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<blockquote data-quote="Dastari" data-source="post: 3293091" data-attributes="member: 38358"><p>Yeah I should have said what I said differently anyway. I didn't mean that the lack of response bothered me it was more like that the few responses that I did get seemed to be of the "why are you here and why are you posting this variety". I thought that your original reply was chastizing me for not realizing that orcs aren't subraced more because of copyright concerns. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yeah I didn't change enough to really disrupt the balance I don't think. My main change was to give the basic mountain orc Toughness as a bonus feat and give them weapon familiarity with the orc double axe. It bothers me that if you compare an orc to a human the orc is really short changed. Yes they get a +4 to Strength but that's balanced by a -2 to all soft stats. I realize that the creators behind D&D think that a +2 to Strength is worth 1.5 times as much in soft stats but I don't know that I buy that and even if I do that just means that their stats are balanced. If its false it means that they're slightly short changed already. Then they get darkvision which is pretty sweet but they're handicapped by their low light vision. Even assuming that the stats equal out that means that orcs get something like 1/2 a special ability. Humans get a bonus feat and extra skill points. So I felt that giving orcs Toughness and weapon familiarity helps to even the score a bit and still keeps them as really great melee combatants. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Nothing would please me more than to do a Races of the Wild/Destiny/Stone/Dragon type of treatise on orcs and I suppose Goblinoids talking about their culture and other information. I actually have a 40 page document with a lot of that information already typed up. You've seen part of it on my pantheon thread and the thread about their extra divine realms. That was tapped from the section in my document about the orc afterlife and I just basically pulled it out to show which planes I put all of my deities in. I have not yet developed orc only feats and equipment but that's just a matter of sitting down and typing it up. </p><p></p><p>Still, I personaly don't mind all of the various subraces because I really feel like regional variations could cause radical differences in a species. That's where my Pygmy Orcs and Swamp Orcs come in, which are probably the two groups that I'm most proud of. I realize that the Scab Orcs and Forest Orcs are basically the same culturally but just have minor variations due to their culture. The only reason for the scab orcs is that it bothered me that <em>Sandstorm</em> created a special race of desert half-orcs but never bothered to talk about the desert orcs, so I felt compelled to create the orcs that sire the desert half-orcs. Then the Forest Orcs were spawned because I couldn't decide whether or not to give mountain orcs Toughness or Track as a bonus feat, so I just created a new group that gains Track. So I confess that those aren't as compelling. Still, I think that the Storm Orcs have a lot to recommend themselves since they are so different from other orcs culturally and thats why their main variation from standard orcs is their favored class. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Oh, I've already addressed that in the various paraphenalia that I've created and I will post it below. I am not familiar with Tanaruks but as far as I know so far Orogs and Ogrillions have not been updated for 3.5 yet so thankfully I just have to worry about variations of half-orcs and the various orc subraces breeding together. Still, if I ever wanted to make an NPC that was a mix of any two races that hadn't been done before I would just create the stats on the spot, so it really isn't a problem and if my players wanted to play an unusual crossbreed as long as I was fine with it, I'd make up the stats and allow them to play, so I really don't see the problem. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Y'know you aren't the only one that I've heard say that. The few comments that I have gotten back on these races are all very positive about the Storm Orcs. They seem to be the ones that everyone is interested in and would like to see more of. The reason for that seems to be that everyone prefers orcs lawful. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well a lot of that material is embedded in the deity stuff and the stuff that I've written on the Afterlife but I have written a lot more about the cultural variations. Let me know if you'd like to see more and I'll find a way to post it. Now below I'll post the various breeding configurations for my orc subraces:</p><p></p><p><strong>CROSSBREEDING ORC SUBRACES</strong></p><p></p><p> The consequence of breeding different orc subraces together must be addressed at some point. As per the usual rules, a greater than 50/50 mix means that in terms of game mechanics the orc is whatever races he has more than 50% of. </p><p></p><p>MOUNTAIN ORC/SCAB ORC: The orc gains darkvision but retains the resistance to dehydration and does not gain toughness or low-light vision. </p><p></p><p>MOUNTAIN ORC/PYGMY ORC: The orc is a