What's the deal with half-orcs?

[Bendris Noulg]

I don't have anything against half-orcs, although my current campaign doesn't include orcs and therefore doesn't include half-orcs either.

(For that matter, it doesn't include elves and therefore doesn't include half-elves either.)

As for half-orcs being included in 1E, I recall most of the ones I saw in use usually being assassins (both as PCs and when found as NPCs in modules).

 

[Dirigible]

god of ugly creatures

So that's who I was baptised to...

 

[Thanee]

I don't see a problem with half-orcs. They make sense from a game-world perspective. They fill a niche, which no other race really does.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Ketolos]

Half-orcs? No problem with them, only my players dont like them, because many of them plays "orc-haters" because of one of ex-players. He always played half-orc rogue with f.....g chain and he killed all his mates. And when he didnt kill them he said about them to a guard. And thats why my players dont like half-orcs.
And i can use them in many cases as bodyguard to main villain

 

[Klaus]

I think half-orcs fill a niche in multi-race settings similar to, say, Cimmerians in a Hyborian Age setting, i.e., misterious savages that fight like hell hounds and which are distrusted by other races, civilized or not.

Coincidently enough, Half-Orcs (actually, half-human orcs and half-orc humans) were the subject of my most recent article at www.fierydragon.com . Check it out at: http://www.fierydragon.com/DB/DB_MAY27_2004.htm

 

[Count Arioch the 28t]

I don't like their current niche, so I changed it in my world.

In my world, they're considered intermediaries btween human and orc tribes in the norhtern wastes. And in their home, they're respected by both sides, the humans admire their bravery and strength, and the orcs admire their intuition and insight.

However, they get a few more flavor bonuses than what the PHB gives them. (Nothing major, a limited bonus feat to reflect their human parentage, saving throw bonuses versus cold, +2 to survival and intimidate and I allow them to take scent and winter's child feats if they otehrwise qualify for the prerequisites.)

But I have changed around the other races a bit as well.

 

[Anax]

In a recent campaign, one of the other players was a half-orc monk named Gronk, a former slave of the Scarlet Brotherhood (and a rather different monk, as his skills were gained primarily from watching the brotherhood, with a little bit different attitude about how they might be used.)

It was pretty fun having this big hulking half-orc with bright red hair with us in Irongate. At first, everybody in town knew who he was because, well, there were only two half-orcs in town, and only one had bright red hair--and for some reason everybody figured they'd better keep an eye on him. But after a few instances of saving the day, he'd become a real celebrity. We were even jokingly talking about a "Gronk for Mayor!" campaign. :>

After Gronk, I think we're likely to have some more half-orcs in the campaigns we play, just because of that one character's inspiration.

 

[collin]

Half-orcs

Half-orcs are not used a lot in the more recent campaigns I have been in (3.0 release till now), but the first character I created in D&D 3.0, and still have, was/is a half-orc fighter. I created the character based on the character of "Hawk" (which happens to be his name) from the Robert B. Parker 'Spenser' series of detective novels. As such, I treat him, and other half-orcs, as people of minority in the usual societies and circles in which they run. I think half-orcs make good minorities in human, elven, etc. societies. It certainly builds role-playing opportunities.


More recently, in another campaign with the same group of friends (different DM), we face a group of adversaries who were like mirror-universe evil counterparts to our characters in the original campaign. My evil twin Hawk character was a lot tougher to face than I had realized!

 

[morbiczer]

I use normal orcs (slightly modified and more civilized) in my campaign world to fill the roll of half-orcs. Half-orcs are available to PCs, but there is only a really small number of them in the world.

I really would have problems coming up with explanations to why there would be a large number of half-orcs in a game world. Where would they come from? So many rapes? So many humans (and orcs) witha strange sexual appetite? Where do half-orcs (or half-eves) come from in your campaign?

PS. I really like the concept of half-orc like creatures being really humans tainted by some evil power. Excellent idea!

 

[Shazman]

I don't have anything against half-orcs, although my current campaign doesn't include orcs and therefore doesn't include half-orcs either.

(For that matter, it doesn't include elves and therefore doesn't include half-elves either.)

As for half-orcs being included in 1E, I recall most of the ones I saw in use usually being assassins (both as PCs and when found as NPCs in modules).

This is kind of off topic, but in some of the early countdown to 3rd edition Dragon articles implied that assassain was going to be a core class. It was probably before the idea of pretige classes was introduced. In one article about playtesters someone mentioned playing a half-orc fighter/assassain. Maybe that was the half-orc's original favored class? That would have mad for a whole lot of half-orc characters.