Comments on this new "Half Orc" race

[cptg1481]

Orc's who Needs em?

Me,

I love Half-Orcs and Orcs...and I am with you in one regard in 3/3.5 they are just not balanced with the other basic races. Now this is my opinion only, we could debate the merits of balance and the different ability scores ad nauseum but you'll most likely never convince me that +2 to STR is equal to -2INT and CHA and if you like it that way I'll never convince you either so lets just say to each his own. I kept the half-orcs basically out of the PHB for my game but changed them thusly.

+2STR, either -2INT or -2WIS (charisma in my game is force of personality and even the ugly social clutz of an orc could in fact have a grand force of personality) The player chooses the penalty.

After that it is the same.....

Anyway, I agree with JD +2 STR is what being a half-orc is all about to me. Call me old fassioned. Because I am.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with your variant IMO if it works for you and yours then happy gaming.

 

[d4]

(charisma in my game is force of personality and even the ugly social clutz of an orc could in fact have a grand force of personality)

what did you do with dwarves? i'm partial to the "+2 Con, -2 Dex" house rule for dwarves. when i did that in one campaign, though, i also gave them +1 natural armor so as not to adversely affect their AC. and because losing Dex is worse than losing Cha usually.

 

[FoxWander]

I haven't bought the 3.5 books, so I didn't even realize there was a Diehard feat that accomplished the effect I was going for- but better. I still think Endurance is good for half-orcs, even if it is a natural lead in for Diehard, but it does make my +20% to stabilize kinda pointless. And the 'too dwarf-like' comments do bring to mind that the Str bonus is part of the appeal of half-orcs. But I really don't like the penalty to 2 stats to balance it. So how about this...

+2 Strength, -2 Dexterity
Free Endurance feat
+2 Intimidate and Survival
+2 vs non-magical disease/poison
Proficiency: all Simple, any ONE Martial
Orcish weapon familiarity
and Darkvision, Orc blood, Medium size, 30' move, etc.


Thoughts?

 

[The Little Raven]

+2 Strength, -2 Dexterity
Free Endurance feat
+2 Intimidate and Survival
+2 vs non-magical disease/poison
Proficiency: all Simple, any ONE Martial
Orcish weapon familiarity
and Darkvision, Orc blood, Medium size, 30' move, etc.


Thoughts?

Yeah... why?

Why would a half-orc get Endurance, or a save vs diseases and poison? Does the orc getting anything like it? No.

I'd say grant it the ability to use Strength instead of Charisma for Intimidate. Grant it the ability to take Scent as a feat with a Wisdom of 11+. I agree with granting it the Simple Weapon Proficiency feat.

 

[FoxWander]

Yeah... why?

Why would a half-orc get Endurance, or a save vs diseases and poison? Does the orc getting anything like it? No.

<snip>

Well, my orcs do. I have tougher orcs in my game. (and kobolds too ) They all have Endurance and Run. And there are different tribes that are more sophisticated and have Fighter as a preferred class (or Rogue, Ranger and 1 tribe that has Monk) and thus have other feats. They're also lawful evil rather than chaotic, so they're a more organized threat also.

I think that some of the more common 'cannon fodder' monsters should be a threat beyond the shear numbers they can throw at a party. Of course that's just my world. I posted the Half-orc variant here because maybe others felt that they aren't balanced with the other races.

As to why these specific bonuses (endurance, resistances, etc.), I think they could easily apply to cross-breeds with the orcs right out of the MM. Endurance could just be an unexpected benefit of genetics, just because the parent races don't have it, doesn't mean their hybrid offspring won't. After all, that's where all our different dog breeds come from. The poison and disease resistance, as I've said before, would be the result of the typically squalid conditions the Orcs live in. Orcs probably compensate for losses from disease with a high birth rate, but when mixed with more adaptible/resilient humans it results in more resistant offspring. The bonuses to intimidate, survival and proficiency with weapons come from just surviving the hard life they will have with whoever raises them. They're gonna have to be tough and learn how to defend themselves to live thru the prejudices of their "peers". So there you have it- bonuses that makes sense even though neither parent has them.

 

[Desdichado]

Now this is my opinion only, we could debate the merits of balance and the different ability scores ad nauseum but you'll most likely never convince me that +2 to STR is equal to -2INT and CHA and if you like it that way I'll never convince you either so lets just say to each his own.

It totally depends on the game. I just have to keep in mind that 3e was designed with a "back to the dungeon" mentality (although, thankfully, it's also much more robust in situations outside the dungeon, or I probably wouldn't be playing it still) and adjust my game accordingly. I like a lot of combat, but I like a lot of social interaction, so to me it's unbalanced.

I did create a custom race with a +2 to both STR and CON, though. I thought it only fair in that case that they get a -2 to DEX, WIS and CHA because STR and CON together is a kick-ass combo.

 

[reapersaurus]

I like all of the variants better than the 3.5 half-orc.

 

[Valiantheart]

I am kind of partial too:

Half-Orc
+2 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
Move 30
Darkvision 60
+2 to Intimidate
+2 to all Disease and Poison Saves
Half-Orcs gain martial proficiency with all axes, spears, and Orc Shotputs.
Orc Blood: For all effects related to race, a half-orc is considered an orc.
Automatic Languages: Common and Orc. Bonus Languages: Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, and Kobold.
Favored Class: Barbarian

 

[Valiantheart]

<Delete me please>