"Alternate" half orc backstories.

[S'mon]

For half-orcs who survive to adulthood, conception by a human female slave of an orc tribe seems probably more likely than stranger rape.

 

[S'mon]

Gray Orcs: Half-Orcs are actually not half-human but a weaker subrace of full orcs.

This is my favourite idea on this thread. 3e 'full' orcs are incredibly powerful with their +4 STR; the half-orc +2 STR stats are closer to 1e orcs.

 

[Voadam]

This is my favourite idea on this thread. 3e 'full' orcs are incredibly powerful with their +4 STR; the half-orc +2 STR stats are closer to 1e orcs.

I Implemented that in my games a while ago, I prefer full races to half races and have enjoyed full orc pcs conceptually since shadowrun 1e and the 1e dragon magazine article on orc gods.

 

[Klaus]

What should be the default option:

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

 

[Kahuna Burger]

What should be the default option:

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

I disagree that there should be a default option - in fact that was the inspiration for this thread. But it's definitely a good option.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

4) Arranged 'marriages' as a sign of truce between orc and human barbarian tribes.

That, right there, is a kickin' good idea!

 

[Tessarael]

What about the Uruk-Hai of Middle Earth? An Orc-Human cross-breed bred for greater cunning and combat skills, but still feral and dangerous on the battle field. (I realize that is not the genesis of the Uruk-Hai, but something along these lines.)

[And I note this idea has been mentioned by Stoat and Set above.]

 

[Arkhandus]

Cross-posting from another thread.....

Hrm. Maybe half-orcs could originate as humans who've been touched by the orcish deities, or orcs touched by the human deities?

Say, a human becomes the hero of an orcish tribe by chance, and the local shaman of Gruumsh blesses him in Gruumsh's name, making him an 'honorary orc' so to speak. The human is transformed and appears something like an orc, but still recognizably humanesque too. Ergo a half-orc.

As a half-orc, the blessed fellow can breed true with both humans and orcs, so his progeny would also be half-orcs (though after enough generations down the line, when breeding with pureblood humans or orcs, they'd just be orcs or humans as appropriate).

Similar situation: an orc orphan is adopted by humans, and the adoptive parents take him to be baptised in a church of Pelor. The holy water and baptism ceremony purges some of the orcish uglyness, savagery, and dull wits, granting the infant a more humanlike appearance and mentality, giving him at least a chance of being accepted into normal human society (and not just turning into a troublesome brute).

 

[Jonny Nexus]

Can I cross-post the reply I made when this was discussed on CircvsMaximvs?

-----

But could you not imagine a human woman saying, "You know what? He's ugly, he smells, he's unreliable, he's got the interpersonal skills of a well-hefted housebrick, and he's inherently evil... but I really think I can change him!" ?

 

[Nyaricus]

16) The abandoned child. The half orc was found exposed as an infant, a tradition common to both local orc and human tribes if the child was in any way deformed or "weak" seeming.

To expose on this, ala the Spartan practice of leaving sickly or deformed newborns exposed on Mount Taygetus:

Humans would see the resulting half-breed as being deformed and therefor unfit for life. They would leave it exposed because of how ugly it looked.

Orcs would see the baby, smaller of frame and build in comparison to full-breed orcs, as being sickly and under-developed and would likely leave the child exposed for because of how weak it looked.

Just a thought.

cheers,
--N