"Alternate" half orc backstories.

In a 4e forum thread on the (temporary?) elimination of half orcs in the new edition, there was a lot of focus on the assumption that all half orcs are conceived in rape and what I saw as a false dichotomy that the other option was completely civilized and integrated orcs who Farmer Bob was pleased as punch to see "dating" his daughters.

IMO, the 3e conception of orcs leaves plenty of room for a middle ground. So, bearing in mind the MM standard of tribal groups who are "often chaotic evil" and have barbarian as a favored class, and often exist near human barbarian tribes, what kind of backstories can you see for half orcs in a vanilla D&D campaign? To start out with the stereotypes and move from there....

1) Rape of a human by an orc
2) Rape of an orc by a human
3) Relationship between two half orcs or a half orc and a human or orc.
4) Arranged 'marriages' as a sign of truce between orc and human barbarian tribes.

(I've got more to add later, but I want to get the ball rolling.)

5) King-Kong syndrome, but this Kong (an orc) isn't too big for a relationship...a non-evil orc saves the damsel from the atrocities of his people and they go on to make some babies.

6) The Frontier. Shortage of women + Needing strong backs + Orc females appreciating non-abusive mates = Male humans and female orc marriages.

7) Orcs as second-class citizens in more industrial nations. They do hard labor, live in slums, etc. These "City orcs", while still degenerate and not good, have more in common with their poor human neighbors than the humans do with the other classes.

8) The enemy of my enemy is my friend. War against a common enemy throws orcs and humans together...some mate.

9) Child from union between orc minions and evil Cleric/Wizard/Whatever using the orcs as muscle.

10) "Orc Groupies". Orcs are more viril, have more endurance, and "larger attributes". Assuming you can find one that won't bash your head in afterwards, the desperate and/or curious can find enjoyment.

11) The Children of Love. Inspired by a 2nd Edition Deck of Encounters card, in which a group of orcs where actually pacifists on a pilgrimage...The Children of Love, a cult/commune/religion/etc., allows all races into its fold. They teach love and to look beyond prejudices and race and physical beauty and such...humans and orcs make with the teachings of their leader.

12) Orc on the wrong end of a Baleful Polymorph into a human*.

*Since Half-dragons happen when dragons polymorph into human (or whatever) form, I can reason that a species transformed into something else still has the Essence of what it is in it. And that translates down the magic of bloodlines.

FickleGM said:

8) The enemy of my enemy is my friend. War against a common enemy throws orcs and humans together...some mate.

Click to expand...

Note that this doesn't have to be "romance" either - if one group brings its camp followers and the other doesn't, I can't see either side turning their noses up.

13) Orphan from one race raised by parents of the other race, and feeling more comfortable in the society of his adoptive parents, he/she chooses a mate from that race.

Worf of Star Trek is an example of this; while he occasionally dealt with the Klingons, he was a Starfleet officer, and his second wife (Jadzia Dax) was a human (well, technically, a Trill, but a lot closer to human than Klingon).

kenobi65 said:

13) Orphan from one race raised by parents of the other race, and feeling more comfortable in the society of his adoptive parents, he/she chooses a mate from that race.

Click to expand...

This works great if your party kills all the orcs and then dumps the baby orcs in Happytown's orphanage.