medium creature and gains run as a bonus feat instead of toughness. In all other ways treat it as a mountain orc although if raised by pygmy orcs rule that his favored class is ranger. </p><p></p><p>MOUNTAIN ORC/SWAMP ORC: The orc gains the ability modifiers of the mountain orc but the special abilities of the swamp orc. The favored class is druid. </p><p></p><p>MOUNTAIN ORC/FOREST ORC: The orc either gains track or toughness as a bonus feat as chosen by the player. This match would only be for color. </p><p></p><p>MOUNTAIN ORC/STORM ORC: The orc gains the favored class of whichever side he is raised by and the ability modifiers are chosen by the player. </p><p></p><p>SCAB ORC/PYGMY ORC: The orc is a medium creature and has the ability modifiers of the scab orc. He gains run as a bonus feat and has darkvision instead of low-light vision. He does not gain resistance to dehydration. The favored class is Ranger. </p><p></p><p>SCAB ORC/SWAMP ORC: The orc gains the ability modifiers of the swamp orc, darkvision in addition to low-light vision and immunity to uncanny odor but not the ability to create it. He does not suffer from light sensitivity. The favored class is Druid. </p><p></p><p>SCAB ORC/FOREST ORC: The orc gains darkvision but retains the resistance to dehydration and not gain track or low-light vision. </p><p></p><p>SCAB ORC/STORM ORC: The orc gains darkvision but retains the resistance to dehydration and does not gain toughness or low light vision. The orc gains the favored class of whichever subrace he is raised by and the player may choose the ability modifiers. </p><p></p><p>PYGMY ORC/SWAMP ORC: The orc is a medium creature and gains the ability modifiers of the swamp orc as well as their special abilities. The favored class is ranger. </p><p></p><p>PYGMY ORC/FOREST ORC: The orc is a medium creature and gains run as a bonus feat instead of track. In all other ways treat it as a forest orc except that its favored class is Ranger. </p><p></p><p>PYGMY ORC/STORM ORC: The orc is a medium creature and gains run as a bonus feat instead of toughness. It gains the ability modifiers of the mountain orc (not the storm orc!). The favored class is always fighter.</p><p></p><p>SWAMP ORC/FOREST ORC: The orc gains the ability modifiers of the forest orc, but the special abilities of the swamp orc. The favored class is Druid. </p><p></p><p>SWAMP ORC/STORM ORC: The orc gains the ability modifiers of the storm orc, but the special abilities of the swamp orc. The favored class is Ranger. </p><p></p><p>FOREST ORC/STORM ORC: The player may determine whether he gains the ability scores of the forest orc or storm orc. His favored class and bonus feat are determined by which subrace he was raised by. He gains track as a bonus feat and has a favored class of barbarian if raised by forest orcs but he gains toughness as a bonus feat and a favored class as fighter if raised by storm orcs.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dastari, post: 3293091, member: 38358"] Yeah I should have said what I said differently anyway. I didn't mean that the lack of response bothered me it was more like that the few responses that I did get seemed to be of the "why are you here and why are you posting this variety". I thought that your original reply was chastizing me for not realizing that orcs aren't subraced more because of copyright concerns. Yeah I didn't change enough to really disrupt the balance I don't think. My main change was to give the basic mountain orc Toughness as a bonus feat and give them weapon familiarity with the orc double axe. It bothers me that if you compare an orc to a human the orc is really short changed. Yes they get a +4 to Strength but that's balanced by a -2 to all soft stats. I realize that the creators behind D&D think that a +2 to Strength is worth 1.5 times as much in soft stats but I don't know that I buy that and even if I do that just means that their stats are balanced. If its false it means that they're slightly short changed already. Then they get darkvision which is pretty sweet but they're handicapped by their low light vision. Even assuming that the stats equal out that means that orcs get something like 1/2 a special ability. Humans get a bonus feat and extra skill points. So I felt that giving orcs Toughness and weapon familiarity helps to even the score a bit and still keeps them as really great melee combatants. Nothing would please me more than to do a Races of the Wild/Destiny/Stone/Dragon type of treatise on orcs and I suppose Goblinoids talking about their culture and other information. I actually have a 40 page document with a lot of that information already typed up. You've seen part of it on my pantheon thread and the thread about their extra divine realms. That was tapped from the section in my document about the orc afterlife and I just basically pulled it out to show which planes I put all of my deities in. I have not yet developed orc only feats and equipment but that's just a matter of sitting down and typing it up. Still, I personaly don't mind all of the various subraces because I really feel like regional variations could cause radical differences in a species. That's where my Pygmy Orcs and Swamp Orcs come in, which are probably the two groups that I'm most proud of. I realize that the