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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Numenorean" data-source="post: 1281297" data-attributes="member: 7264">I like the Tolkien orcs. There were three types of "orcs" in Middle Earth that were referenced in the books.first off there were goblins. They were usually the normal orcs, smaller weaker orcs, etc. Then there are the Uruk Hai, they are a special stronger breed that both Sauron and Saruman had. Lastly there are the goblin-men, they are what D&D considers half-orcs, like the guy Aragorn identifies in the Tavern in Bree that Bill Ferney is associating with (in FOTR book). He was a half orc up from the south. When the hobbits come back to The Shire I think its Saruman's half orcs or goblin men that are his muscle in the Shire.I hope that clears things up.Oh yeah, orc and goblin were often interchanged and used to name the same creature. You have to remember that for the better part of 3 ages, Middle Earth hasn't known Uruk Hai. They were relatively new and came in during the latter half of the third age (which is the age The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings saga is set in). There were only the normal orcs and goblins prior to this. Goblin was also used to describe the weaker and smaller orcs too.BTW I really like Angus McBride's pics of orcs. Just do a search for Angus McBride's artwork on the web, especially his MERP cover art and you will get some very nice pics of fantasy orcs/goblins. I used some print outs of those covers to describe to my players what the orcs and such look like in my campaign.</blockquote>

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