy.
The typical orc lives in strongholds, where clan and family mean everything. This is partly due to an obsession with children and childbirth because of the race’s problems with infertility and the high deathrates of new-borns and mothers. The birth of a healthy new member of the family is considered a great blessing, and the children of the orcs are protected as the most valuable a clan “owns”. These children live sheltered lives inside the strongholds, not allowed to leave for the outside world. However, when the children grow older they are expected to prove themselves as skilled hunters and strong members of the clan. Some adolescent orcs leave their families to earn money for their clan as mercenaries or hunters, while some stay in the reserves of where they predominantly dwell their entire lives to care for their own. The high death rate when it comes to childbirth has led to a slight imbalance between the two genders. Female orcs are slightly rarer than their male counterparts.
Orcish clans consist of many family groups, where one male leader that acts as a sort of “parent” to the rest of the clan. There is no ruling that says that the leader has to be male, but as male orcs tend to be stronger and are generally more inclined to competitivebehaviours, female leaders are extremely rare. The leader of the clan takes many wives and they father many children. The clan leader steps down whenever a stronger challenger manages to defeat them in single combat, although these tussles often end in the death of the loser. As such, the leader of the clan is the strongest the clan has to offer, typically battle hardened and clever in the arts of combat. Alongside the leader of the clan is often one or more individuals of powerful female magic users called shamans. These are chosen and trained based on aptitude and a connection to what the orcs call the “the spirit world”. These shamans hold high regard in the orcish society, and the leader of the clan tend to go to them for advice on all things, spiritual matters in particular.

Religion

All orcs, almost without exception follow the Orcish Pantheon. They consider themselves abandoned by the Gods of The Faith due to their demonic curse, and as such very rarely hold any kind of respect or reverence towards them or their followers. The Orcish Pantheon, popularly called the Orcish Ancestral Pantheon, is a pantheon of revered ancestors of the orcs. Heroes, champions, defenders and villains of orcish history are elevated to godhood, and the shamans are responsible for communing with these gods and all the other ancestors of the clan.

WAR AND HONOUR

Though other races often regard the Orcs as barbarians and even beasts, these noble warriors have an ancient culture forged from endless warfare. Orcs live under a simple code of honour by which the strong survive and the strongest rule. And as one of the races known to be the greatest smiths in northern Antreia, their weapons and armour are prized by warriors everywhere.

DEDICATED WORSHIPPERS

Orcs hold a particular hatred for elves. One of their creation myths tells of how Gruumsh One-Eye was hurt in battle by an elvish ranger, whom, with a well-placed arrow, made the god blind on one eye. Turning his injury into a baleful gift, it is believed that Gruumsh grants divine might to any champion who willingly plucks out one of its eyes in his honor.

ORC CROSSBREEDS

Luthic, the orc goddess of fertility and wife of Gruumsh, demands that orcs procreate often, as the gift of childbirth is the greatest blessing granted by the gods. Because of this, and their general infertility issues, orcs happily procreate with non-orc humanoids of similar size and stature, and most orc clans have no qualms about accepting an outsider, should they prove themselves strong and respectable warriors. The resulting child is known as a half-orc. There are also records of orcs producing young with ogres, the children born from such activities are half-ogres of intimidating strength and brutish features called an ogrillon.

PRESERVING NATURE

Orcs, despite their reputation of savagery, are very sensitive to the natural order and life of the flora and the fauna around them. Orcs never kill excessively, and are very particular about using every single part of the animals they hunt. Because of this, they often wear jewellery made from carved animal bone, and they use the hides and furs of their prey for all manner of clothing. Orcs also readily befriend and tame all manners of creatures, but their favourite are the dire wolves that roam the Northern Plains due to their strength, loyalty and fearlessness. Most orcs also have a natural talent for herbalism, able to distinguish all the different plants and mushrooms of the forests and plains of which they live from one another.

Classes

Orcs tend towards more physical work due to their strong physique. This is not to say that they cannot wield magic however, the race generally has the same kind of biological conditions as the average human when it comes to spellcasting, but culturally they have valued brawn and raw physical power over the arcane. Shamans are the exception, however, as both cultures are deeply spiritual by nature.
Magic: Shamans are rare, but a valuable part of the spiritual life of any orcish stronghold. Other magic classes like wizards, sorcerers or warlocks are very rare to see, and the race as a whole has no cultural traditions of teaching magic to their young.
Mix: Paladins and Bards are less common among the orcs than the non-magic classes, but are still far more usual than magic-wielders. Paladins are slightly more common than bards, some orcs dedicating their lives either to their strongholds or some other cause they deem worthy.
Non-Magic: The majority of orcs are Fighters, Rangers or Barbarians, and they are usually very skilled ones at that. Orcs who take up the mantle of Rogue also exist, but orcs tend to prefer more direct approaches to battle. Honour is a key aspect of their fighting style, and sneaking around in the shadows is by most seen as a more cowardly way to face ones enemies.

Orc Names

Orcish names consist of a given name, a family name and most often a honorific like “bearslayer” or “the kind”. These names consists of several of what the other races might deem “guttural” sounds, which are fairly hard to pronounce for most not born or raise by orcs. Most orcish names mean something, oftentimes things like: warrior, strong, or brave, or physical characteristics like “the grey” or “the tall”. To other races distinguishing between male and female names is hard, but there is a general tendency towards female names that end with the letter “a”.
Note: Family name is not the same as the clan the orc is a part of. The clan can change, but the family name stays with the orc to their death.
Female Orc names: Bolaka, Ugrusha, Karha, Sharbag, Olurba, Hubrag
Male Orc names: Bazul, Luruk, Namor, Usharku, Yggrub, Marob,
Orcish family names: Mulakhro, Khamuggu, Shuhugarz, Lazgarm, Bargoldub, Lagbugara
Orcish honorifics: the Mauler, the Kind, Axe-Hand, Stewmaster, the Beautiful, Red-blood