Scab Orcs and Forest Orcs are basically the same culturally but just have minor variations due to their culture. The only reason for the scab orcs is that it bothered me that [I]Sandstorm[/I] created a special race of desert half-orcs but never bothered to talk about the desert orcs, so I felt compelled to create the orcs that sire the desert half-orcs. Then the Forest Orcs were spawned because I couldn't decide whether or not to give mountain orcs Toughness or Track as a bonus feat, so I just created a new group that gains Track. So I confess that those aren't as compelling. Still, I think that the Storm Orcs have a lot to recommend themselves since they are so different from other orcs culturally and thats why their main variation from standard orcs is their favored class. Oh, I've already addressed that in the various paraphenalia that I've created and I will post it below. I am not familiar with Tanaruks but as far as I know so far Orogs and Ogrillions have not been updated for 3.5 yet so thankfully I just have to worry about variations of half-orcs and the various orc subraces breeding together. Still, if I ever wanted to make an NPC that was a mix of any two races that hadn't been done before I would just create the stats on the spot, so it really isn't a problem and if my players wanted to play an unusual crossbreed as long as I was fine with it, I'd make up the stats and allow them to play, so I really don't see the problem. Y'know you aren't the only one that I've heard say that. The few comments that I have gotten back on these races are all very positive about the Storm Orcs. They seem to be the ones that everyone is interested in and would like to see more of. The reason for that seems to be that everyone prefers orcs lawful. Well a lot of that material is embedded in the deity stuff and the stuff that I've written on the Afterlife but I have written a lot more about the cultural variations. Let me know if you'd like to see more and I'll find a way to post it. Now below I'll post the various breeding configurations for my orc subraces: [B]CROSSBREEDING ORC SUBRACES[/B] The consequence of breeding different orc subraces together must be addressed at some point. As per the usual rules, a greater than 50/50 mix means that in terms of game mechanics the orc is whatever races he has more than 50% of. MOUNTAIN ORC/SCAB ORC: The orc gains darkvision but retains the resistance to dehydration and does not gain toughness or low-light vision. MOUNTAIN ORC/PYGMY ORC: The orc is a medium creature and gains run as a bonus feat instead of toughness. In all other ways treat it as a mountain orc although if raised by pygmy orcs rule that his favored class is ranger. MOUNTAIN ORC/SWAMP ORC: The orc gains the ability modifiers of the mountain orc but the special abilities of the swamp orc. The favored class is druid. MOUNTAIN ORC/FOREST ORC: The orc either gains track or toughness as a bonus feat as chosen by the player. This match would only be for color. MOUNTAIN ORC/STORM ORC: The orc gains the favored class of whichever side he is raised by and the ability modifiers are chosen by the player. SCAB ORC/PYGMY ORC: The orc is a medium creature and has the ability modifiers of the scab orc. He gains run as a bonus feat and has darkvision instead of low-light vision. He does not gain resistance to dehydration. The favored class is Ranger. SCAB ORC/SWAMP ORC: The orc gains the ability modifiers of the swamp orc, darkvision in addition to low-light vision and immunity to uncanny odor but not the ability to create it. He does not suffer from light sensitivity. The favored class is Druid. SCAB ORC/FOREST ORC: The orc gains darkvision but retains the resistance to dehydration and not gain track or low-light vision. SCAB ORC/STORM ORC: The orc gains darkvision but retains the resistance to dehydration and does not gain toughness or low light vision. The orc gains the favored class of whichever subrace he is raised by and the player may choose the ability modifiers. PYGMY ORC/SWAMP ORC: The orc is a medium creature and gains the ability modifiers of the swamp orc as well as their special abilities. The favored class is ranger. PYGMY ORC/FOREST ORC: The orc is a medium creature and gains run as a bonus feat instead of track. In all other ways treat it as a forest orc except that its favored class is Ranger. PYGMY ORC/STORM ORC: The orc is a medium creature and gains run as a bonus feat instead of toughness. It gains the ability modifiers of the mountain orc (not the storm orc!). The favored class is always fighter. SWAMP ORC/FOREST ORC: The orc gains the ability modifiers of the forest orc, but the special abilities of the swamp orc. The favored class is Druid. SWAMP ORC/STORM ORC: The orc gains the ability modifiers of the storm orc, but the special abilities of the swamp orc. The favored class is Ranger. FOREST ORC/STORM ORC: The player may determine whether he gains the ability scores of the forest orc or storm orc. His favored class and bonus feat are determined by which subrace he was raised by. He gains track as a bonus feat and has a favored class of barbarian if raised by forest orcs but he gains toughness as a bonus feat and a favored class as fighter if raised by storm orcs. [/QUOTE]
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