Dragonlance Dragonlance Creators Reveal Why There Are No Orcs On Krynn

Talking to the Dragonlance Nexus, Dragonlance creators Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman revealed why the world of Krynn features no orcs -- in short, because they didn't want to copy Tolkien, and orcs were very much a 'Middle Earth' thing.

Weis told Trampas Whiteman that "Orcs were also viewed as very Middle Earth. We wanted something different." Hickman added that it was draconians which made Krynn stand out. Read more at the link below!

Why are there no Orcs in Krynn? Weis and Hickman give us the answer! - Dragonlance Nexus

Dragonhelm gets the scoop from Weis and Hickman on why there are no orcs in Krynn. Read More

dragonlancenexus.com

 

[Mecheon]

Every one of those works perfectly well with human instead of orc. They're in no way distinctive. I don't think orc first with any of that stuff.

Everything you can fit under Dwarf works perfectly well with human instead of dwarf as well, same with a lot of things for Elf. And Dragonborn. And like, most other races in the game. No reason to single out orc for it

Orcs are a wider fantasy Thing and got their own fans and ideas. Mind, most of the evolution as orcs having that evolved outside of D&D and is due to Warhammer and Warcraft being around

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Every one of those works perfectly well with human instead of orc. They're in no way distinctive. I don't think orc first with any of that stuff.

Forget about human, in Dragonlance those all fit hobgoblin (or half ogre), who are already inhabiting the “orc” niche. Standard D&D 5e has tried to fey-ise goblinoids to differentiate them from orca but that’s not appropriate for Krynn, where most races have a Greygem origin. There is not a single orc concept that is not playable with a Krynn goblinoid. It’s a solution in search of a problem.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Now with the new rules about the creations of PCs, how can you find the difference between an orc and half-ogre?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

There is a big long thread about how useless halflings are, but I think all those arguments go double for orcs.

 

[AnotherGuy]

all of this is 100% true but when reimagining and or rebooting something with a new writer the story can change and the new writer gets to make the story.

That plan worked out swell for Dan Weiss and David Benioff.

 

[Mecheon]

There is not a single orc concept that is not playable with a Krynn goblinoid. It’s a solution in search of a problem.

I'd argue there's one: Person who wants to play an orc. Because the thing remains, hobgoblins have a different vibe from orcs, trading a lot of that "Just making do with what you've got" energy for, well, being uruk'hai. Sure, in game they're similar, but hobgoblins are fairly stuck to the D&D mold whereas, orcs have a wider audience. Much like "The guy who only ever plays elves" is a thing, there's a 'Guy who only ever plays orcs'

Mind, yeah, not normally there, but they're loose canon there, just like how Kenku are still kicking on Athas. Just say "Oh yeah, they come from Orclandia, its a far off island the minotaurs sail off to and bring back weird stuff from every now and again. No one knows their origin"

There is a big long thread about how useless halflings are, but I think all those arguments go double for orcs.

I will argue against this on one very silly, but incredibly true point:

i have seen a lot more orc fanart of the... NSFW variety on twitter than I have any halfling artwork. There is a much bigger orc audience.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

i have seen a lot more orc fanart of the... NSFW variety on twitter than I have any halfling artwork.

Maybe that's because you are a lot less likely to get arrested for making that sort of image of an orc than you would for a halfling...

 

[Dungeonosophy]

really interesting, thank you to Dragonhelm (for the interview) and Morrus (for posting it); and to Margaret and Tracy (for the lovely and evocative World of Krynn).

 

[Velderan]

all of this is 100% true but when reimagining and or rebooting something with a new writer the story can change and the new writer gets to make the story.

I mean you're not wrong, but for a race you're saying is not the one dimensional villain it was in 1984, do you really think WotC is going to write a history or provide any flavor to a Krynnish orc in a 224 page adventure book? The best they're likely to do is say you can Spelljam (is that a term?) one in and guess what, you probably already knew that and didn't need WotC to tell you that.

 

[Bedrockgames]

What is even MORE interesting about it is that Half-orcs and Assassins were sort of done away with in AD&D 2e at that point unless you chose the grandfather clause to implement them.

I remember hearing an interview where RA Salvatore said that they almost removed Artemis Entreri during the changeover because the Assassin class was removed, but he convinced them to keep him in by arguing he was a dual class Thief-Fighter