D&D (2024) Heroes of the Borderlands

[mamba]

Out of curiosity, how do you handle something like an orc?

I do not really use orcs, I prefer the DL draconians, but they too have a twist. They are more like giant ants in that they have brood mothers that lay thousands of eggs in their lairs, with most of the offspring being male workers and soldiers that serve the brood mother and her colony. They have a pretty quick lifecycle in that they mature in a few weeks and only live a few years, that and their constant supply of offspring makes them fearless warriors that only worry about their queen and colony. Trying to wipe out a brood mother is difficult because she is well protected in her colony and guarded by extremely strong variants that have the sole purpose of protecting the colony and esp. the queen.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I currently just kind of use them as they are.

 

[Stormonu]

I haven't used orcs as much as I used to, but I've always used them as the "muscle" for goblins. They've always been raiders and reavers who civilized folk wouldn't think twice about putting them to the sword. Most non-orcs aren't actively aware there are orc children (most think orcs are spontaneously created), and haven't put any thought in how half-orcs come to be (as they generally only exist outside of stories in borderland areas as one-off individuals).

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

Return expanded just about every aspect of the adventure, adding more to the original. That is additive and an improvement. I admit I don't know what they're planning to do with the starter, but given the premise of KotB (wildly out of step with WotC's current design parameters) and the IMO meager but still annoying changes made to create 5.5 as just enough of a new edition that you buy $150+ worth of replacement books, I simply have no faith in WotC's desire to trade on KotB in a way that's not simply a nostalgia-fueled cash grab. At best I think it will be a radically different adventure, good or bad, with some of the same proper nouns to get the grognards attention.

Do you have, and have you read the original KotB? I have it in front of me at this moment.

The Keep on the Borderlands itself is literally intended to be used as a home base to develop (and maybe turn into a Bastion later?), and there are multiple adventures worth of content that can be expanded upon. Its purpose really aligns with how they describe how they say they are designing adventures in the revised 2024 Core rulebooks.

The plot of the old book was non-existent, but that can and should change with the update. It has the potential to be another Lost Mines of Phandelver-style sandbox, and that was a hit for my tables. I'm excited.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It's absolutely not going to be Venger.

That cartoon has been off the air for more than 40 years. The 5E relaunch is clearly being aimed at Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Doubling down on a fairly obscure Gen X cartoon isn't going to happen.

Stick the characters in a few illustrations in the PHB? Sure. Make them the focal point of the new starter set? No.

As already mentioned: nostalgia. The past looks even better if you weren't there.

Also, the writers are clearly fans, and if the writers are having fun then they are going to write better.

And there is no reason NOT to use them. There is nothing lost if players don't recognise the reference, just as you can enjoy the Deadpool Wolverine movie without recognising the multitude of decades-old obscure comic book references. WotC own those characters, they don't have to pay to use them.

You could make a case that some history would be better forgotten, and that KotB falls into that category, but the cartoon series was neither terrible nor offensive.

 

[Oofta]

Out of curiosity, how do you handle something like an orc?

For my world, I have it in more of a cursed form: long life, unable to control emotion, not able to procreate, bound by its curse, etc. The cursed magic infected a large population and turned them slowly, making them even significant historically.

I am curious how other people who choose to not follow WotC's version come up with.

Orcs in my world are grown much like clones in Star Wars. They are incubated in Jotunheim (Norse land of giants) and brought into the world via sacrificial altars. They are directly controlled by Grummsh and are controlled by him, at least indirectly. So orcs may seem to suddenly explode in population in an area because a small group starts raiding, they use the raids to get sacrifices (ideally living individuals but blood from different individuals also works) which brings in more orcs. They create a swath of destruction, but also tend to burn out once the number of sacrificial offerings available drops off. Occasionally BBEGs will make a deal with Grummsh for fodder for their armies.

So in a way it ends up working much like Peter Jackson's LotR, they come into the world fully grown warriors. I don't really use them all that often though, but when I do it can be like a plagues of locusts.

 

[Remathilis]

This ironically came across my Twitter the other day, just to stake the heart of Nightmare creatures.

 

[Oofta]

This ironically came across my Twitter the other day, just to stake the heart of Nightmare creatures.

On the other hand, I've met a lot of people who didn't seem particularly rational.

 

[Micah Sweet]

This ironically came across my Twitter the other day, just to stake the heart of Nightmare creatures.

Tolkien was very clearly of two minds on the Orc issue throughout his life. You can find correspondence from him leaning towards multiple perspectives.

 

[Remathilis]

Tolkien was very clearly of two minds on the Orc issue throughout his life. You can find correspondence from him leaning towards multiple perspectives.

It is completely possible his opinions changed as he aged and matured.