D&D General what would a good orc culture be like?

[Umbran]

what would a culture of good orcs belike without losing the orcness that people like?

Others have mentioned using Klingons or fantasy Norse for inspiration. Those aren't bad ideas.

Note that both those cultures... have bad stuff in them too. The culture isn't uniformly good. And I think that's okay.

 

[d24454_modern]

Define “good” cause I don’t think any culture really qualifies.

Other than that, I imagine them to mostly be Hunter-Gatherers that normally live in Swampy areas.

While murder is scene as bad and war is a lost resort, they don’t see why there’s a taboo on eating creatures, even other Orcs. That would just be a waste of resources to them.

Common orc hobbies involve swimming and making sculptures.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I have two different types of not-typically-evil Orc cultures from my worlds.

1. Iconoclast Orcs. Long ago, a group of Orcs decided to abandon the Orcish Pantheon, believing that Gruumsh didn't care about them and that their war in Acheron was pointless. This group of Orcs founded a new culture of iconoclasts, those that deny worship of the gods and all religions, believing that all religions (even those of the so-called, "good" deities"), took advantage of mortals for personal gain. Now they spend their time fighting against cultists, religions discriminate against other peoples, and those that claim to be gods (greatwyrms, liches, empyreans, etc).
2. Primal Orcs. Taking inspiration from Eberron, my other version of Orcs are the bridge between the natural and primeval worlds, having a culture that encourages its members to become barbarians, nature clerics, and rangers. They worship my world's version of Ubtao, the formerly-primordial nature deity of dinosaurs and mazes, and are the world's origin of the magic tattoos from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (which they make look like mazes). They also tame dinosaurs and use them in their day-to-day life, and also ride T-Rexes and other large dinosaurs in battle when needed.

 

[Flamestrike]

Define “good”

Altruism, mercy, charity, compassion, and placing the interests of others above your own.

Evil is defined as harming others, lack of empathy and compassion, murder, torture, slavery and the usual stuff.

 

[Scott Christian]

Dwarves. I don't see why they can't be miners.

 

[Reynard]

Altruism, mercy, charity, compassion, and placing the interests of others above your own.

Yeah but the question isn't whether a culture purports to embrace those values (spoiler: most say they do) but rather can a culture actually do that (spoiler: none has yet).

 

[bedir than]

Lots of people brought up sports, but we should be clear which types fit D&D Orc mythos;

town ball not baseball or cricket
slam ball not basketball
mob ball not soccer
welters not quidditch
rugby and lacrosse are yesses

Sports with more raw power, less organization.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

You got me! The empire never knows it has an empire! (At least the average citizens.)

Ironically, within the USA, a lot of the things you describe are considered 'bad' in its more left-leaning half, so I wouldn't have brought that up for fear of starting a political flamewar. (I'm actually rather displeased with my country's useless and destructive foreign wars, and did not even think of it as an example of a 'good-aligned' martial culture. Besides, it's postindustrial and pretty bad as a D&D model.)

Back to orcs...

I look at Tolkien's conception of orcs as industrial and clever with technology and wonder....

 

[John R Davis]

My "good" orc society are "god" killers (99% of the gods are false pretender gods). They revere their ancestors embrace all people's who are citizens as Orcs and are highly industrial. They are still a culture of warriors but they admire wisdom in their leaders over raw power.

Oddly the orcs in my campaign are called the Godless. They believe in themselves and their family so have many enemies who do worship gods and do not understand the orcs.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I'm surprised no one has challenged me on Klingons. We've seen examples of good and honorable Klingons, but as a culture it's questionable that the Klingons are good guys and it very much feels like there is a lot of effort to try to redeem the Klingons that ultimately feels to me like Federation propaganda and naivety. I'd be happy with a "Often Chaotic Evil" tag on Klingons.

Sure, they're warlike and aggressive. Then again, evil compared to whom? Compared to the super enlightened Federation, sure. To most modern nations? Yeah, probably. To actual medieval human kingdoms, or ancient empires such as Rome? Nah.

If you'd put Klingons into Westeros, they'd come across as the good guys. It is relative.

(Also, how would ultra honourable Klingons with their strict traditions be "chaotic?" Because they're hot-headed and aggressive? This again shows the other reason why alignment is silly.)

In my world building most cultures and nations are not "good" or "evil", I try to make them believable. They will have their ideals and principles, ambitions and needs. Sometimes these may clash with those of others, bringing them into conflict.

In any case, I'll repost what I said about my orcs in a recent thread:

---

To me the defining features of orcs are their strength and certain 'primalness.' They are fierce, they are powerful, they're honest and brave. In many ways they're quite uncomplicated people. If an orc has a problem with you, they won't scheme behind your back or spread lies about you, they challenge you to a duel. They respect strength and bravery and despise treachery and false politeness. I think Conan has many orcish qualities as do the Klingons.

In my current world the main orc culture are desert nomads, inspired by Burrough's green martians. They are stronger and tougher than humans (and instead of dark vision they are adapted to heat.) They live and thrive in places that are too harsh to many other people and use their ability to withdraw into inhospitable areas for their tactical advantage. And whilst they recognise and sometimes worship gods and nature spirits, the main focus of their religion is ancestor worship. Orcs wish to impress their dead ancestors, and believe that gaining glory in this life will earn them a place of respect among the ancestors in the next.

Not all orcs are nomads of course, many are integrated into human societies for example. They still tend to retain their orcish attitude though.

Orcs are passionate, hardy and love freedom, outdoors and challenges that test their mettle, respect bravery, personal strength and honesty, despise guile and empty gestures, prefer practicality and durability over finesse and finery and glory over wealth.

Spoiler: A sketch of some orcs

More my art here.