Half-Orcs and Prestige Classes

[garyh]

I think you might have a too narrow view on a half orc. Half orcs can be anything any other race can.

This could be true. Perhaps if I think of them as Half-Humans, PrCs will make more sense.

You're right - if I can come up with a good story as to why my Half-Orc is a Contemplative, than that Half-Orc will make a good Contemplative.

 

[Crothian]

I think you might have a too narrow view on a half orc. Half orcs can be anything any other race can.

This could be true. Perhaps if I think of them as Half-Humans, PrCs will make more sense.

You're right - if I can come up with a good story as to why my Half-Orc is a Contemplative, than that Half-Orc will make a good Contemplative.

Exactly. And sometimes it's great to play a character that goes against racial norms.

 

[XCorvis]

You can check out the Half-Orc Survivor at the Netbook of Classes. There might be other stuff there you think is appropriate. In general, tho, the class that best fits a character is the one that fits his personality rather than race or physical features.

 

[Lela]

I think we need to know what your version of the half orc is like

It's not that I have a specific character in mind (I'm currently looking for a game in Sacramento). It's that most of them don't make much sense for a Half-Orc.

Wait, wait, wait. This is not at all what you're looking for. As evidenced by your next statment.

As an example - let's take TaB. The classes in there that I think "fit" are Acolyte of the Skin, Blood Magus, and Dragon Disciple. (The Spellsword might work, though the Heavy Armor req makes Barb/(Sorc or Wiz) less workable.) 3 of 15... to me, that seems low. Maybe I'm wrong. It's been know to happen.

You just said you were looking for a Barbarian type. My answer:

There are 11 core classes in DnD! That means that only 9% (1/11) of PrCs should be good for Barbarians. Here, by your own judgment, we find that 20% (more than double!) of the classes would work well.

So, no I don't think the Half-Orc's been screwed.

 

[dreamthief]

You can check out the Half-Orc Survivor at the Netbook of Classes. There might be other stuff there you think is appropriate. In general, tho, the class that best fits a character is the one that fits his personality rather than race or physical features.

There's at least two others you might have missed. The Orc Scout and the Fiend Binder. I think Green Ronin is coming out with an Orc/Half-Orc book soon and you'll see a wealth of good classes for them.

PLUG: (location for the above two mentioned classes can be found at)
http://www.dreamthief.com/prc.phtml?race=Orc

 

[garyh]

You just said you were looking for a Barbarian type. My answer:

I simply meant that it's easiest for a HO to Multi with Barb. A HO could go Fig/Wiz and just have to keep his levels even.

For a decent number of PrC's, multiclassing is the best/only way to do them, and that's when you have to think of things like Favored Classes. That's all I meant with the Spellsword reference.

 

[XCorvis]

Originally posted by dreamthief PLUG: (location for the above two mentioned classes can be found at)
http://www.dreamthief.com/prc.phtml?race=Orc

Not trying to hijack the thread, but are you going to be including non-WotC classes, Dreamthief?

Edit: I just saw you already have. Gonna add the Netbook of Classes?

 

[Azimer the Mad]

The Rage Mage from Dragon would work pretty well. I think it was in the Steampunk issue.

 

[garyh]

The Rage Mage from Dragon would work pretty well. I think it was in the Steampunk issue.

I actually was just looking at that yesterday. The Rage Mage would certainly work, both in flavor and in playing to the race's stregths (Barb favored class).

 

[reapersaurus]

Nice to see another Sacramentite on the boards.
Welcome, garyh!

As for half-orcs, there are a few that fit quite nicely.
I don't expect that many, and really as long as there are a couple good ones, that fills more higher-level concepts than I'll ever be able to play.

The Mighty contender of Kord seems to match a half-orc the best. (Dragon #283 - Cleric issue)
The Tribal Protector (S&F) fits like a hand in glove, and the Frenzied Berserker (MotW) is just a natural, I'd think.

The Fiend Binder (Dragon 292) is an EVIL animal-torturing spellcasting PrC that uses CHA as its prime attribute.
Talk about a HIDEOUS PrC for a PC!

Where is the Orc Scout from?