D&D General Drow & Orcs Removed from the Monster Manual

[Ombre29]

I think Pathfinder did a very good job with the drow : they made them very frightful (sadistic and demon worshippers). No sane player would lile to play one but they make very good antagonists. However, the concept of good elves turning drow when they are angry is pretty lame...

 

[Perky the Dragon]

Apart from the vague "ogre" connection that was used in the legal dispute with the Tolkien estate. But we know Tolkien himself was troubled by his orcs, which were irredeemably corrupted elves, and WoW has pretty much redefined what an orc is in pop culture, taking advantage of the same legal loophole.

Very true, I'm a big fan of nuanced orcs. WoW and Elder Scrolls in particular are very good examples. I think there is room for marauder orcs and non-marauder orcs.

Can't say I'm a massive fan of WOTC current art direction with them though. They look increasingly like humans with a bit of make up on. Pathfinder has a nuanced orcs who also happen to be hulking with massive tusks.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Big fan of the direction WOTC is going with the goblins. Hopefully they keep pushing the folkloric angle.

I guess part of the issue with orcs is that they don't really have any real world folklore origins.

Grendel in Beowulf is called an “orcneas.”

 

[Perky the Dragon]

Grendel in Beowulf is called an “orcneas.”

Funnily enough, I've run a arthurian mythos type setting with orcs being the anglo-saxon/viking stand-ins. I did attempt some nuance with them as having friendly orcish merchant clans also existing (much like real world norse traders).

 

[Sepulchrave II]

Grendel in Beowulf is called an “orcneas.”

True. The problem is, we don’t really know what that means. It might be a loan-word and have something to do with Orcus. It’s vaguely Christianised as having something to do with Cain’s offspring.

If the Orcus connection holds, then it’s probably some kind of zombie or undead spirit.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

True. The problem is, we don’t really know what that means. It might be a loan-word and have something to do with Orcus. It’s vaguely Christianised as having something to do with Cain’s offspring.

If the Orcus connection holds, then it’s probably some kind of zombie or undead spirit.

I always thought Orcs follow Orcus.

Also, if it does come from Orcus, I believe that would make it a cognate with “Ogre.”

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I always thought Orcs follow Orcus.

Also, if it does come from Orcus, I believe that would make it a cognate with “Ogre.”

From the wiki page about orcas:

The genus name Orcinus means 'of the kingdom of the dead',or 'belonging to Orcus'. Ancient Romans originally used orca (pl. orcae) for these animals, possibly borrowing Ancient Greek ὄρυξ (óryx), which referred (among other things) to a whale species, perhaps a narwhal.

 

[Stormonu]

Something that has been on my mind a bit, and I went to check was the frequency of Orcs (not as wandering encounters, but full-blow encounters) in the official 5E adventures. Checking Beyond, I'm only getting a hit for Storm King's Thunder and Lost Mines, and even in the latter Phandelver and Beyond changed the "6 orcs" to bugbears, leaving only the named orc leader. There's mention of Orcs in Dragons of Icespire Peak, but I don't count those because they're dead when you encounter them, and from what I've found the Orcs in Rime are just a namedrop/item associated with orcs, despite one orc clan being mentioned by name.

<EDIT:> Searching my copies, I did find that Forge of Fury in Tales has a large number of orcs in it.

Is anyone aware of Orcs even appearing in other adventures within 5E? It feels like they've been out of the game for quite some already.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Is anyone aware of Orcs even appearing in other adventures within 5E?

There are orcs in Call of the Netherdeap, but they are friendly.

But I wouldn't read too much into it, I have never made much use of orcs, on account of them being boring.

 

[Sepulchrave II]

I have never made much use of orcs, on account of them being boring.

Pretty much my position.